World Soccer - UK (2021-10)

A finalinSaintPetersburg’spicturesque

KrestovskyStadiumwill be thereward

fortwoofthe 3 2 teamswhomakeit

toUEFA’sshowpiece eventin 2022.

Europeanfootballisina stateofflux

offthepitch,and that’s notsolelydown

tothe pandemic. Even thebiggest clubs

arestrugglingtofindtheirplaceinthe

grandschemeofthingsafterthefailure

ofSuperLeagueplansthatthreatened

theprestigeofthiscompetition.

Therearechangesonthe pitchtoo.

Awaygoalswillnotbeusedforthe first

timesince the 19 66-67 seasonafter

UEFAscrappedthe ruleacrossall

ofits continentalcompetitions.

Despite thefinancialissues,the

usualnamesare still expectedtobe

inthe mixforEurope’stop prize.None

moreso thantheEnglish PremierLeague

clubs,whoseslightlymorerobustleague

structureandbig-money televisiondeals

havehelped themweatherthestorm,

oratleast sufferlessdamage.

The road to Russia

JamesNaltontakesalookatthecontendersforthisseason’sChampionsLeague...

ENGLANDEXPECTS

Threeofthe last fourfinalshave

featuredPremierLeaguesides,with

twoof thosebeingall-Englishaffairs.

DefendingchampionsChelseaare

contendersagainastheyhead into their

first full seasonunderThomasTuchel.

TheGermanhasa strongsquadathis

disposal,includingmidfieldmetronome

Jorginhowho impressedwithEuropean

championsItaly thissummer. WithN’Golo

Kante alongsidehim,the Londonclub

haveoneofthebestengineroomsin

thecompetition,while there-signing of

formerstriker RomeluLukakufromInter

shouldremedytheirgoal-shy attack.

ManchesterCityreachedtheir

first finallastseasonandthoughthey

wereunabletoclearthe last hurdle,

PepGuardiola’stalentedsquad - now

alsofeaturing£10 0 millionsigning

JackGrealish – will be oneofthebig

favourites to liftthetrophyin 20 22.

Liverpool, meanwhile, will be

hopingtorediscovertheformthat

sawthemreachconsecutivefinals

in 2018 and 2019. JurgenKlopphas

keydefendersVirgil vanDijkandJoe

Gomezbackfromlong-terminjury–

andbolstered theback-linefurther

withthe£36msigningof FranceU2 1

centre-backIbrahimaKonatefromRB

Leipzig– whileforwardsMohamed

SalahandSadioManeshouldbe

refreshedaftera raresummeroff.

Oneplayer whohadabusier

summerwas Jadon Sancho.Hemay

nothavebeen a prominentplayer

forEngland at theEuros,but the

rumoursofhis eventualtransfer

toManchesterUnitedrumbledon

throughout.Unitedhavealsosecured

thesigningofRaphaelVaranefrom

RealMadrid;Ole GunnarSolskjaer’s

side,it seems,meanbusiness.

Holders...Chelsea

celebrateinlast

season’sfinalv

ManchesterCity

Newboy...canGrealish

helpManchesterCity

achievetheHolyGrail?

UEFACHAMPIONSLEAGUE 2021 - 22