After a dramatic end to the 2014-15 campaign, the 2015-16 Frauen-Bundesliga season kicks off on Friday, with champions Bayern Munich welcoming last season's fourth-placed finishers and DFB-Pokal finalists, Turbine Potsdam.
The league restarts following a successful summer for women's football, the Women's World Cup drawing incredible attendances and record-breaking viewing figures worldwide, and the German domestic scene will look to capitalise on the buzz, after their national side came fourth in the tournament.
Last season, Bayern were crowned champions for the first time in the Bundesliga era, having won the top flight title back in 1976 as well. They secured this honour on a dramatic final day, winning 2-0 at home to SGS Essen whilst then reigning champions VfL Wolfsburg and FFC Frankfurt drew 1-1 at the same time, both of whom could have won the title with a victory had Bayern slipped up.
Yet, instead, the team held their nerve with a comfortable victory, meaning the city boasted two Bundesliga champions for the 2014-15 season as Bayern's men's side, in contrast, cruised to their third consecutive title.
This year, the same competitive levels can be expected, with Wolfsburg and Frankfurt keen to dethrone their league rivals. Potsdam have been productive in the summer transfer window too as they try and narrow the gap between them and the top three, whilst a number of teams nearer the bottom will be hoping to put up more of a fight against the big teams after also doing well with their recruitment in the off-season.
Title contenders
Despite all the changes, the title contenders are unlikely to alter, with reigning champions Bayern Munich, runners-up Wolfsburg and third-placed finishers, and Women's Champions League victors, Frankfurt the front-runners in the race before a ball has even been kicked.
Wolfsburg will be the favourites, despite Bayern being the champions, as they have dominated their domestic scene, and Europe, over the last few years, winning the league and the Champions League in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. They slipped up a few times last year, dropping points to USV Jena and Potsdam, whilst their summer signings have made a real statement.
Winning just one of their four games against their two big rivals in the league last year, the Wolves have seen it fit to recruit some world-class talent in former-Olympique Lyon duo Elise Bassaglia and Lara Dickenmann, whilst teenage sensation Ewa Pajor will add more than enough to the attack, which has lost an experienced head in Martina Müller, the striker announcing her retirement this summer.
However, Frankfurt too have dealt with a big loss going forward, Celia Sasic, the league's top-scorer last season, also retiring, meaning Yuki Ogimi has been recruited from rivals Wolfsburg, the Japanese international keen to impress after seeing her minutes limited with the Wolves.
Add to this the arrvials of midfielders Emily van Egmond and Sophie Schmidt, to compensate for the losses of Jessica Fishlock, Veronica Boquete and Dzsenifer Marozsan, the latter through injury, and Frankfurt will certainly be a force to be reckoned with once again this season, looking to maintain their status as the league's top-scorers after netting 74 in 22 games last time out.
Finally though, Bayern were a model of consistency last season, constantly getting the job done week-in week-out with 17 wins, five draws and no defeats in their title-winning season. Dropping just four points to teams outside the top three and conceding only seven goals, they were sublime as they ended Wolfsburg reign at the top.
They have kept their entire team together for this season coming, whilst improving bit by bit in areas, pinching stars from their league rivals - such as Boquete from Frankfurt, Lisa Evans from Potsdam and Sara Däbritz from SC Freiburg - as well as adding Nicole Rolser from Liverpool to ensure strength in depth in a side that will look to compete in three competitions for the first time in a long time again this year.
The deciding factor in the title race will be how many points each team can take from the other two, and so we can look forward to six huge fixtures again this season.
Dark horses
Though these three are the obvious candidates for the title, there are a couple of teams that will look to use their underdog status to their advantage this season by sneaking up on the big three to cause an unlikely surprise.
Potsdam are the obvious dark horses, somewhat paradoxically, having won the title in 2012, but dropped a place each season since, ending up in fourth last time out as the rise of the current big three continues to push them further from another honour.
They were runners-up, losing to Wolfsburg, in the cup last season too, but have added some real quality to their ranks that could help cause a big upset. Strong signings such as Australian international Elise Kellond-Knight, Frankfurt's Bianca Schmidt, up-and-coming French international striker Marina Makanza, and Italian forward Ilaria Mauro, who scored 24 goals in 21 games for SC Sand during her two years there, mean they boast a really impressive squad now - one capable of finishing higher than fourth, for sure.
Another potential dark horse could be Bayer Leverkusen. Though they have lost some key players to bigger clubs after a relegation threatened 2014-15, with Isabelle Linden and Theresa Franziska Panfil going to Frankfurt whilst Lisa Schmitz joined Potsdam, they made a real statement in the transfer window this summer by securing the services of Annike Krahn, a German international defender who has 123 caps for her country and finished runner-up in the Champions League last season to Frankfurt with Paris Saint Germain of France.
