Barcelona, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Barcelona will be looking to reclaim the La Liga title for the 2014-15 season, which begins against Elche at Camp Nou on Sunday.
Last season ended in rather disappointing fashion by Barcelona's lofty standards as the Catalans only managed to secure the Spanish Super Cup at the start of the campaign.
A second-place finish to Atletico Madrid in league play - as well as a defeat to Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final - has seen Barcelona shift gears ahead of the new season. Gerardo Martino left his post as Barcelona manager to make way for Luis Enrique, who was not shy about overhauling the squad during the summer transfer window.
Alexis Sanchez departed Camp Nou for Arsenal, Cesc Fabregas made the switch to Chelsea and Carles Puyol retired from the game altogether.
In the wake of such sizable departures, Luis Enrique added reinforcements by signing Ivan Rakitic from Sevilla, Thomas Vermaelen from Arsenal and Jeremy Mathieu from Valencia.
Luis Suarez was the club's most notable signing of the summer, but the former Liverpool striker is unavailable for action until October due to the four- month suspension imposed upon him from yet another biting incident, this time at the World Cup with Uruguay.
Elche, meanwhile, will be hoping to avoid the drop to ensure another season in the Spanish top flight.
Fran Escriba's men finished last season in 16th place, just one point above the relegation zone. But after adding the likes of Adrian Gonzalez, Jonathas and Victor Rodriguez in the transfer window, Elche will be eyeing a mid-table finish to gradually continue its ascent up the ranks.
Celta Vigo and Getafe will kick off simultaneously to Barcelona's fixture as the two sides prepare to do battle at the Estadio Municipal de Balaidos.
Opening Sunday's La Liga slate will be newly-promoted Eibar hosting a Real Sociedad side that will be aiming to sneak into the top-four, while Villarreal will close out Sunday's action by traveling to Ciutat de Valencia to face Levante.
Athletic Bilbao has already embarked on another season with European football. After playing to a 1-1 draw with Napoli in a Champions League qualifier on Tuesday, the club will hit the pitch for its second match of three in the span of nine days when it face Malaga at La Rosaleda on Saturday.
Also on Saturday, Espanyol will head to Almeria, Deportivo La Coruna will take on Granada at Los Carmenes and Sevilla will open with a potentially tricky fixture at home to Valencia.
Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid will return to league action just three days after the second leg of their Spanish Super Cup clash.
Atletico, the reigning La Liga champions, will travel to Campo de Futbol de Vallecas to open its title defense against Rayo Vallecano on Monday, while Real will host Cordoba at the Bernabeu.
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