The Premier League, Bundesliga and LaLiga kick off this coming weekend, with Serie A starting on August 21. Ligue 1 is already in action, though the real show there has yet to begin (more on that later).
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Everywhere you look in Europe, the club game is returning to life, so we asked Gabriele Marcotti, Mark Ogden, Julien Laurens, James Olley and Rob Dawson to detail what they're most excited to see across the continent in the 2021-22 season.
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ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Season start: Friday, Aug. 13
Number of teams: 20
Reigning champions: Manchester City
1. De Gea returning to his best
David De Gea is still only 30 years old and could potentially play for another decade at the game's top level, but the Manchester United goalkeeper really needs to rediscover the form that saw many observers regard him as the world's best keeper.
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After three years in decline, maybe it's too late for De Gea to turn back the clock. But I hope that the signing of Raphael Varane from Real Madrid will give De Gea the central defensive partnership at Old Trafford that will enable him to focus on his own job and become the keeper he can still be.
If Varane and Harry Maguire gel at centre-half, the inconsistencies in United's defence that have harmed De Gea's form and confidence will be eradicated and could trigger his resurgence. -- Mark Ogden
2. The return of Van Dijk
Virgil van Dijk's cruciate ligament injury last October derailed Liverpool's season and left a huge hole in the Netherlands' plans for Euro 2020. His absence for club and country highlighted just how important the central defender is to both.
Liverpool ultimately salvaged their season with a late surge to secure Champions League qualification, but Van Dijk's return to action for Jurgen Klopp's team during preseason is a huge boost for the club's prospects this time around.
The big question now, however, is whether Van Dijk can get back to his best and once again become the cornerstone of Liverpool's team. At 30 and with a serious injury behind him, it will take time to regain his top form and there will inevitably by missteps along the way. But his 10 months on the sideline showed just how crucial he is for Liverpool, and his return to fitness can only be a major plus. -- Ogden
3. Will Tuchel's honeymoon at Chelsea continue?
The only other manager to win the Champions League for Chelsea was sacked six months later. Thomas Tuchel has a far greater pedigree than Roberto di Matteo did in 2012, but Stamford Bridge remains an unforgiving place for anyone who dips below the required level, and Tuchel has set the bar extremely high.
Since replacing Frank Lampard in January, the 47-year-old German tactician has steered Chelsea to a top-four finish, an FA Cup final and a 1-0 win over Manchester City in Porto to lift European club football's biggest prize. They have lost just five of his 30 games in charge.
Tuchel proved more tactically astute than Lampard, but the key to his success was a willingness to buy into Chelsea's short-term mindset. Managers don't last long under owner Roman Abramovich and you can't change that, so why not pull together and enjoy the ride while it lasts?
That approach is harder to sustain over a 38-game Premier League campaign, but Tuchel at least has the benefit of a preseason to mould a team more in his image. The Blues are also aiming high in the transfer market, having identified the need to bring in a top centre-forward, with Romelu Lukaku on the verge of a return to the club. His adaptation will become the manager's primary concern with the stakes for Tuchel higher than ever. -- James Olley
4. Kane's moment of reckoning
Harry Kane wants to leave Tottenham Hotspur to win trophies. It remains to be seen whether the 28-year-old will get his wish, as Manchester City continue to show interest, but Spurs are still reluctant to part with their captain.
City -- or any other club -- would have to get close to Tottenham's £150 million valuation to pull off a deal, but however the market unfolds, Kane's season will make fascinating viewing. Either he stays at a club he no longer wishes to play for and tries to drag Spurs back among the challengers for major honours, or he joins the team crowned champions in three of the past four years. (It's worth noting that they won the Premier League title last season while not consistently playing with a centre-forward.)
Kane, operating in a forward line made up of some combination of Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Ferran Torres and Raheem Sterling, is a mouthwatering prospect. A sliding-doors moment awaits. -- Olley
5. Verdict on the Premier League's Man City investigation
Manchester City have been the subject of a Premier League investigation into alleged breaches of financial fair-play regulations since March 2019, but you won't know much about it because it has been shrouded in secrecy. However, City lost an appeal at the High Court in London in July against the reporting of their challenge over the jurisdiction of arbitrators to investigate the case and it has emerged that, after more than two years, they're continuing to investigate the reigning champions' financial dealings.
Lord Justice Males, one of the three judges hearing the appeal, said "it is a matter of legitimate public concern that so little progress has been made after two-and-a-half years, during which, it may be noted, the club has twice been crowned as Premier League champions." Football needs transparency to maintain the trust of supporters, so it's vital that this investigation reaches a conclusion. -- Mark Ogden
6. Can Solskjaer live up to expectations?
At different times, each Manchester United manager who has followed Sir Alex Ferguson -- David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho -- has suggested they've lacked the backing to realistically challenge for the Premier League title. This summer, though, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already admitted he couldn't have had more help from the board after the arrivals of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane.
The challenge to wrestle the trophy from Pep Guardiola's champions, as well as holding off Chelsea and Liverpool, is a big one, but there's optimism at Old Trafford that the squad is now strong enough. Over to you, Ole. -- Rob Dawson
7. Can Pep win the Champions League again?
He will go again. Manchester City will go again. Guardiola came so close in May, the closest he has been in 11 years to winning the Champions League again, except he failed again. Tuchel and Chelsea killed his dream, and reaching that "Holy Grail" will have to wait again.
The question is: How much longer? Just a few more months? With the arrival of Jack Grealish, the Citizens will be even stronger. Harry Kane could be also playing in Blue Sky colors soon, which would almost complete the game for the English champions.
But can Guardiola learn (does he ever actually learn?) from the disappointment of the 2021 final defeat to Chelsea and messing up things tactically again? If he finally does, if Grealish adapts quickly and if Kane has not forgotten how to score goals between London and Manchester, then he can definitely lead this team, eventually, to European glory. But the pressure is greater than ever, especially with Lionel Messi arriving at Paris Saint-Germain. -- Julien Laurens
8. Arsenal's youthful core coming together
Bukayo Saka is 19. Emile Smith Rowe is 21. Ben White and Gabriel Martinelli are 23. Kieran Tierney is 24. Then there's Albert Lokonga and Nuno Tavares, both 21, who have just arrived.
The latter pair aside, the others have shown they can contribute over the course of a Premier League season. It will be interesting to see whether Mikel Arteta can use them to form the backbone of a side that can take Arsenal where they want to go. -- Gabriele Marcotti
GERMAN BUNDESLIGA
Season start: Friday, Aug. 13
Number of teams: 18
Reigning champions: Bayern Munich
9. Promotion for football's biggest underachievers
No major club in the world has failed to punch its weight for quite as long as SV Hamburg, but German football needs the former European champions to somehow rediscover their winning formula and return to the Bundesliga this season.
Until relegation in 2018, Hamburg had been the only club to spend their entire history in the top division. They have won six German titles, three DFB Cups, the European Cup Winners' Cup and, in 1983, lifted the European Cup three years after losing their first final against Nottingham Forest.
Hamburg have now spent three seasons in 2. Bundesliga, and Germany's second biggest city continue to have no team in the top division, where they ought to be challenging the giants of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. At some point, Hamburg will finally get it right and the Bundesliga will be stronger, and more exciting, if they return and challenge again. -- Ogden
