So, with some leagues already running and the rest basically starting on Friday. Here we go:

Bundesliga: First match on August 16th

2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 winner: FC Bayern München





In all fairness, Bayern's transfer window has been a bit suspect due to potential internal conflicts between Hoeneß and Rummenigge, with sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic wedged in-between. Bayern has the problem of being not attractive enough to top-tier talents anymore, and their squad has thinned out quite a bit with Robben, Ribery, Hummels, James and Rafinha all gone. They have signed Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard, while Ivan Perisic has been loaned out from Inter as a so-called "Notnagel"-solution. On the other hand, Dortmund has invested quite a bit in Hummels, Schulz, Thorgan Hazard and Julian Brandt.

Also, Berlin will finally have a city derby after Union Berlin got promoted as the 56th club to play in the Bundesliga, while Paderborn's wild rollercoaster up and down the leagues has them now playing their 2nd Bundesliga season:



They apparently also were the last non-Bayern/BVB/Leipzig team to top the table after the end of a matchday. It was all downhill from there:



So, will it be close this time, after Dortmund spectacularly blew an 8(?) point lead in the final weeks of the last season?

Bookies suggest... uh, actually, no:

Odds: Bayern 1.25, Dortmund 5, Leipzig 21, Leverkusen 34, Rest lol

Ligue 1: First match on August 16th

2017-18, 2018-19 winner: Paris St. Germain



Yeah, PSG will win this. If they don't, lol PSG. The most interesting thing will be how they will blow their CL campaign this time around. Also, there's still some Neymar drama possible, he has been suspended from training.

Odds: PSG 1.08, Lyon 15, Marseille/Lille 41, St. Etienne/Monaco 51, Rest lol

La Liga: First match on August 16th

2017-18, 2018-19 winner: FC Barcelona



According to bookies this will be the closest title race of the big four non-EPL leagues. TBH I'm not quite sure about that, given Real's 3-7 thrashing by Atlético in the pre-season friendly Mickey Mouse stigous International Champions Cup. Real has struggled in the league for quote some time, with only two titles in the last 11 years. We'll see what happens.

Odds: Barca 1.61, Real 2.62, Atletico 13, Rest lol

Serie A: First matches on August 24th

2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 winner: Juventus FC



Having won their 8th consecutive and 35th Italian championship overall, Juve unsurprisingly is the bookie favorite to win another Scudetto. Napoli and Inter are expected to be the closest competitors (the closest anyone got was Roma in 16/17 and Napoli in 17/18, trailing bny 4 points each.) Apparently Mario Balotelli has also signed for newly promoted Brescia Calcio, so there might be some - excuse me - dark horse for the Golden Boot. Ronaldo scored 21 goals in this first Italian league season (5 of them pens) and was only 4th in the overall league scorer table.

Bet365 Odds: Juventus 1.44, Inter 6, Napoli 7, AC Milan 26, Roma 41, Rest lol.

Eredivisie: First match on August 16th

For an actually interesting title race, one has to look to the Netherlands, where there have been three champions in the past three seasons! After Feyenoord won in 16-17 and PSV in 17-18, it was Ajax turn to take the Dutch champion title - and they are current bookie favorites to repeat this, although not by much:

Odds: Ajax 1.73, PSV 2.5, Feyenoord/Alkmaar/Utrecht 34.

Süper Lig: First match on August 16th

The Turkish title race last season was pretty intense, with the top 4 seperated by just six points in the final standings:



Bookies expect more of the same this season, with four Istanbul clubs ahead:

Odds: Galatasaray 2.61, Besiktas 3.00, Fenerbahce 4.00, Basaksehir 11.00, Trabzonspor 21.00.

Primeira Liga: Has already started last week. The same as usual, a close race between Porto (2.62) and Benfica (1.80), with Sporting (10) and Braga (17) lurking in the distance.

Russian Premier League: The Russians top the DUtch diversity by having four champions in the past four seasons (CSKA, Spartak, Lokomotiv and Zenit), with Zenit in the lead after the first five matchdays and also the bookie favorite with quite a bunch of teams with outside chances. (Zenit 1.33, CSKA 7.00, Lokomotiv Moscow 9.00, Krasnodar 11.00, Spartak 13.00)

Scottish "Premier"ship: LOL. More like a shipwreck. Shame Marty isn't around anymore. Celtic 1.44, Rangers 3.25, Rest even bigger LOL than the two others.

You did not select an option to vote for. Please press back to return to the poll and choose an option before voting.

Should have had a "none of the above" option, my bad. At least you can just act like you forgot to take the poll in case one doesn't win the title

Lazy as **** Führer of Sporting Events checking in.

Thanks for biting the bullet for all of us lazy ****s time and time again, FC.

Don't know what to do in terms of a euro trip this year. Already have Euro 2020 booked, and am spending a boat load on a trip to the US, doesn't leave too many options really. Might try and work a couple of ruhrpott revisits and work in an Eredivisie game somewhere

Come to Scotland and see a Shire game with me sixfour

**** Watzke with a rotten spoon. Dude has passed out drunk in my parent's basement bar too many times to count.

Polls don't lie, Bayern is done. Welcome to the Leipzig era

Nice write up =)

Think Bayern are still pretty heavy favorites, even if they lost Robbery they have so many good players, especially in midfield, along with the most productive striker on the planet. Dortmund are better than last year but Bayern also had a pretty slow start and should get a lot more points imo.

On one hand it makes sense La Liga is the closest for the bookies, on the other hand Barcelona were far ahead and got noticeably stronger, while it's probably much too soon for RM to step up and Atletico probably at a similar level to last year, if not a little lower because Griezmann>Felix (at least at the moment).

so the actual ****ing football will be back on in about 5 mins?
sweet

eta
Fatal Checkraise for prez

lol pummi

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I reckon Atletico might win the league as Barca will put all the eggs in the CL and Messi will be rested in a few league games.

lolBayern 2-1 down at HT

Is it even löl Glubb at this stage when they lose to Sandhausen?

I've seen Sandhausen play once. They took 26 fans to Aue

Why aren't Buyern unleashing Canadian Messi so he can rescue this match?

no need when you have crooked refs

Kovac v Covic ends in a draw. They know each other too well.

Meanwhile Lyon is crushing everyone. 3-0 @ Monaco and 6-0 v. Angers. Home match v. PSG coming up in a few weeks, we'll see if they've got even a remote chance of keeping pace. I like the team they've constructed, but obviously it's near impossible when your competitor has 3-4x your budget.

aduriz too good

All Basque >>>>>>>> signing best players in the world

Weird Messi doesn't play and Barca lose.

no messi, no party

For the record, my barca no vote is because of Atletico, not lol rm.

Early lol barca/bayern.