London: A look at what’s happening in European soccer Sunday:
ENGLAND
Tottenham begins life after Harry Kane with an away match at Brentford in the teams’ Premier League opener. Kane joined Bayern Munich Saturday after 19 years at Tottenham, leaving a big hole in the team. Son Heung-min will be Tottenham’s new captain for this season and James Maddison should give the team more creativity in midfield. The other game sees Liverpool visit Chelsea for a meeting between teams who have been battling each other in the transfer market this offseason, with midfielders Moises Caicedo and Romain Lavia reportedly interesting both clubs. Chelsea and Liverpool will start with much-changed teams after key departures to the Saudi Arabian league. It will be Mauricio Pochettino’s first competitive game in charge of Chelsea.
SPAIN
Barcelona kicks off its defense of the Spanish league title with a trip to Getafe in Madrid. Xavi Hernández could give a debut to top signing Ilkay Gundogan after his move from Manchester City. Getafe should be a hard team to crack at home after the return of coach José Bordalás, who likes his team to play physical defense. Villarreal hosts Real Betis in a matchup of two teams that just missed out on a Champions League berth last season and will be aiming to repeat their strong campaigns. Osasuna, a losing finalist in last season’s Copa del Rey, will travel to Celta Vigo.
GERMANY
Makkabi Berlin will make history as the first Jewish club to play in the German Cup as it hosts Wolfsburg. The fifth-tier club won a regional cup for Berlin to earn a spot in the national competition. The other 10 first-round games Sunday include Union Berlin against Astoria Walldorf, Eintracht Frankfurt visiting Lokomotive Leipzig, and a game for Freiburg against fifth-tier Oberachern.
FRANCE
Northern side Lens finished second last season with a tight-knit squad that has since lost speedy forward Lois Openda and inspirational midfield captain Seko Fofana, after both were sold. Lens is at Brest in the lunchtime kickoff, while Rennes is at home to Metz and Monaco goes to Clermont.
AP
