On August 5, the championships of Germany, England and France resume, pending those of Spain (August 12) and Italy (13). The opportunity to look at five major questions around this 2022-2023 European football season.
Can Bayern Munich’s hegemony come to an end?
In the German Championship (Bundesliga), the seasons follow one another and look alike: Bayern Munich have won the Bundesliga every year since 2013. Can this series of ten consecutive coronations come to an end? Bavarian club striker Robert Lewandowski, certainly left this summer for FC Barcelona. But the people of Munich have brings in the Senegalese Sadio Mané.
At the same time, Bayern’s main rival, Borussia Dortmund, champion for the last time in 2012, will not be able to rely in the coming weeks on its flagship recruit, Sébastien Haller, supposed to compensate for the departure of Norwegian Erling Haaland. The Ivorian must treat cancer.
As for Bayer Leverkusen, 3rd in 2022, and RB Leipzig, 4th, their respective transfer windows have been more discreet.
Will FC Barcelona return to the heights, thanks to its XXL transfer window?
The Polish Robert Lewandowski, the French Jules Koundethe Brazilian Raphina, the Ivorian Franck Kessie… The last time Barca achieved such a flashy summer transfer window was in 2019, with the arrivals of Frenchman Antoine Griezmann and Dutchman Frenkie de Jong.
In 2022, will FC Barcelona return to the heights, both in the Spanish Championship (Liga) and in the Champions League (C1), with XXL recruitment to which must be added the extension of the Frenchman’s contract? Ousmane Dembele ? The Blaugrana have not won in La Liga since 2019 and in C1 since 2015.
The new players still have to find their place in such a demanding Barcelona collective game.
How will Chelsea handle post-Abramovich?
In England, Chelsea have definitely turned the page on Roman Abramovich, owner from 2003 to 2022. The Russian billionaire was indeed forced to sell the London club at the end of May. A consortium led in particular by the American Todd Boehly took over the Blues, against nearly 5 billion euros.
Boehly has shown his ambitions for Chelsea. The American had won his bet by buying the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise in 2012 (Baseball), then in a sad sporting situation, including ex-basketball superstar Magic Johnson. Will he experience the same success in football?
For now, fans have little to complain about, with the arrivals of England winger Raheem Sterling and the Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly. It remains to make these investments profitable on the ground, in a Premier League where competition is still just as strong, between Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and – to a lesser degree – Tottenham and Arsenal.
Will Karim Benzema win the Ballon d’Or?
Who will succeed Lionel Messi, October 17? The Argentinian seems out of the running for the 2022 Ballon d’Or after a mixed season at Paris Saint-Germain, as does Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo with Manchester United. The two attackers have confiscated the most prestigious individual distinction since 2008, if we exclude 2018 and the coronation of Croatian Luka Modric.
In this context, can Karim Benzema, the sparkling captain of Real Madrid, become the fifth elected Frenchman, after Raymond Kopa (1958), Michel Platini (1983, 1984 and 1985), Jean-Pierre Papin (1991) and Zinédine Zidane ( 1998)? With the Spanish Championship-Champions League double, the Madrid striker is one of the big favorites, with Lewandowski (2nd in 2021), Sadio Mané, the Egyptian Mohamed Salah or the Belgian Kevin De Bruyne.
Will PSG finally win the Champions League (women’s or men’s)?
2022 should be the year of Qatar with the Men’s World Cup organized in this country from November 21 to December 18. Will this highlighting continue for the following months? The small Gulf emirate hopes so, through the club it owns, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
Last season, the latter was eliminated in the round of 16 despite a huge recruitment (Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum, Achraf Hakimi…). For this exercise, the French club wants to change its image with a local coach (Christophe Galtier) and a more humble speech. But the obsession remains the same: to be crowned European champion.
Or European champion. The PSG players are also running behind a first European title, after defeats in the final in 2015 and 2017. Which of the Parisians or Parisiennes will win first / first in C1?