SEASON PREVIEW

BIG BY: FEARGAL BRENNAN FOUR

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY "UNAI EMERY

STEERED THE YELLOW SUBMARINE TO THEIR FIRST EVER MAJOR TITLE LAST

SEASON"

THE GOOD

With the bulk of pre-season attention centred around the ongoing civil war at Barcelona ahead of the 2021-22 season, Villarreal have quietly pulled o some good business this summer. Unai Emery steered the Yellow Submarine to their first ever major title at the back end of 2020-21, with a high-stakes penalty shootout win over Manchester United in the Europa League final in May. The former Arsenal boss will now look to create a consistent challenge to Spain’s big three in the coming months of the season, as they aim to launch a potential Champions League qualification push. Emery has focused on solid recruitment to bolster his squad options, with Juan Foyth making his successful loan move from Tottenham into a permanent deal and veteran centre-back Aissa Mandi joining on a free transfer from Real Betis. Foyth and Mandi will add depth to Emery’s defence, with Boulaye Dia joining from Stade Reims after an eye-catching season in front of goal in Ligue 1. Alongside bringing in some new faces to the Estadio de la Ceramica, Emery’s two biggest signings have come from within the Villarreal squad. Star man Gerard Moreno has agreed a new long-term contract extension until 2027, despite growing interest from Barcelona after Euro 2020, and on the back of 23 La Liga goals in 2020-21. Emery has also convinced Pau Torres to stay on at El Madrigal. Manchester United and Tottenham were both interested in the Spanish international, but the prospect of Champions League football has proved to be key in retaining the 24-year-old.

UPCOMING FIXTURES

Dates & times subject to change.

SEPTEMBER

Sat 11 Athletic Bilbao vs Mallorca Mallorca Sat 11 Cadiz vs Real Sociedad Real Sociedad Sat 11 Espanyol vs Atletico Madrid Sat 11 FC Sevilla vs FC Barcelona Sat 11 Getafe vs Elche Sat 11 Granada vs Real Betis Sat 11 Levante vs Rayo Vallecano Sat 11 Osasuna vs Valencia Sat 11 Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo Sat 11 Villarreal vs Alaves Sat 18 Alaves vs Osasuna Sat 18 Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao Sat 18 Celta Vigo vs Cadiz Sat 18 Elche vs Levante Sat 18 FC Barcelona vs Granada Sat 18 Mallorca vs Villarreal Sat 18 Rayo Vallecano vs Getafe Sat 18 Real Betis vs Espanyol Sat 18 Real Sociedad vs FC Sevilla Sat 18 Valencia vs Real Madrid Tue 21 Athletic Bilbao vs Rayo Vallecano Tue 21 Cadiz vs FC Barcelona Tue 21 Espanyol vs Alaves Tue 21 FC Sevilla vs Valencia Tue 21 Getafe vs Atletico Madrid Tue 21 Granada vs Real Sociedad Tue 21 Levante vs Celta Vigo Tue 21 Osasuna vs Real Betis Tue 21 Real Madrid vs Mallorca Tue 21 Villarreal vs Elche Sat 25 Alaves vs Atletico Madrid Sat 25 Celta Vigo vs Granada Sat 25 FC Barcelona vs Levante Sat 25 FC Sevilla vs Espanyol Sat 25 Mallorca vs Osasuna Sat 25 Rayo Vallecano vs Cadiz Sat 25 Real Betis vs Getafe Sat 25 Real Madrid vs Villarreal Sat 25 Real Sociedad vs Elche Sat 25 Valencia vs Athletic Bilbao Sat 2 Athletic Bilbao vs Alaves Sat 2 Atletico Madrid vs FC Barcelona Sat 2 Cadiz vs Valencia Sat 2 Elche vs Celta Vigo Sat 2 Espanyol vs Real Madrid Sat 2 Getafe vs Real Sociedad Sat 2 Granada vs FC Sevilla Sat 2 Mallorca vs Levante Sat 2 Osasuna vs Rayo Vallecano Sat 2 Villarreal vs Real Betis Sat 16 Alaves vs Real Betis Sat 16 Celta Vigo vs FC Sevilla Sat 16 Espanyol vs Cadiz Sat 16 FC Barcelona vs Valencia Sat 16 Granada vs Atletico Madrid Sat 16 Levante vs Getafe Sat 16 Rayo Vallecano vs Elche Sat 16 Real Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao Sat 16 Real Sociedad vs Mallorca Sat 16 Villarreal vs Osasuna Sat 23 Athletic Bilbao vs Villarreal Sat 23 Atletico Madrid vs Real Sociedad Sat 23 Cadiz vs Alaves Sat 23 Elche vs Espanyol Sat 23 FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid Sat 23 FC Sevilla vs Levante Sat 23 Getafe vs Celta Vigo Sat 23 Osasuna vs Granada Sat 23 Real Betis vs Rayo Vallecano Sat 23 Valencia vs Mallorca Tue 26 Alaves vs Elche Tue 26 Celta Vigo vs Real Sociedad Tue 26 Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao Tue 26 Granada vs Getafe Tue 26 Levante vs Atletico Madrid Tue 26 Mallorca vs FC Sevilla Tue 26 Rayo Vallecano vs FC Barcelona Tue 26 Real Betis vs Valencia Tue 26 Real Madrid vs Osasuna Tue 26 Villarreal vs Cadiz Sat 30 Atletico Madrid vs Real Betis Sat 30 Cadiz vs Mallorca Sat 30 Elche vs Real Madrid Sat 30 FC Barcelona vs Alaves Sat 30 FC Sevilla vs Osasuna Sat 30 Getafe vs Espanyol Sat 30 Levante vs Granada Sat 30 Rayo Vallecano vs Celta Vigo Sat 30 Real Sociedad vs Athletic Bilbao Sat 30 Valencia vs Villarreal

