Major League Soccer's All-Star game is tonight at 8:30pm on ESPN2, as the league's best come together, have a couple of practices, and then play against Bayern Munich in Portland. Liga MX, the Mexican first division, is also in full swing for the fall. European leagues, though, start up later this month, with a few beginning as soon as Friday. Here is your quick-and-dirty SoccerCentric guide to the season ahead.

LIGUE 1
Begins: August 8
TV: beIN Sports, which might be a little hard to find on your channel lineup
The season ahead: Paris St. Germain is owned by Qatar. They have an enormous amount of money, have won two consecutive Ligue 1 titles, and are the heavy favorites to win a third straight. Monaco, owned by a Russian billionaire, is the only other team with a real chance to unseat PSG. (In European soccer, cash is king, let's be honest.)

PREMIER LEAGUE
Begins: August 16 (though the traditional season-opening exhibition, the Community Shield, is Sunday)
TV: NBC Sports (occasionally NBC, always NBC Sports Network and always online at nbcsports.com)
The season ahead: The oddsmakers have installed Chelsea as the favorite, just a nose ahead of Manchester City. Behind the two uber-rich clubs, though, there are a host of interesting stories. Manchester United were a disaster last year, but the mercurial (and quite possibly insane) Louis van Gaal is now in charge; can they right the ship? Arsenal, for once, signed big players (most notably Alexis Sanchez) without losing anyone; can they finally make the jump? How will Liverpool handle losing Luis Suarez? Can Everton maintain their magic? Will Burnley win a game this season?

BUNDESLIGA
Begins: August 22
TV: GolTV - sorry, but unless you speak Spanish and have DirecTV, you probably can't watch this channel at home
The season ahead: Bayern Munich are once again the favorites for the German title. Borussia Dortmund, like Monaco in France, are probably the only team that have a chance of challenging them in any real way. While many American soccer writers have tried to compare various English teams to the Yankees and/or Cowboys, it's probably Bayern that are the closest European comparison, so feel free to use that in your rooting interest.

LA LIGA
Begins: August 24
TV: beIN Sports
The season ahead: Atletico Madrid beat the odds, and both Barcelona and Real Madrid, to claim last season's crown. While this is a little like getting excited about the Mets beating the Yankees and the Red Sox for the World Series, it's still nice to see someone other than the big two on top; it hadn't happened since 2004. That said, Barca and Real are the heavy favorites to take the title this year.

SERIE A
Begins: August 30
TV: beIN Sports
The season ahead: Juventus are favorites, but Roma and Napoli are also in the mix, as is AC Milan. The once-all-conquering Italian league has dropped off a bit in recent years, probably due to the money that has flowed into other leagues and to the weakness of the Italian economy; no Italian team has made the semifinals of the Champions League since 2010, and last year, only Milan even made it through the group stage. That said, though, Italy is always a riot, only partially because on any given day, both teams may be paying off the referee.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Begins: Qualifying has already started; final playoff round begins August 19, with group stages starting September 16
TV: Fox Sports, especially FS1
The season ahead: Nobody knows anything in the Champions League; Bayern are the favorites, but that hardly matters. As with the World Cup, the group-stage draw (August 28) can determine a lot of things. Juventus, PSG, and Manchester City are lurking as potential #2 seeds, with Liverpool and Roma are even further down the draw; any of the top teams could draw a cakewalk to the final 16, or could be eliminated before even getting to the knockout round. And of course, once the knockout round begins, anything could happen.

OTHER LEAGUES
Celtic will win the Scottish Premiership (starts August 9 on FOX Soccer Plus and the FOX Soccer 2Go app), but it's worth mentioning because Scotland is the home of Inverness Caley Thistle, the Official European Team of SoccerCentric... FOX Soccer Plus also carries games from the Europa League, UEFA's second-tier continent-wide competition - as well as the Australian A-League, which begins October 10... UEFA's ranking system has the Portuguese Primera Liga ranked as the continent's fourth-best - ahead of both Italy and France. It begins August 17, but does not have a USA TV deal I can find, so you might be out of luck.