Football

When does the Premier League start? Kickoff dates for Europe's major soccer leagues including Serie A, La Liga

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1d ago

Jul 25, 2024 / 1631 Views

We are less than one month out from the return of major European soccer leagues, with the big five of Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 all on their way back. After a busy summer of UEFA Euro 2024, Copa America and now Olympic Games action, the continent's top soccer competitions dropped off the radar until the transfer window recently swung into life. Now, though, when England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France's top flights return to action is the main question on supporters' lips outside of player trading news.

We look at Europe's returning competitions in order of their slated games.

La Liga

First up will be the Spanish league as La Liga returns on Thursday 15 August with Athletic Club vs. Getafe at 1 p.m. ET and Real Betis vs. Girona at 3:30 p.m. ET. One day before the likes of the Premier League, Spain's headline games over the weekend will inevitably feature Valencia vs. Barcelona and Mallorca vs. Real Madrid as Los Blancos start life with new signing Kylian Mbappe but also set about their title defense.

La Liga opener: Thursday 15 August -- Athletic Club vs. Getafe at 1 p.m. ET

Premier League

One day later, the English title comes back into play with Manchester United vs. Fulham on Friday 16 August at 3 p.m. ET getting the EPL season back underway. The big fixture of the weekend is arguably Chelsea vs. champions Manchester City as Pep Guardiola's side look to start the defense of their crown against a Blues side now led by Enzo Maresca after he led Leicester City back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

EPL opener: Friday 16 August -- Manchester United vs. Fulham at 3 p.m. ET

Serie A

Later that same weekend, major competitive soccer returns to Italy with Serie A getting back underway on Saturday 17 August with Genoa vs. champions Inter as well as Parma vs. Fiorentina at 12:30 p.m. ET. All eyes may well be on the glitzy Juventus vs. Como encounter as the lake-based side make their eagerly anticipated Italian topflight debut with a host of recognizable names now attached to their ambitious project.

Calcio opener: Saturday 17 August -- Genoa vs. Inter at 12:30 p.m. ET

Ligue 1

Although not yet set in terms of a start date, France will also see the return of a new-look Ligue 1 that weekend although the television rights crisis means that Games are only tentatively scheduled for the weekend of Sunday 18 August -- for now. There is expected to be a Friday 16 Game once the details of the new TV deal are known but champions Paris Saint-Germain open away at Le Havre as Luis Enrique's men start life post-Mbappe. There is also Monaco vs. Saint-Etienne and Rennes vs. Lyon to look forward to as both are on the opening day slate.

Ligue 1 opener: TBC

Bundesliga

Coming in one week later than everybody else due to the DFL Supercup between Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart as well as the DFB Pokal while everyone else is getting back underway in their respective leagues, German soccer starts the weekend of Friday 23 August with Borussia Monchengladbach vs. champions Leverkusen at 2:30 p.m. ET. There is also Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg vs. Bayern Munich to look forward to on opening weekend. However, all of the big names will actually be in action the same weekend as everybody else as the Pokal requires all clubs to start at the same point -- Leverkusen, Bayern, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig all have fixtures slated even if Xabi Alonso's men can only play theirs at the end of the month.

Bundesliga opener: Friday 23 August -- Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Leverkusen at 2:30 p.m. ET