The Greek Super League kicks off next weekend, with current champions Olympiakos Piraeus heavy favourites to defend their title.
The league also welcomes the return of AEK Athens and Iraklis Thessalonikis, both back in the top flight after winning promotion from the Football League, Greece’s second-tier competition.
Those two, along with Panathinaikos, PAOK and Atromitos are expected to battle it out for the play-off positions that lead to European football.
However it’s the defending champion Olympiakos that looks like the runaway favourite.
The Piraeus club has a new coach, former Sporting Lisbon manager Marco Silva, who took over from the outgoing Vitor Perreira.
Silva has been hired to not only ensure Olympiakos retains its domestic title but also to help the Greek club make some real progress in the European Champions League.
Although it has dominated Greek football for the last two decades, Olympiakos and its supporters have set their sights on European success, with the aim being to make at least the quarter finals of either the Champions League or the Europa League.
Despite being officially banned from the sport pending a football corruption probe, Olympiakos boss Vangelis Marinakis is also hungry for European glory and has invested in a mix of experience and young talent, including the signing of Argentinian midfielder Estaban Cambiasso.
The 34-year old is a Champions League winner with Internazionale of Italy and will add much-needed experience and consistency to the Olympiakos midfield.
He is joined by fellow newcomers Icelandic striker Alfred Finnbogason, Colombian Felipe Pardo and former Panathinaikos goalkeeper Stefano Kapinio, with several more signings expected before the transfer period ends at the end of this month.
Across town at rivals Panathinaikos, the big news of the summer was the signing of Ghana’s Michael Essien.
Unfortunately for the Greens, the former Chelsea and Real Madrid midfielder was injured during pre-season.
However, Panathinaikos have expressed satisfaction with Essien’s progress in the treatment room and the 32-year-old, who underwent surgery last month, is expected to join the team in the next few weeks.
Together with Panathinaikos’ star Swedish striker Marcus Berg and Greek midfielder Sotiris Ninis, the club has some strong firepower, and coach Yiannis Anastasiou will be expected to challenge arch rivals Olympiakos for the title.
Thessaloniki club PAOK was leading the race at the halfway point of last year’s championship only to eventually finish fifth following the play-offs, a result that meant an early start to this campaign with the Macedonian team having already played two rounds of European football in the Europa League qualifiers.
PAOK’s passionate supporters are quietly confident following a flurry of transfer activity in recent weeks, together with the introduction of a new football director in Frank Arrensen and a new coach, former Croatian international Igor Tudor.
One of the club’s signings looks set to be Sydney FC midfielder Terry Antonis.
Antonis, 21, is on the verge of agreeing personal terms and, pending a medical, leaving the A-League for Igor Tudor’s team, according to both News Corp and SBS, for a fee believed to be approximately AU$500,000.
One of the teams that jumped PAOK in the standings during last season’s play-offs is Atromtios, and big things are expected once again from the Athens club as it continues to grow in stature.
The team, which takes on Turkish giants Fenerbache in the Europa League play-offs this week, has two very skillful players in Stefano Napoleoni and Marcelinho, accompanied by a strong defensive unit that makes this club hard to beat even for Greece’s biggest clubs.
Back in the Super League after two years in the lower leagues, AEK has signed two Venezuelans in Ronald Vargas and Alain Baroja, Portuguese midfielder Andres Simoes, Spanish defenders Cesar Arzo and Didac Villa, Brazilian defender Rodrigo Galo and the talented Argentinean Diego Buonanotte.
The Athens club, led by coach Traianos Dellas, a Euro-2004 winner with the Greek national team, is also looking forward to the return of injured stars Petros Mantalos, Michalis Bakakis and Miguel Cordero.
If the new players gel with the existing squad and Dellas can manage the team well, a top three finish is not beyond their reach in their first season back in the top flight.
It all makes for an exciting season with the opening round of the Super League set for next weekend.
Reigning champions Olympiakos host fellow Athens club Panionios, while last year’s runner-up Panathinaikos travel to Panaitolikos.
The pick of the other games includes PAOK against Xanthi, Asteras Tripolis versus Panthrakikos, and in their first game back in the Super League, newly promoted AEK tackles Cretan team Platanias at the Athens Olympic Stadium.