1) Are Barcelona the justifiable title favourites again following their summer spending spree and stellar squad?
Undoubtedly. Apart from Dani Alves – and probably soon the Manchester City-bound goalkeeper Claudio Bravo – the Blaugrana have retained all of the key man who have won seven major titles in two seasons, and added four fine reinforcements.
The ‘MSN’ attacking triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, who have plundered an astonishing 253 goals combined since 2014, remain the most formidable forward line in world football.
Messi and Suarez have maintained this scoring form in the last week, the pair netting a goal apiece in the 5-0 aggregate Spanish Super Cup rout of Sevilla, while Neymar’s brilliance has helped power Brazil into the Olympic final.
Nevertheless, the Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is acutely aware of the perils of overburdening his irrepressible trio, who ran out of steam as his side limped to a title triumph after losing a 10-point lead in March.
As such, he has been doggedly pursuing a back-up striker all summer and, at the time of going to press, was on the verge of signing Valencia’s Paco Alcacer.
The 22-year-old was surprisingly omitted from Spain’s Euro 2016 squad, despite top-scoring in qualifying with five goals.
He is set to be part of a four-way transfer deal with Valencia, with goalkeeper Diego Alves joining him at the Nou Camp and Sergi Samper and Munir El Haddadi going the opposite way.
Barcelona have already raided Valencia for the elegant Portugal midfielder, Andre Gomes – a particular coup given rivals Real Madrid were also chasing him – and brought back their former ‘B’ team player Denis Suarez.
The pair now provide Enrique with an embarrassment of midfield riches, with Arda Turan particularly excelling in pre-season after a difficult first few months at the club.
Barcelona have also solidified an occasionally fragile rearguard with the additions of Frenchmen Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Digne.
All in all, then, Barcelona look as irresistible as ever.
2) Will Real Madrid’s relative lack of activity in the transfer market prove costly in their quest to clinch a first La Liga title since 2012?
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” has ostensibly been the maxim of Madrid’s transfer dealings, with coach Zinedine Zidane claiming that “it is difficult to improve on this squad”. Who can argue with a man who masterminded 12 consecutive league victories at the end of last season and then secured Real’s 11th European Cup?
Zidane may have missed out on another galactico in Paul Pogba, but has added more firepower in the form of Alvaro Morata.
He returns to the club after two years at Juventus after Real triggered a buy-back clause for 30 million euros (Dh124.60). Even that deal looked to have been done with the intention of then selling Morata on to the cash-filled Premier League.
But, after scoring three goals in four games for Spain at Euro 2016, the 23-year-old will now battle Karim Benzema for a place in the starting line-up alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
The ‘BBC’ supplemented by Morata could prove as prolific as their Catalan rivals’ esteemed strike force, while there are great expectations another player returning to the Bernabeu after two loan spells elsewhere.
The 20-year-old attacking midfielder, Marco Asensio, illuminated last week’s 3-2 Uefa Super Cup victory over Sevilla with an exquisite strike and looks ready to become a Real and Spain regular.
Zidane also continues to refute reports that the Colombian midfielder, James Rodriguez, will be sold.
If that is so, Real have a midfield to rival Barcelona’s given the creativity and passing ability of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Isco.
Now it’s up to their talisman Zidane to avoid the curse of the second season syndrome.
3) Are Real’s Madrid rivals Atletico equipped to upset Spain’s big two again?
Atletico have emphatically ended the notion that La Liga is a two-horse race, having challenged Barcelona and Real strongly last season and winning the title in 2014.
But they have not secured silverware since the Spanish Super Cup that same year and lost two Champions League finals to their crosstown foes.
But a stable and reinforced squad look eminently capable of mounting another challenge for domestic and European honours, with Kevin Gameiro a particularly astute acquisition by Diego Simeone. The 29-year-old is a proven striker in Spain’s top flight, having notched 39 times in 92 games for Sevilla, and will form a potent partnership with his fellow Frenchman, Antoine Griezmann.
Simeone has also sought to augment his side’s tireless work ethic and defensive rigour with more flair in the form of the exciting Argentinian winger, Nicolas Gaitan, who has joined from Benfica.
As such, Atletico – who have retained other guileful operators such as Koke and Saul Niguez – undoubtedly possess the quality and strength in depth to disrupt Barca and Real’s hegemony once more.
4) Who else could fire our interest in the new campaign?
Another Barcelona club, Espanyol, surprisingly. Their Chinese owner, Chen Yansheng, announced on taking over the traditional mid-table stragglers in January that he wanted them to challenge in the Champions League “within three years”. It seemed a ludicrous claim, particularly as Espanyol went on to finish 13th last season.
But Yansheng has installed an excellent manager in the former Al Ain and Al Ahli coach, Quique Sanchez Flores, and funded several eye-catching signings, such as the ex-Arsenal winger, Jose Antonio Reyes.
Elsewhere, the battle for the fourth Champions League spot always proves hotly contested; expect Villarreal, Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao to be in that equation again.
Meanwhile, can the erratic but gifted Nani help Valencia recover from the exodus of a host of leading players after joining from Fenerbahce?
How will Premier League veteran Gus Poyet fare at Real Betis?
There are, therefore, plenty of fascinating sub-plots to follow other than the traditional tussle of the top three.
As the Spanish say: Vamos!
