Marseille promise to be fascinating viewing after the arrival of legendary coach Marcelo Bielsa, and a clutch of interesting signings including explosive winger Romain Alessandrini.
Bordeaux (the early pacesetters) and Bastia promise to pique our interest too, having appointed Willy Sagnol and Claude Makelele respectively to their first senior head coach roles while other contenders include Olympique Lyon and Lille.
Moneybags Monaco are again expected to be PSG's major rivals, but their ability to really go for the jugular seems to have been tempered by Financial Fair Play.
The principality club have returned to the Champions League, bringing them under the microscope, but have a meagre commercial income. This played a part in the exit of James Rodriguez and could eventually precipitate a sale of fellow Colombian Radamel Falcao too.
Defeats in both their opening games under new coach Leonardo Jardim - with Claudio Ranieri having left in May - have underlined the uncertainty.
Paris St-Germain are overwhelming favourites to win Ligue 1 for a third successive season. Laurent Blanc's side have made a reasonably solid start, retaining the Trophee des Champions (France's Community Shield ) and taking four points from their opening two fixtures.
Javier Pastore's bright early-season form could add another dimension to their play in midfield, but injuries to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and captain Thiago Silva have raised the issue of how dependent PSG are on the pair.
Realistically, Blanc would probably prefer his star turns to be injured now rather than at the business end of the Champions League, which is a major target.
Other contenders include Inter Milan - who have kept faith with coach Walter Mazzarri and added substantial power in midfield with the signings of Yann M'Vila and Cardiff's Gary Medel - and Fiorentina, who will finally be able to count on a fully-fit Mario Gomez and Giuseppe Rossi.
AC Milan, under another big name but inexperienced coach in Filippo Inzaghi, may have to limit their ambitions to a return to Europe.
Napoli are the favourites to complete the Champions League trio again, despite a relative lack of transfer market activity.
Rafael Benitez seems to want his side to add physical edge to their attacking brio, with Michu (on loan from Swansea) coming in to supplement the dazzle of Dries Mertens, Gonzalo Higuain and Lorenzo Insigne. A title challenge might be beyond them, though.
Roma were last season's surprise runners-up.
They have built on their excellent campaign by making a number of ambitious signings, including Ashley Cole and Argentine wonderkid Juan Manuel Iturbe, whilst holding onto key figures such as Miralem Pjanic and Mehdi Benatia. Roma look like credible title contenders.
Juventus's position of strength over the last few seasons has been such that their actions define how the course of the season should roll out.
The seismic changes in Turin, with manager Antonio Conte leaving (he has since become Italy coach) and being replaced by the divisive Massimiliano Allegri, have given their title rivals a glimmer of hope.They still have signed Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid and Patrice Evra from Manchester United while managing to hold on to prized assets Arturo Vidal,Paul Pogba along with the veterans Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon.
Atletico Madrid are expected to have their say in matters and have recruited extensively to replace departed favourites Diego Costa, Thibaut Courtois and Filipe Luis, who will all play for Chelsea this season.
The deal to sign Antoine Griezmann - one of La Liga's top performers in recent seasons for Real Sociedad - was testament to their enduring ambition.They have also signed forward Mario Mandzukic from Bayern Munich and goalkeeper Jan Oblak from Benfica.
But even after this extensive recruitment the champions Atletico have thee odds stacked against a repeat of last season when they beat Barcelona and Real Madrid to the La Liga Title
Barcelona have made the most of a transfer ban reprieve (it was suspended) to have a busy summer and new boss Luis Enrique will be pleased to have experienced La Liga campaigners Claudio Bravo and Jeremy Mathieu on board to shore up the backline.
Quite how the new coach will incorporate new signing from Liverpool Luis Suarez with Lionel Messi and Neymar into a balanced side promises to be one of the season's most fascinating questions.
Barcelona also signed Ivan Rakitic from Sevilla to bolster their midfield after selling Cesc Fabregas to Chelsea.
La Liga looked a picture of health last season, with Real Madrid and Sevilla winning the Champions League and Europa League respectively, while Atletico Madrid sealed a shock title win.
Real Madrid's formidable display against Sevilla in the Uefa Super Cup suggested they are ready to re-impose the established domestic order.
Toni Kroos will add real control to their midfield, and the partnership between Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale is touching new heights - without even mentioning World Cup star James Rodriguez.Real have three of the four most expensive players of all time in Ronaldo,Bale and Rodriguez.
