Germany is still smitten with football fever after the national team's World Cup triumph in Brazil; and now, after weeks of preparation and the first round of the DFB-Pokal, attentions return to the Bundesliga.
They do things pretty well, if you hadn't noticed. A high-profile fixture launch (by domestic standards, anyway) pitted champions Bayern Munich against European hopefuls Wolfsburg in Friday night's curtain raiser – and what's more there'll even be an opening ceremony.
When things kick-off, there'll be plenty to keep you keen over the next 10 months. Here's five things to start you off...
1) A proper title race this time
So Bayern Munich won the title by 19 points last season, and remain the favourties. But that's always been the case, and it shouldn't remove the possibility of another team putting up a strong battle for the championship.
Pep Guardiola's 3-4-3 system still has teething issues (as proven in pre-season and the 2-0 German Supercup defeat to Borussia Dortmund), and those problems should continue against strong opposition. Dortmund have strengthened across the board despite losing Robert Lewandowski for nothing, having replaced the Pole with Italian hotshot Ciro Immobile and Hertha Berlin's Adrian Ramos.
Beneath the top two, Wolfsburg have a ridiculous wealth of talent which now includes ex-Arsenal man Nicklas Bendtner (don't laugh). Bayer Leverkusen have invested around €30 million under new coach Roger Schmidt, bringing in reported Gunners targets Hakan Calhanoglu and Josip Drmic to name two; Hamburg have dipped into a €25m ‘soft loan’ to bolster their squad after surviving the relegation play-off, while Borussia Mönchengladbach have strengthened wisely.
The chances of anyone rivalling Bayern and Dortmund for the championship are slim, but that shouldn’t extinguish hope. Despite their abject cup exit in Dresden, Schalke want to finish close to the top two at the very least. It’s up to Germany’s sleeping super powers to crush a potential Bayern monopoly.
2) Lewa and Götze back together
It took Lewandowski and Mario Götze less than four minutes to work some magic in Münster at the weekend, which sounded like an old commentary clip from their previous partnership at Borussia Dortmund.
Before Guardiola decided to tinker with Bayern's shape, Lewandowski appeared the final piece in the jigsaw. Mario Mandzukic was fantastic, but Lewandowski rang a bell with Guardiola's demands: he's a more polished player, able to offer a controlled, almost playmaker-like option at the highest point of the attack.
A summer ending with the winning goal in the World Cup was ideal for Götze, whose confidence will be sky high as he walks around Bayern's Sabener Straße HQ alongside the likes of Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
A big season is expected of him. The 22-year-old is more accustomed to the pressure of being a Bayern player; he looked unfazed, despite warming up in the tunnel, when faced with a wall of abuse from Dortmund fans last week for the second time. If the two quickly rediscover their old connection in Munich, they'll doubtless prove a devastating combination.
3) Hey Micki, you're so fine
It shouldn't really be the case, but Dortmund fans are more excited to see Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan this summer than they were a year ago. The duo were last season's big signings; the players who would fill the Götze void and close the biggest title gap in German history. That didn't materialise.
Aubameyang's goal return reflected well – the Gabon forward netted 13 times in 32 league games – but he was second choice. Armenian Mkhitaryan had some teething problems, most memorably flunking big chances against Real Madrid. Then, he turned the corner. Indeed, his form in the final few months of last season as an attacking midfielder, outside the realms of his former playmaker demands, was terrific. He and Marco Reus complemented each other well and Dortmund clawed back the points.
Expect to see 'Micki' adopt a deeper position in midfield, leaving Reus and Aubameyang to support new addition Immobile. It could almost be compared to Angel di Maria's tactical renaissance as a ball-carrying, counter-attacking inductive No.8. Many are tipping him to take the league by storm next season.
4) New coaches, new philosophies
There are four new head coaches for the new season. Mainz, a team who've already suffered exits in Europe and the German Cup, replaced the long-serving Thomas Tuchel with Danish trainer Kasper Hjulmand.
Hjulmand had helped FC Nordsjaelland to the Danish league championship and into the UEFA Champions League. The 42-year-old is a disciple of Pep Guardiola and the Barcelona way of playing, although his insistence on high pressing and attacking has been hampered by the losses of Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting and Nicolai Müller. Benfica loanee Filip Djuricic, however, will fill the hole for the hipsters with his elegance and socks-rolled-half-up look.
Elsewhere, Armin Veh has returned 'home' to VfB Stuttgart, the club with whom he won the league championship in 2008. Yet already the knives are out for the wily old fox. Stuttgart lost 2-0 to VfL Bochum in the German Cup first round, and his new recruits – including Chelsea loanee Oriol Romeu – have still to settle.
That means a change at Eintracht Frankfurt: Veh's successor at the Commerzbank is returning ex-Werder Bremen stalwart Thomas Schaaf. In Leverkusen, meanwhile, the aforementioned Schmidt has been brought in from RB Salzburg and will be tasked with facilitating a similar development of his Austrian champions at the BayArena.
5) The new boys are intriguing
Coming up this season from 2.Bundesliga are returning traditionverein 1.FC Köln – relegated in 2012 – and SC Paderborn, who make their first appearance in the Bundesliga. Let's be frank, though: for Paderborn to survive it would take an almighty miracle. More so than even Eintracht Braunschweig last season, whose noble efforts weren't quite enough.
For Köln, though, there is genuine cause for optimism. Since the Billy Goats were relegated with an ailing football structure and quad that lacked quality, a new sporting director, head coach and CEO have been appointed in that time – and the club has turned its fortunes around.
Coach Peter Höger has helped nurture a solid core of youngsters like Timo Horn, the goalkeeper, midfielder Yannick Gerhardt and defender Kevin Wimmer (all 21 or under). Köln have made some reinforcements this summer too. Simon Zoller and Yuya Osako bulk up striking options, while Kevin Vogt, a former Aston Villa target, has signed from Augsburg. It seems on paper, at least, Lukas Podolski's boyhood club can compete with the best of the rest.
