Start of Season Schedule in Europe's Big Leagues 2008-2009

A new season is about to start in Europe's Big Football so here are the fixtures for the first day matches in 4 of the major 5 championships The Big Football will cover in the future.


Premier League first match day 16 August 2008

• Arsenal - West Brom
• Aston Villa - Man city
• Bolton - Stoke
• Chelsea - Portsmouth
• Everton - Blackburn
• Hull - Fulham
• Man Utd - Newcastle
• Middlesbrough - Tottenham
• Sunderland - Liverpool
• West Ham - Wigan

Champions League: Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool
Uefa Cup: Portsmouth, Everton, Tottenham, Man City
Intertoto: Aston Villa
Promoted: Wes Brom, Stoke, Hull

The big 4 teams that will go to the UCL are top favorites for winning the tittle, with Liverpool being a little of an outsider and Tottenham with the transfer of Luka Modric could snatch up a place for the Champions League.


Primera Division first match day 31 August 2008

• Atletico Madrid - Malaga
• Athletic Bilbao - Almeria
• Betis Sevilla - Recreativo Huelva
• Osasuna - Villarreal
• Racing Santander - Sevilla FC
• Espanyol Barcelona - Real Valladolid
• Deportivo la Coruna - Real Madrid
• Gijon - Getafe
• Valencia - Mallorca
• Numancia - Barcelona

Champions League: Real Madrid, Villarreal, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid
Uefa Cup: Sevilla FC, Racing Santander, Mallorca
Intertoto: Deportivo la Coruna
Promoted: Numancia, Gijon, Malaga

After a missed season for Barcelona and a title for Real Madrid, I'm sure this one will be a little closer between these two teams, and with Valencia, Sevilla and Villarreal coming from behind, the Spanish Primera will be really interesting to watch.


Bundesliga first match day 16 August 2008

• FC Bayern - Hamburger (15 August 2008)
  
• Wolfsburg - FC Koln
• Borussia Mönchengladbach - Vfb Stuttgart
• Eintracht Frankfurt - Hertha Berlin
• Shalke - Hannover
• Energie Cottbus - Hoffenheim
• Karlsruher - Bochum
• Arminia Bielefeld - Werder Bremen
• Bayer Leverkusen - Borussia Dortmund

Champions League: Bayern München, Werder Bremen, Shalke
Uefa Cup: Hamburger, Wolfsburg, Borussia Dortmund, Hertha Berlin
Intertoto: Vfb Stuttgart
Promoted: Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hoffenheim, FC Koln

Bayern München will start as favorites in the Bundesliga, something we are pretty used and Werder Bremen, Shalke and all the others will have to rise to the challenge if they want to overtake the current Bavarian champions.


Ligue 1 first match day 9 August 2008

• Bordeaux - Caen
• Le Havre - Nice
• Le Mans - Lorient
• Monaco - PSG
• Nancy - Lille
• Rennes - Marseille
• Sochaux - Grenoble
• Valencienes - St Etienne
• Olympique Lyon - Toulouse (10 august 2008)
• Auxerre - Nantes

Champions League: Olympique Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille
Uefa Cup: Nancy, St Etienne, PSG
Intertoto: Rennes
Promoted: Le Havre, Nantes, Grenoble

The only question in France is when Lyon will end their current incredible run of seven consecutive tittles.

Who can stop them?

Another smaller question is if St Etienne can once again become what they once were and when that will happen.


For the Seria A the schedule hasn't been drawn yet so have a little patience.

Champions League: Intern, AS Roma, Juventus, Fiorentina
Uefa Cup: AC Milan, Sampdoria, Udinese
Intertoto: Napoli
Promoted: Chievo Verona, Bologna, Lecce

Inter is no doubt in pole-position for the title, lets see if the usual candidates for the title before the Moggi scandal can steal the title from Inter.



That's about it, the first post from many to come, news, transfers and opinions on football and the clubs that really matter.