OCTOBER

THE BAD

Barcelona’s summer has lurched from bad to worse in the opening weeks of the campaign, with Lionel Messi’s departure from the club continuing to grab headlines. Information on the club’s financial mess has been leaking out since the start of 2021, but the implosion at the Camp Nou this summer has revealed the depth of issues in Catalonia. New club president Joan Laporta built his successful election campaign on retaining Messi this summer, but he has now been forced into a dramatic climbdown over the 34-year-old’s future. Laporta admitted Barcelona’s wage bill has been wildly bloated by years of financial mismanagement under his predecessor Josep Bartomeu, with the current salary bill in excess of 100% of the club’s incoming revenue, significantly above La Liga’s rolling average of 70-75%. Even with Messi now severing his 20-year tie to the club and joining Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent, the bill has only dropped to an estimated 95% as boss Ronald Koeman attempts to o oad a string of high-earning squad players. However, despite the ongoing wrangling within the Camp Nou boardroom, Barcelona supporters and football fans across the world are still adjusting to not seeing Messi in the famous Blaugrana colours of Barcelona. The Argentinian international will leave a gaping hole in Spanish football this season, with the six-time Ballon d’Or winner set to spearhead PSG’s Champions League title push in 2021-22. La Liga loses some of it sparkle without Messi in it this season and Barcelona face a real challenge to fill the void as their iconic No 10 moves on.

THE UGLY

On the back of Messi’s prolonged exit from Barcelona, the club have bizarrely joined forces with arch enemies Real Madrid over La Liga’s plans to implement international financial investment into the league. Laporta’s last-ditch attempts to retain Messi included a plea to La Liga to alter their financial restrictions on club budgets and debt, in order to register the Argentine’s reduced contract at the club. However, despite some initial willingness to ratify the deal, the alteration would be based on a multi-billion investment injection from CVC Capital Partners. Laporta’s objection to CVC’s involvement centred around a lack of control over the future of the league and he found an unexpected ally in Real Madrid counterpart Florentino Perez. Perez was straightforward in his disagreement to the investment, as it would damage his long-term plans to revive their failed European Super League project in the coming years, with both clubs still o cially members of the breakaway conspiracy as it stands. Barcelona and Real Madrid have continued to voice their deep criticism of the plans but they have been outvoted on the issue by their domestic rivals in Spanish football. La Liga and CVC have now agreed a reduced investment package, with 38 of the 42 clubs in the top two divisions agreeing to the new deal. Perez and Laporta have both indicated they will continue to fight on against the plans though, as they aim to gain a foothold as the financial powerhouses of Spanish football. CVC have previously attempted to stretch their portfolio in European football, but attempts to invest in both Serie A and the Bundesliga fell through following greater opposition from clubs than they experienced in Spain.

ABOVE (OPPOSITE PAGE): Villarreal's Juan Foyth

MIDDLE (OPPOSITE PAGE): Head Coach Unai Emery of Villarreal celebrates with the trophy after winning the UEFA Europa League

BOTTOM (OPPOSITE PAGE): Veteran centre-back Aissa Mandi joined Villareal on a free transfer from Real Betis.

