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Is Luis Suarez the difference maker for Barcelona?

La Liga has become a fantastic league in recent years and the big two have bought big this summer. Alex Johnson take us through the summer moves of the big boys in Spain.

When Atletico Madrid were crowned champions last season, most people feared that their squad would be cherry-picked.

That has proven to be the case. Gone are Diego Costa, Filipe Luis and Thibaut Courtois, all to Chelsea. Costa and Luis cost around 50million all told, while Courtois was a Chelsea player anyway and had been on loan at the Vicente Calderon for three seasons.

Atletico have signed a replacement for Costa in Mario Mandzukic from Bayern Munich. The Croatian has signed a four-year deal at the Vicente Calderon having spent two seasons at the Allianz Arena, with Mandzukic feeling that he didn't fit into Bayern manager Pep Guardiola's plans and subsequently asking to leave.

Atletico's success last season was built on an effective squad togetherness. Manager Diego Simeone did not have a huge pool of players to choose from, with the Argentinian picking a side with a solid defence - only conceding 26 goals in 38 La Liga matches.

They never had the firepower of Real or Barca, however they did feature heavily in scoring goals from set-plays, a point that was emphasised by Diego Godin's equaliser at the Camp Nou which clinched the title.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility Atletico can win back-to-back La Liga titles, but it's going to be very tough. If they do succeed, it would be a greater achievement than their title win last season, and there are two major reasons why - Barcelona and Real Madrid!

Barcelona have tested the nerve of their support this summer, not in terms of their outlay on players, but whether their fans will take to a certain Luis Suarez? With the club bringing in the controversial Suarez (although they won't see him until November), they will need a major PR exercise following his indiscretion, and subsequent ban.

There is no doubt that the Uruguayan is an outstanding footballer and his ability to score goals from just about anywhere makes him one of the world's best. However, as his 'biting' incidents have proved, clubs like Ajax and Liverpool have been forced to part company, despite his importance to both outfits.

Suarez will accompany Neymar and Lionel Messi in a forward three that will try to put the fear into most La Liga defences, including arch-rivals Real Madrid. Although Barcelona will have a new lease of life under new coach and Barcelona legend, Luis Enrique, it may take a little while before he gets his plans across to the players.

Enrique took over from Gerardo Martino, who resigned at the end of last season despite finishing second in the table and winning the Spanish Supercopa - that was deemed not enough and Martino wilted under the pressure.

Enrique is a former manager of Barcelona B, a grooming station for up and coming Barca coaches it appears. He started his managerial career at a big club, in AS Roma, and last season he helped Celta Vigo enjoy a decent campaign, as they finished in the top ten of La Liga for the first time since 2006.

The general thought is that Barca won't win the league because of the evolution currently taking place at the Nou Camp, and that the league title is more likely to end up in the capital...but with Real and not Atletico.

Los Blancos, buoyed by the fact they won the Champions League - their tenth European crown to boot, will also be disappointed that they ran out of gas on the home-front last season. The pundits are not expecting this to happen again and have tipped Real to be the side to dominate Spanish football in the 2014-15 campaign.

By contrast to their great rivals, Real have stayed loyal to the squad which won the Copa del Rey and the Champions League last season, adding Toni Kroos and Colombia star James Rodriquez to the squad.

Carlo Ancelotti will want to add the league title to the two trophies he won last season and having pulled off the transfer from Monaco of the mercurial Rodriquez, then that just adds to the quality of the squad at his disposal.

Some of the Real squad had an inconsistent season last time out, which meant that they lost matches at crucial times, which in the end cost them the league.

With players such as Isco and Illarramendi failing to nail down a spot on a regular basis, more pressure was placed on the youthful members of the squad - such as Jese and Alvaro Morata, who are just developing their game.

From outside last season's top three, there doesn't look any realistic title challengers, however Athletic Bilbao reached the Champions League spots and they have managed to keep the majority of their squad together, with only Ander Herrera leaving to join Manchester United.

Bilbao boss Ernesto Valverde will hope that the young players that performed well last season will be able to keep up those performances on a more consistent basis.

Can Sevilla, Villarreal and Real Sociedad make a real challenge for the title? As the clubs which have made the other European spots, the answer will probably be no.

Despite some areas of quality, you have to imagine that they won't have enough to push past the likes of Barca, Real and Atletico. They simply don't have the financial muscle to have a big enough squad to be consistent at the top level.