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.
If it is hard to see beyond the top two for a title winner, the remaining Champions League places should be the subject of a feisty scrap. Schalke, with their fine stable of homegrown products, will be up there again, as will Bayer Leverkusen, who should be attacking dynamite under new coach Roger Schmidt.
Wolfsburg and Borussia Monchengladbach should both have their say in the battle for the top four. The Wolves have attacking flair in Kevin De Bruyne and Ivica Olic, as well as steel via Luiz Gustavo and Ricardo Rodriguez.
Gladbach, who include on-loan Chelsea midfielder Thorgan Hazard, will again be great to watch with their host of offensive options.
Borussia Dortmund have spent more than any other team in the Bundesliga in a bid to close the big gap on the Bavarians.
New boys Adrian Ramos and Ciro Immobile bring goals, while Jurgen Klopp expects more from last season's big arrivals, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The coach,Jurgen Klopp,will hope their impressive Supercup win over Bayern is a prelude to a closer title race.
Champions Bayern Munich are the strongest side in Germany, that is not in question, but Pep Guardiola begins this season with something to prove.
The coach's judgement was called into question after the Champions League semi-final thrashing by Real Madrid, and he has reinforced his squad with the additions of Robert Lewandowski and Juan Bernat. The return of Thiago Alcantara is eagerly awaited as Guardiola seeks to impose Bayern's authority early on.
Liverpool had a great season last time as they finished second,just short of the title.This season the sold their star player Luis Suarez to Barcelona.In his place they have signed seven player with Rickie Lambert,Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovern arriving from Southampton. This is a big season for Liverpool as they begin life without Luis Suarez who was their top goalscorer.Their other players like Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling must step up if they are to win the title while also challenging for the Champions League.
Key Fixtures:
Liverpool face Manchester United and Arsenal in successive games in December and March-April.
After winning the Premier League title and league cup last season,City will look to go further and perform well in the Champions League.They got fined for failing to follow Financial Fair Play rules and got a squad cap of naming 21 players for Champions League matches.City signed players Eliaquim Mangala and Fernando from Porto in Portugal,Bacary Sagna from Arsenal for free and goalkeeper Willy Caballero from Malaga.They also signed veteran midfielder Frank Lampard on loan for six months after he joined their MLS team New York City FC.
Key Fixtures:
Manchester City host rivals Manchester United on Sunday, 2 November and visit Old Trafford on Saturday, 11 April.
Arsenal finished fourth in the league while they won the FA Cup.They have signed Alexis Sanchez and Calum Chambers from Barcelona and Southampton while they also signed Mathieu Debuchy and David Ospina.They hope to finish this season strongly especially after defeating Manchester City in the FA Community Shield.
Key Fixtures:
Arsenal host arch-rivals Tottenham on Saturday, 27 September and visit White Hart Lane on Saturday, 7 February.
Manchester United hire Louis Van Gaal as new manager with Ryan Giggs as assistant.After enduring a disappointing last season and missing out on Champions League football,United hope to improve and atleast reach the top four this season.They have signed Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera from Southampton and Atletic Blibao respectively and are trying to sign various players before the end of the transfer window.If they sign the players and perform against the big teams then they can reach the top four.
Key fixtures:
Manchester United's hopes of mounting a Champions League challenge - or more -will be tested when they face Everton and Chelsea (at home) and Manchester City (away) in the space of four games in October and November.
Chelsea reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and finished third in EPL.The manager,Jose Mourinho,is optimistic on winning the EPL and also has said that the team will try to win the Champions League.They have been busy in the transfer window signing Diego Costa and Filipe Luis from Atletico Madrid to join Thibaut Courtois who returned to Chelsea from Atletico where he spent three seasons on loan.The also signed Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona to strengthen the midfield while Didier Drogba re-joined the club as a free agent after leaving Galatasaray to complete the squad after the departures of David Luiz,Frank Lampard,Ashley Cole and Romelu Lukaku.
Key Fixtures:
Chelsea face Manchester United at home, Arsenal away and Liverpool at home in the space of four weeks towards the end of the season.
EPL has finally started after almost 100 days of waiting.The top teams this year are Chelsea,Manchester City,Arsenal and Liverpool.Manchester United are also top four contenders after a disappointing last season they have a new boss in charge this season.Tottenham and Everton are also teams in the top four frame after a good season last time around.This year's English Premier League will surely be exciting.
