Opinion: 5 storylines to watch for during the 2023-24 European club season
A look at which teams and players could stand out most
After a summer filled with transfer news and preseason matches, the games that count are finally here.
The La Liga season gets us started on Friday with three games highlighted by Sevilla hosting Valencia. Ligue 1 kicks off the same day in France, where Nice host Lille, while at the same time defending champions Manchester City travel to newly-promoted Burnley in the Premier League.
The Bundesliga gets off the ground on Aug. 18. Bayern Munich hopes to maintain its monopoly on the title by playing at Werder Bremen. Serie A starts the following day when defending champions Napoli play at newly-promoted Frosinone.
This season marks the first time in two decades that both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will not be playing in Europe together. Ronaldo left Manchester United for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia in January, while Lionel Messi moved to MLS side Inter Miami from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
Here are five storylines to watch for this season:
5. Winning it all … again?
Can Manchester City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain repeat as champions of their respective leagues. The answer is yes and no depending on which team and league we are talking about.
In the Premier League, Man City won the treble last season. Capturing the Champions League was the culmination of a season we won’t soon forget. But other English teams have improved over the summer, including Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea. That means Man City remain favorites, but it won’t be easy.
Arsenal, who squandered a lead atop the table last season to ultimately finish second, will also challenge for the title — but the Gunners will find themselves having to battle more competition this year as well. Even a second-place finish isn’t a guarantee.
Barcelona are strong favorites to win it all again in Spain, but Real Madrid (and to a lesser degree Atletico Madrid) will offer up a challenge. In Germany, Borussia Dortmund lost the title to Bayern on the final day. It looks unlikely they can break the cycle. Expect Bayern to do it all again.
In Italy, meanwhile, Napoli have an uphill battle to repeat. No team in Italy (other than Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan) have won two or more league titles in a row since Torino won five straight from 1943 to 1949. That means Napoli will be battling history, in addition to Inter Milan, AC Milan and a Juventus side that continues to rebuild. In France, there’s only won contender for the title in PSG, making it one of the borest leagues in Europe when it comes to concentrated power and predictability.
4. Newcomers galore
The summer transfer window saw many players switch teams. Some moves will have more impact than others.
Ones to watch out for include midfielder Jude Bellingham (from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid), center back Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig to Manchester City) and midfielder Sandro Tonali (AC Milan to Newcastle).
In the Premier League, considered the world’s best domestic competition, internal moves such as striker Kai Havertz (from Chelsea to Arsenal), midfielder Declan Rice (West Ham to Arsenal) and midfielder Mason Mount (Chelsea to Manchester United) are the most interesting and could ultimately have the biggest impact on the title race.
Overall, Tonali’s move to Newcastle for five years is another sign of the club’s ambitions now that they are bankrolled by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. The club hopes that his signing will catapult them into title contenders and allow them to make a respectable Champions League showing.
3. Where will Mbappe play?
The biggest transfer news saga involves PSG star Kylian Mbappe and a possible move to Real Madrid.
Will he go to Real Madrid this month? Will he play one last year in France? Will he sit on the bench all season as PSG has said will happen unless Mbappe signs a contract extension?
All these questions — and many more — remain unanswered. PSG know that a sale is the only feasible option for them or lose him on a free transfer at the end of this coming season.
The French club have been trying to resolve the youngster’s future for a long time now, but it has finally boiled down to just one option. According to reports from the French sports daily L’Equipe, PSG want to find a way to get Mbappe out of the club at any cost. Both sides are willing to make a sacrifice to make it happen, the newspaper reported, but the timeline for when all this will happen remains unclear.
2. Potential Cinderella sides
It’s true that clubs like Man City, Barcelona and Bayern continue to dominate. It’s also true that sometimes unexpected teams compete for the title and places in Europe.
In Germany, RB Leipzig, fresh after signing PSG midfielder Xavi Simons, could very well contend for the title after finishing third last season. The club may not be much of a Cinderella side, but winning it all in the Bundesliga has been extremely difficult. Anything they can do to even contend for second would be a surprise.
In England, Newcastle could make a title run given their financial backing. However, that remains unlikely given how many clubs — as many as six — have stronger and deeper rosters. It’s more likely they will win the FA Cup or the Europa League should they fail to get out of the UCL group stage in the fall.
Serie A, meanwhile, could see Monza make a splash after finishing a surprise 11th last season. The team, owned by the late Silvio Berlusconi of AC Milan fame, had earned promotion the previous season and were making their Serie A debut. A spot in the Europa League would be a massive win for such a small club with little top-flight pedigree.
1. Playing more minutes
Time wasting has been a big problem in soccer for years — but is adding more time the solution?
That’s the question Premier League managers and players are asking themselves after the Premier League and second-tier Championship made some new rules that could add over 10 minutes to the end of every match.
With these new rules, we will see more lengthy stoppage time — similar to the numbers at the 2022 World Cup — and match officials will be allowed to punish players who try to waste time.
Stoppage time is calculated by the accumulation of every incident that has occurred which has halted a match, including goals, substitutions, injuries, penalty kicks and red cards. Maybe the best solution is to introduce a stop clock in soccer like the ones used in basketball.
There has already been pushback to the new edict by Man City manager Pep Guardiola and Manchester United defender Raphael Varane.
How it will impact games — more goals in stoppage time? — and ultimately the table remains to be seen. Expect this to be the biggest talking point, especially in the first few weeks and months of the season.