La Liga kicks-off a new season on Saturday. Will Barcelona be able to repeat the strong showing they produced last season or will Real Madrid make a splash in the transfer market and the standings? Before the action begins, TSN.ca takes a look at five burning questions heading into the 2013-14 season. CAN LIONEL MESSI POSSIBLY DO THAT AGAIN? Leo started the 2012-13 campaign by finishing some business, securing an all-time record 91 goals within a calendar year. He wouldnt stop there, however, pouring in multiple-goal games at will and finishing the season with 60 goals across all competitions. He was a huge contributing factor to Barca matching a club record 100-point output in La Liga and reclaiming the national title for the Catalonians. Theres no reason to think Messi cant pour in the goals, since his 46 La Liga goals actually marked a decrease from his 50-goal output from the previous season, with five less appearances to boot. However, what will be interesting to see is how Messi pairs with the player expected to be the next great super-power in world football: Brazilian forward Neymar. The 21-year-old Brazilian has crossed the pond from Santos and the hope is that he and Messi can form a lethal partnership up front. But how quickly will the pair click, if at all? WHAT WILL BECOME OF ATLETICO MADRID WITHOUT RADAMEL FALCAO? Through the first three-quarters of last season it looked as though Atletico Madrid might be able to best their cross-town rivals and grab second in La Liga. The team was riding a high that extended all the way back to the teams 2012 Europa League title and Radamel Falcao was scoring at a break-neck pace, netting hat tricks in his first two league games. The Colombian was a force for Atletico and although he was not able to shepherd the team to a higher finish in the standings, he was instrumental in gaining at least one key victory over Real. In the Copa del Rey Final, Falcao turned to his playmaking skills, setting up a Diego Costa goal that helped turn the tide and give Atletico its first win in the competition since 1996. Falcao would be lured off, however, in the off-season to AS Monaco who reached a deal with Atletico to the tune of an estimated €60 million transfer fee. His former side has made an attempt to fill the void, acquiring David Villa from Barcelona. However, the 31-year-olds production has tailed off in the past two years. Does Falcaos exit mean the end of the good times for Atletico? BALE OR RONALDO: WHICH SUPERSTAR IS REAL GOING TO SINK ITS CASH INTO? Stop me if youve heard this one before: Real Madrid could be on the verge of a very, very big purchase. Gareth Bale exploded in the Barclays Premier League last season, racking up 21 goals for Tottenham. Now, the Welshman appears to be on his way to greener pastures. The fee being requested by Spurs is believed to be north of 100 million pounds and Real has long been believed to be the team most actively after Bale, but so too has Manchester United.Speaking of the Reds, should they not get into the act on Bale they could very well be involved in a corresponding move, with their interest in re-acquiring Cristiano Ronaldo having been rumoured all summer long. So, what will Real do with all their cash? Will they continue down the path with Ronaldo now that Jose Mourinho has returned to England, or will they ship their superstar whence he came and welcome a new import to lead the offensive charge? IS MALAGA ON AN EXPRESS TRAIN TO IRRELEVANCY AFTER UEFA SANCTIONS? This season marks the first for Malaga under the sanctions imposed by UEFA for the teams inability to meet its debts. Prior to 2011-12 the team dropped millions on the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Isco and Santi Cazorla. The influx of talent allowed Malaga to qualify for the 2012-13 Champions League, but after the team proved to not have sufficient funds to cover costs, UEFA decided to ban the team from its competitions for the next four seasons. As a result, Malaga – who finished sixth last season – will not be taking part in Europa this season, nor the next, nor the next, nor the next. Cazorla was shipped to Arsenal prior to last season and van Nistelrooy has since retired, leaving the team with little to show for its over-investment. The team even had to part with the 23-year-old Isco this past off-season, gritting their teeth and shipping him to Real. So, whats to become of Malaga? Theyve enjoyed 13 of their last 15 seasons in Spains top division, but will they be willing to fight it out to stay there in the knowledge that they will receive no true rewards for finishing near the top? WILL SOCIEDAD ONCE AGAIN FOLD UP AMIDST THE ADDED WORKLOAD OF EUROPE? Congratulations, Real Sociedad. You finished fourth in la Liga last season and are one aggregate victory over Lyon away from qualifying for Champions League for the third time in the last 15 seasons. Heres the problem: the last two times Sociedad qualified for Europes top club competition they plummeted down the domestic standings the very same year. Champions duties turned them from a third-place team to a 10th-place team in 1998-99 and took them from second all the way to 15th in 2003-04. Now, theres still no guarantee that they will make Champions, since Lyon is no slouch, but they will be playing extra games, at worst in the UEFA Europa League. So, will the side hold up amidst a heavier workload? Carlos Vela has been linked with a return to Arsenal and Imanol Agirretxe has been hit by minor injuries in pre-season, but the season is long. Still, its not a good sign for a European contender to be dropping matches to a side like Southampton, even if it is a preseason away game. Cheap Steelers Jerseys . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. Custom Steelers Jersey China . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. http://www.customsteelersjersey.com/custom-devin-bush-jersey-large-77w.html . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Steelers Jerseys China . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. Custom Devin Bush Jersey .J. -- Seven games into a disappointing season, New York Giants defensive catalyst Jason Pierre-Paul is getting the feeling hes back. Res Judicata won the third stakes of his career and his first since the fall of 2013 in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park on Saturday.Res Judicatas career almost came to an end on Sept. 20, 2014, when he was involved in a training accident at Parx Racing. On the morning of the 2014 Pennsylvania Derby, Res Judicata and his exercise rider, Lisa Whitaker, were standing in the vicinity of the quarter pole at Parx when they were broadsided by a runaway horse.Res Judicata didnt race again until June 2015. Whitaker still deals with the injuries she sustained that day.Res Judicata is trained by John Servis and was bred and is owned by Patricia Chapman, who along with her late husband, Roy, raced Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones, the sire of Res Judicata.Coming into the Salvator Mile, Res Judicata had gone 1 for 8 during his comeback, with his lone win coming in a one-mile optional-claiming race at Aqueduct last fall.The field for the $96,000 Salvator Mile scratched down from six horses to four, and lost its chief speed, Green Gratto, on race day. When the gates opened, jockey Nik Juarez put Res Judicatta right on the lead and they clipped off splits of 23.dddddddddddd6 and 47.31 seconds while under light pressure from 4-5 favorite Mr. Jordan. Res Judicata drew clear on the far turn while covering six furlongs in 1:10.94, and won by 3-3/4 lengths under strong handling from Juarez.Allied Air Raid, who stumbled at the start and then was brushed by Mr. Jordan entering the first turn, finished second. It was two lengths farther back in third to Mr. Jordan.Res Judicata paid $18 as by far the longest price in the field. He completed the mile in 1:36.07.The plan was just to keep his face clean, Juarez said after the race.Res Judicata was saddled by Serviss son, Tyler, his Monmouth assistant trainer.The last time we ran him this distance he got brave and he won, Tyler Servis said.Res Judicata, 6, is now 9 for 25 in his career with earnings of $432,340. His prior stakes wins came in the City of Laurel Stakes in Maryland and the Christopher Else Memorial, a South Carolina residency stakes, in 2012. ' ' '