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Messi has left Barcelona, but LaLiga promises drama once Real Madrid, Atletico, Sevilla begin

There has never, in the chequered history of Spanish football, been a prologue to a season like this one. Whether the next nine months of LaLiga -- watch LIVE all season long on ESPN+ (U.S. only) -- can produce drama that lives up to the last handful of weeks, I swear I don't know.

It's not just that Lionel Messi is leaving in floods of tears; the unpalatable fact is that FC Barcelona have made a historic dog's breakfast of how to retain the services of their greatest-ever player, and one of the best of all-time.