The club must have an incredible project in the works to snap up such a player, whilst the addition of Katja Schroffenegger, Bayern's back-up stopper, is a great one, as she will be keen to prove a point between the sticks. Leverkusen's Turid Knaak spoke exclusively to VAVEL about the way these new signings have gelled quickly and how the team is feeling good going into the new season, and they are certainly capable of finishing in the top half this time out, perhaps springing a surprise in the process.
Relegation candidates
The relegation battle was enthralling last season, with just 11 points separating relegated MSV Duisburg in 11th and fifth placed Essen, and the same can be expected this time round.
Jena were heavily involved in the scrap for survival last year, and the same can be expected this time out, with them not expected to improve much, if at all, on an eighth placed finish last season, just three points above the drop. Other than the recruitment of Dutch international Claudia van den Heiligenberg, they have struggled to strengthen their team over the summer, with them instead signing players from teams that went down that have hardly improved their squad, and thus look set to struggle once more.
The two newly-promoted sides will also be in the mix, neither Werder Bremen or 1. FC Köln having added any real top flight experience to their team to help them cope with the Bundesliga's tough level and tight margins at the bottom. Werder have promoted many youth players and bought from lower quality leagues in Europe, whereas Köln have just added very few players at all, though they have both maintained the core of their promotion-winning squads, which could be key in surviving the drop.
A surprise struggler, however, could be Essen, despite them being the best of the rest last season, finishing 20 points, but just one place, behind Potsdam. In Dominique Janssen, they have lost a huge player, the midfielder joining Arsenal, whilst they have recruited very little, meaning the teams below them have been allowed to gain ground on last season's fifth placed finishers. This lack of activity, with just two players signed, could prove to come back and haunt them.
Players to look out for
Despite all the big names that have been imported by the Frauen-Bundesliga this summer, it is a promising, young one that most will be excited to see in action, with Pajor joining Wolfsburg from 2014 and 2015 Ekstraliga champions, KKPK Medyk Konin.
The 18-year-old was an absolutely super star in Poland, and made her senior debut for her country when she was only 16, having scored 13 goals in 13 apperances since. The youngest player ever to appear in the Polish women's top flight, aged 15 and 133 days, Pajor also netted eight goals in four Champions League games last season, despite her side going out in the round of 32, with four of these coming in one qualifying match - a 7-0 win over Finnish outfit Åland United.
With Ogimi joining Frankfurt and Müller retiring, the youngster has a lot of responsibility to take on, filling some big shoes, but she will relish the challenge and thrive under the pressure that the Bundesliga presents.
Ogimi is another to watch out for this season as she looks to prove a point to Wolfsburg. The Japanese striker spent two years with Chelsea before being snapped up by the Wolves last year, but she was granted just 487 minutes of football, coming over the course of nine appearances, of which only five were starts.
Still, she managed four goals and could come back to haunt her former employers by replicating the form she showed in a Potsdam shirt for many years, scoring 18 goals in 21 games in her final season with the club prior to her switch to England. She is another striker with big boots to fill, but one who will do so well, as is her personality as a footballer.
The third and final player to watch out for is another one who will be wanting to prove a point to Wolfsburg - Lina Magull. Magull has been loaned out to Freiburg for the coming campaign, who also managed to secure a deal with the Wolves for youth product Selina Wagner, and will see this as her last chance to impress her parent club with her to turn 22 at the end of the season.
Magull netted on five occasions from midfield last season, playing 16 games, with 12 of these starts, and showed real promise with plenty of creative play in her performances, as well as the same occurring when she was granted chances in the Champions League. However, the Wolves have a deep squad, of which she is on the fringes, and a move to Freiburg will allow the club to really assess her quality as she is likely to play a key role over a full season for them.
She is more than capable of making the most of the opportunity and should held her temporary team be this seasons surprise package given the great attacking flair they have imported over the summer.
Opening fixtures
The pick of the opening weekend's games is certainly the curtain raiser, as Bayern welcome Potsdam in a clash of first - fourth that will surely show what the latter are made of as they look to propel themselves back into the hunt for the title this season.
At the opposite end, the two newly-promoted sides, Werder Bremen and Köln face off on Sunday morning in a crucial fixture for both as they look to start the season well in a game they will target as winnable, whilst Sand's trip to Leverkusen will assess what the hosts are capable of achieving after some impressive summer business.
Here is the full list of fixtures for matchday one:
Friday 28 August - Bayern Munich v FFC Turbine Potsdam (1700BST)
Saturday 29 August - USV Jena v VfL Wolfsburg (1300BST)
Sunday 30 August - FFC Frankfurt v SGS Essen (1000BST), Werder Bremen v 1. FC Köln (1000BST), SC Freiburg v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (1300BST), SC Sand v Bayer Leverkusen (1300BST).