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. Kevin Mchale Jersey Large . "It was nerve-wracking, but we pulled through," said Collaros, who threw four touchdown passes to lead the Toronto Argonauts (8-4) to a 33-27 win over the Calgary Stampeders (9-3) in front of 28,781 fans at McMahon Stadium. Custom Celtics Jerseys . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. http://www.customcelticsjersey.com/custom-john-havlicek-jersey-large-217e.html . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. John Havlicek Jersey Large . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. Robert Parish Jersey Large . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- One thing you can always count on in sports is that the New England Patriots will never say anything bad about an upcoming opponent.Even when someone like Ben Roethlisberger isnt going to play.Its tough to see any injury for any player, and hes obviously dealing with a significant one, but Im sure theyll still be ready to go, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said Wednesday, looking ahead to New Englands visit to Pittsburgh to meet the Roethlisberger-less Steelers on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS).Theyve got a lot of good players, especially on defense, Brady said. Its a very veteran group, and they play well at home. They lost two games on the road, but were not playing them on the road. Were playing them at home where theyve won them all, so its going to be a big challenge for us.Roethlisberger, injured Sunday during a loss to the Miami Dolphins, underwent left knee surgery and is expected to miss four to six weeks. Landry Jones, who has been no more than so-so during his chances the past two years, is the quarterback as the 4-2 Steelers look to down the 5-1 Patriots.Hes obviously a good quarterback, running back LeVeon Bell said on a conference call Wednesday. I think he has a lot of good things that he can bring to the table. Weve just got to, as a whole entire offense, help him out and get him comfortable and get him confident in himself, and thats when he really will start striking.Bell, of course, and wide receiver Antonio Brown still have to be dealt with, but not having Roethlisberger with those guys has to make a difference.Asked about Bell, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, Oh my God. Oh yeah, tremendous player. Great hands, catch the ball, very quick, makes people miss. Strong, breaks tackles, excellent balance, tough, doesnt run out of bounds, fights for extra yardage. Great player.Brady returned from his four-game Deflategate suspension two games ago and came out on fire. With Rob Gronkowski recovered from his hamstring injury, Brady is 57 of 75 for 782 yards with six touchdown passes and no interceptions.Brady is 6-2 lifetime against the Steelers with 22 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. His two pick-free games this year extended the teams run of no interceptions through the first six games.ddddddddddddThe scary thing about Bradys numbers is that he thinks he can even be better, that he has yet to work out all the kinks from the suspension.No ... Im not going to dispute his assessment of his game, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. Obviously, from my perspective, hes Tom Brady. Hes got six touchdowns, no interceptions and completing 76 percent of his balls, so from my perspective, we face a stiff challenge. But Im not going to question his perspective regarding his game.Last Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, Patriots linebacker Donta Hightower dominated the game on that side of the ball, tackling Andy Dalton in the end zone for a safety to start the New England charge, then adding another half-sack later in the second half. He finished with 13 tackles and was named AFC defensive player of the week.The Steelers, who are 3-0 at home, wasted no time in declaring Roethlisberger out of this game, with Tomlin perhaps even sending a mild shot at other coaches (Belichick) when it comes to injury reports.Were a transparent group. We dont hide. We are who we are, he said. He had a surgical procedure to address his knee issue, so to eliminate any potential questions or distractions regarding his availability and get firmly focused on the task at hand with the man playing quarterback thats playing quarterback this week, thats the approach.Jones, who has thrown only one pass this season, was 16 of 29 for 209 yards with one touchdown pass and two interceptions in a loss at Kansas City last season. He had three TD passes and four picks in 2015.Sunday also will be the first game for Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount against the team that released him in 2014 -- after he walked off the bench during a game. Blount has been outstanding so far this season, scoring six touchdowns in six games.Were still very tight, Bell said of Blount. Me and him still talk a lot to this day. Obviously, hes doing great things on the field. I watch his games, he watches my games, we still critique each other and talk about some of the things we did good, some of the things we did bad with one another. ' ' '