ABOVE: A blank space is seen after workers removed the giant picture of Lionel Messi from the facade of the Camp Nou stadium

RIGHT: Barcelona are still reeling from the loss of Lionel Messi

BELOW: Joan Laporta and Florentino Perez are trying to keep the European Super League conspiracy alive

TOP RIGHT: Rayo Vallecano's Luis Advincula celebrates after scoring

BOTTOM RIGHT: Jose Bordalas’s departure from Getafe has weakened the club Espanyol and Real Mallorca secured their return to the top flight as first and second place in the Segunda Division in 2020-21. However, the big story from the play-o s was the incredible bolt from the blue pulled o by Rayo Vallecano in their push to return to La Liga. Marathon wins over Leganes and Girona secured a return for the iconic team from Vallecas.

Jose Bordalas’s exit from Getafe has removed a key plank of stability at the Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Perez, despite their inconsistency in 2020-21. The sole arrival of Carles Alena puts them near the bottom of the table for summer spending and without Bordalas’s influence they could struggle in the months ahead.

GOING DOWN

2021-22 BUNDESLIGA SEASON PREVIEW

ARMINIA BIELEFELD New coach equals better fortunes? Like quite a few sides competing in the top flight, Arminia Bielefeld decided to make a managerial change, bringing in Frank Kramer. Their hope is simple – to avoid the drop. After narrowly scraping into 15th place thanks to a win over Stuttgart in their final game, Die Blauen will naturally hope to avoid another turbulent campaign.

LAST SEASON FINISH: 15TH AUGSBURG Augsburg did just enough to finish in 13th place last season, well clear of the drop zone, but they’ve made some key changes to ensure they can move closer to mid-table this time round. For starters, manager Markus Weinzierl is back on the bench, while promising Germany under-21 international Niklas Dorsch and fellow youngsters Lasse Gunther and Daniel Klein have arrived to freshen up the team and help them at least guarantee a mid-table finish.

LAST SEASON FINISH: 13TH BAYER LEVERKUSEN Leverkusen notably saw the Bender twins (Lars and Sven) both retire last season, and ultimately finished in 6th spot, which means it’s Europa League football for die Werkself. They’ve seen some key personnel depart, namely Jamaican attacker Leon Bailey to Aston Villa, and have looked to bolster their defence by bringing in Odilon Kossounou from Club Brugge, with the Ivorian costing them €23m. Spending big on a defender is certainly not an unwise move, but will they regret not finding an apt replacement for the speedy Bailey?

LAST SEASON FINISH: 6TH

BOTTOM, RIGHT: Patrik Schick is a big player for Bayer Leverkusen

BAYERN MUNICH Bayern might be serial Bundesliga winners, but Die Roten are still looking to make deals – and that means still shopping in their neighbours’ backyards. They’ve also shown in previous seasons that they’re not afraid to spend big. At least, by Bayern standards, with their marquee signing Dayot Upamecano costing them €42.5m. They’ve lost three key men in midfield and defence, with Javi Martinez, David Alaba, and Jerome Boateng all departing on free transfers, but the Bavarian titans quickly plugged that gap with Upamecano’s signing, as well as the acquisition of young English prospect Omar Richards on a free transfer. Obviously, their goal will be to retain a title that hasn’t left Munich in nearly a decade, but to again mount a serious challenge for the Champions League. BOCHUM Bochum’s goal is simple – avoid relegation. Die Unabsteigbaren have spent over 30 years in the top flight, but lately have been resigned to slogging it out in the 2. Bundesliga. They achieved promotion this time around after finishing first in the second tier, and will be hoping to make their stay in the upper echelon longer than just one season. Now in their first Bundesliga season in over a decade, it will indeed be interesting to see if Bochum become a more familiar face at this level or if they’ll just be making a cameo appearance and ultimately return to the 2. Bundesliga at the end of the campaign.

PROMOTED TO BUNDESLIGA BORUSSIA DORTMUND By now, Dortmund surely must be very sick and tired of seeing the league title slip out of their grasp season after season. The question is, what will they do about it? This was demonstrated in the German Super Cup, during which Die Schwarzgelben were outplayed from start to finish. If they really want to finally challenge for the league title, they’ll have to get over their fears when it comes to playing Bayern. They’ve spent a combined €45m on two players, Donyell Malen and Gregor Kobel from PSV Eindhoven and Stuttgart respectively, with the former definitely hoping to fill the huge void left by Jadon Sancho. Given they’ve managed to hang on to Erling Haaland, Dortmund do have a shot, but whether they’ll get past their Bayern hoodoo remains to be seen.

