The period between the end of a season and the start of another is usually the most restless in the lives of an average football fan.
The 2020/2021 league season ended in May and as it has been over the years, a three months break is usually observed before the start of another season.
Although there are pre-season matches in-between, fans are usually not satisfied until the first kick of the season is taken.
The moment is finally upon us as the biggest teams in the world all begin their campaign for league titles on August 13. The German, Spanish and English leagues will all kick start their league campaigns on the said date except for the French league which begins a week earlier, and the Italian league a week later.
Ahead of the 2021/22 league seasons, there have been movements of players in and outside the different countries with the big clubs splashing the cash on the super talents while some have also been forced to sell due to their financial situation.
What is as sure as daylight is that all the players who played to the latter stages of the European and South American championships will not be starting the league with their peers as they are expected to go on break having played all through June. Some players are presently at the Olympics participating in the football event. I have also seen some players who played at the Euro Championship and the COPA America also playing at the Olympics. Take the Spanish team as a good example.
Pedri, Eric Garcia, and Pau Torres are among a whole host of Spain’s Euro 2020 players to have been named in the Tokyo Olympics squad. In addition, Real Sociedad winger, Mikel Oyarzabal, Athletic Club goalkeeper, Unai Simon, and RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo are also taking part in the Tokyo games.
Still, in Spain, the games of the La Liga will begin on the weekend of 14-15 August with the standout encounter being the clash bringing together two of La Liga’s most historic sides, FC Barcelona and Real Sociedad, at Camp Nou.
Both sides will represent La Liga Santander in Europe this coming season and their twice-yearly meetings are one of Spanish football’s most storied rivalries.
Diego Simeone’s Atletico de Madrid, the reigning champions, kick-off their season with a tough away duel at RC Celta Vigo while Real Madrid will kick off Carlo Ancelotti’s second spell in charge with a similarly tricky encounter away at Deportivo Alaves.
For the Italian Serie A kicking off on 22 August, here are some quick facts :
*The Serie A 2021-22 season kicks off on the weekend of 22 August and concludes on 22 May 2022.
*There will be five-midweek rounds on 22 September, 27 October, 1 December, 22 December, and 6 January.
*International breaks will be taken on 5 September, 10 October, 14 November, 30 January, and 27 March.
*The huge difference for 2021-22 is that for the first time, Serie A will follow the pattern already adopted by the Premier League, Liga, and Ligue 1, namely that the fixture list will be asymmetrical. That means the second half of the season will not just be a mirror of the first half, but rather organised in a completely different order.
Top-flight football in Germany will return on Friday, August 13 when champions Bayern Munich visit Borussia Monchengladbach and the season ends on 14th May 2022. The first round of the DFB Pokal, which features all 18 Bundesliga clubs will however commence on the weekend of 7th August. The final is at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on 21 May.
DFB Pokal winners Borussia Dortmund will host champions Bayern Munich in the DFL-Supercup on Tuesday, 17vAugust.
Moving over to the French Ligue 1, here also are some quick facts:
*The first round of the 2021-22 season will take place on Friday 6 August-Sunday 8 August 2021.
*Three rounds of Ligue 1 (R7, R16, and R19) will take place as mid-week rounds.
*Round 19, scheduled for Wednesday 22 December 2021, will be the last round of the first half of the season before the winter break and thus the last round of the calendar year. The league season will resume in 2022 with Round 20, which will take place on the weekend of 7, 8 and 9 January 2022.
*The 38th and final round of Ligue 1 for the 2021-22 season has been set for Saturday 21 May 2022.
*The Ligue 1 Play-offs, which pit the 18th-placed side in Ligue 1 against the winner of the Ligue 2 Play-offs, are set for Thursday 26 May and Sunday 29 May 2022.
And finally, the biggest and most popular, the English Premier League.
The 2021/22 Premier League will start on Saturday 14 August, some 34 days after the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.
Arsenal starts the season with an away tie at newly-promoted Brentford while the biggest game of the opening week will be the clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. Chelsea will be hosting London rivals Crystal Palace while Manchester United plays host to Leeds United and Liverpool visits Norwich City.
The season will end on 22 May 2022, with all 10 games kicking off at the same time.
Let the matches begin!
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