FROM
THE
EDITOR
Barcelona turn
to Koeman
Barcelona have appointed Netherlands
manager Ronald Koeman as their new
head coach following the dismissal of
Quique Setien.
The club hierarchy wasted little time in
the aftermath of their shocking 8-2 defeat
to Bayern Munich, acting quickly on a clause
in Koeman’s contract which allowed him to
join the Catalan club.
The new man will have a big rebuilding
job on his hands. Club presidentJosep Maria
Bartomeu recently announced that the entire
first-team squad is up for sale, with the
exception of Lionel Messi, Frenkie deJong,
Clement Lenglet, Marc-Andre ter Stegen,
Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele
and Nelson Semedo, as well as the
brightest graduates fromLa Masia.
Koeman, who scored 88 goals in 264
games for Barca, including the winner in
the1992 European Cup final, becomes the
latest in a growing trend of European clubs
appointing former players as head coach,
with Andrea Pirlo taking over theJuventus
reins from Maurizio Sarri following the club’s
shock Champions League exit to Lyon.
Read more on page 54.The“NewSeason”specialissueisaregulareditionofWorld
SoccerIavidlylookedforwardtocollectingasareader,and
aftera2019-20seasonwewillneverforget–primarilyfor
allthewrongreasons–itisnicetofinallygetbacktosome
semblanceofnormalitywithinthefootballcalendarby
compiling this 2020-21 edition.
After a condensed schedule to complete last season’s
campaigns, including the Champions League and Europa
League “mini-tournaments” (page 70), within the blink of
aneye,the2020-21seasonisuponus.Butnoteverythingis
quitebacktonormalyet.Theramificationsofthecoronavirus
pandemicarestilllurking–webring
youcomprehensivepreviewsof
major European leagues (page 33) but
some are already experiencing new
postponements (Scotland, page 52).
The usual money-spinning preseason
friendlytourshavebeencancelled,
impactingbothclubfinancesand
transfers (page 58); the transfer
windowhasbeenuniquelyextended
untilOctober–althoughweround-up
the biggest done deals (page 20); and major continental
tournaments such as the Copa Libertadores (page 76) and
Asian Champions League (page 80) still have lingering
doubts over their futures.
Nonetheless,thereisstillplentytolookforwardto.Stars
andclubstowatch,newsigningsandcoaches,risingtalents
andbigtalkingpointsareallcoveredinourEuropeanseason
preview.Plus,willTimoWerner(page13)beahitatChelsea?
WillthereturnofArjenRobben(interviewonpage62)bea
success?WillVAR(page14)finallyimprove?Howdoesthe
UEFANationsLeagueworkagain?Seeour“explainersguide”
(page82).AndwhatonEarthisgoingonatBarcelona?Their
crisis is covered in depth in our La Liga preview (page 54).
Inofferingacomprehensiveguideto2020-21,this
issueattemptstoprovide
youwithananswertoallof
these questions and more.
Ihopeyouenjoyreadingit
as much as we’ve enjoyed
putting it together.Stephen Fishlock, Group Editor
SPAINIt is nice
to finally get
back to some
semblance of
normality within
the football
calendarDream job...Koeman has always
wanted to coach BarcelonaTHEWORLD THIS MONTH