ABOVE, MIDDLE: Giovanni Reyna and Erling Haaland are key to Borussia Dortmund’s chances

ABOVE, LEFT: Jamal Musiala of FC Bayern Munich celebrates after scoring their team's first goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and 1. FC Union Berlin

Bayern Munich are looking to win the Bundesliga title for a 10th successive season Frankfurt’s Jens Hauge (C) celebrates after scoring the 2-5 goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt

Borussia Monchengladbach players celebrate after scoring Freiburg celebrate after scoring the opening goal in their match against Dortmund

BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH Are Gladbach becoming Bayern’s bogey team? They may no longer have Marco Rose at the helm, but the objective is still the same – to accumulate as many points as possible and challenge for a European football spot. And Die Fohlen wouldn’t be just content in scraping by to feature in the Europa Conference League. They are looking to be part of the Champions League, and after finishing in a very disappointing eighth last term, new boss Adi Hutter will certainly have his work cut out for him. They’ve been quiet in the transfer market, bringing in just two players, but started the season o well in holding Bayern to a draw on matchday one.

LAST SEASON FINISH: 8TH EINTRACHT FRANKFURT Losing Andre Silva, the team’s top goalscorer, will certainly have an impact on Frankfurt. Oliver Glasner’s men were very unfortunate to miss out on what would have been a first ever appearance in the Champions League, but they’ve notably brought Silva’s fellow Portuguese international Goncalo Paciencia back in on loan as they prepare to challenge in the Bundesliga and Europa League this season.

LAST SEASON FINISH: 5TH

FREIBURG This will be manager Christian Streich's 10th season in charge of Freiburg. The fact that he’s stayed for a decade now is especially noteworthy in a world where it’s common for managers to move on after a couple of seasons. After finishing 10th last term, they’ll be aiming a bit higher, and yes, that means European football. That’s despite losing a trio of key men at the start of last season - Luca Waldschmidt, Robin Koch and Alexander Schwolow - because fortunately, they’ve managed to hang on to Vincenzo Grifo, who will be key in them not just knocking at the door of a European berth, but knocking it down this term. GREUTHER FURTH Back in the Bundesliga for only the second time in their club history - their first was during the 2012-13 season - it’s safe to say that Die Kleeblatter will be really aspiring to avoid another cameo appearance. The issue is, of course, that they’re not the only ones. Still, there are a few players looking to use Furth’s top-flight promotion to hopefully force their way back into contention for their national sides. One such player is Julian Green, who has been playing outside Germany for nearly seven years and will look to use this move as a launch pad to earn a recall to United States national team. If he does manage to succeed, it will certainly go some way to giving Furth at least a fighting chance of earning a third season in the Bundesliga.

TOP RIGHT: Julian Nagelsmann, new coach of Bayern Munich

BOTTOM RIGHT: Jesse Marsch has a huge opportunity at RB Leipzig

CLASH OF COACHES

After another summer of managerial comingand-goings, Michelle OseiBonsu takes a look at the movers and the shakers.

Incredibly, Bayern will once again begin their new season under a di erent manager. This time, the man on the bench is none other than Julian Nagelsmann, who first cut his managerial cloth in the top flight with Ho enheim. From there, it was on to RB Leipzig, and now Bayern following Hansi Flick’s departure. At 34, Nagelsmann is not much older than the bulk of his players. In fact, he is younger than a few of them, but that’s not unfamiliar to the man who made history as the youngest-ever Bundesliga manager at the ripe old age of 28. So far, he’s already won one trophy with Bayern, the German Super Cup, but more will be expected of him this season. Bayern are ruthless when it comes to cutting managers adrift, and Nagelsmann will be well aware that he’s no exception to that rule. Elsewhere, RB Leipzig’s new manager, Jesse Marsch, made history of his own – not once, but twice. For starters, the US-born coach - who was the first to lead a team in the Champions League while in charge of RB Salzburg - recently took part in an all-American clash against Pellegrino Matarazzo and Stuttgart. It’s the first time two American coaches faced o in the German top flight, and it’s currently Marsch 1-0 Matarazzo. Both Stuttgart and Leipzig had solid campaigns last term and many are excited to see what the latter can achieve under Marsch’s tenure, while Matarazzo may be hoping to guide Stuttgart towards a place in the new Europa Conference League. Borussia Dortmund’s new boss, Marco Rose, will also have plenty of ambitions. After successfully steering Borussia Monchengladbach towards European football in consecutive seasons, he’ll be eyeing bigger things for Die Schwarzgelben. Although his first attempt at a trophy ended in failure as Bayern cruised to victory, all is not lost. The fact that Dortmund so far have kept Erling Haaland after losing Jadon Sancho to Manchester United looks promising, especially as he’s the leader of a young, exciting crop of stars that includes Giovanni Reyna and Jude Bellingham.