World Soccer - UK (2021-10)

ADDEDINTEREST

BUNDESLIGA

CONTENDERS

The 2022 finalwill be played in Spainat
thehomeofthemostsuccessfulsidein
thehistoryofthetournament,Sevilla.
WithfiveSpanishsidesinthe
ChampionsLeague groupstage,there’s
a strongpossibilityonewilldropintothis
competition,butuntilthenLaLiga will
berepresentedbyRealSociedadand
RealBetis.
Theinterestof Betiswillbe piqued
bythe factthatthefinalwillbeplayed
intheircity at thehomeoftheirlocal
rivals, whichcouldgive themadded
impetus.Theyaremanagedbythe
experiencedChileanManuelPellegrini,
whohasguidedthe clubbacktothe
EuropaLeaguefor thefirst timesince
2018 -19,whentheylost to Rennes
ina thrillingroundof 32 clashthat
ended6-4 on aggregate.
RealSociedad’s 2020 CopadelRey
winisstill freshinthememory,mainly
becausethe finalwasn’t playeduntil
April 2021 duetothepandemic. Unique
circumstances meanttheyheldthattitle
forjusttwoweeksuntilBarcelonawon
the 202 1 final.Theirpopularmanager,
ImanolAlguacil,whohailsfromthe
nearbytownofOrio,madeheadlines
after thatcupwinthankstohis authentic,
fan-likecelebrations,andhis sidewill

Asoneoftwo Germanrepresentatives,

Bayer Leverkusenwillbehopingthe

saleofLeonBaileyto AstonVilla

doesn’tweakenthemtoo much.

PlayerssuchasMoussaDiabyand

Lucas Alarioshouldkeepthemticking

overin attack,while21-year-oldattacker

Paulinhohasprovedhisfitnesswith

Brazilatthissummer’sOlympics

having spentlastseasononthe

sidelineswithakneeinjury.

TheyarejoinedbyEintracht

Frankfurt, whowillbelookingto

repeattheir 2019 heroicswhenthey

narrowlylostinthesemi-finaltoeventual

winnersChelsea.ThesigningsofJesper

LindstromfromBrondbyandJensPetter

HaugefromMilan shouldgivethema

goodplatformfromwhichtobuild.

EARLYFAVOURITES

SerieA sideNapoliarefavourites
goingintothe tournament,butnot
overwhelminglyso.Themaingoalfor
theirnewmanager, LucianoSpalletti,will
betomounta challengeinSerieA and
atleast restoretheclub’s top-fourstatus.
HavingparticipatedintheChampions
Leagueinsevenof thepreviousten
seasons, they arenaturallyoneof
thestrongersidesinthe field.
FellowItaliansideLaziocouldalsogo
farin thecompetition,especiallyafter
theirappointmentofMaurizioSarriwho
isa previouswinnerwithChelsea.Sarri
replacesSimoneInzaghiwholeft for
Internazionalethissummer.

Anotherclubwhohavebeenhanded

a favouritestag by thebookmakersearly

onareLeicesterCity. In bothof thelast

twoseasonstheyhavefailedtoholdon

toa placein thePremierLeague’stop

four, andmaywellseevictory in this

competitionastheir best chanceof

qualifyingfor theChampionsLeague.

TheEuropaLeague is acompetition

Brendan Rodgersandhisplayersbelieve

theyhavea genuinechanceofwinning,

andthe signingsofPatsonDakaand

Boubakary Soumare from RB Salzburg

andLillerespectivelybringssomeuseful

continentalknow-how,aswellasthe

depthto challengeonmultiplefronts.

CONFERENCE

ROOM

Weknow theEuropaLeaguecan

beshakenupwiththeintroduction

ofChampionsLeaguesidesinthe

knockoutstage, butthe 202 1- 22

seasonbringsanaddeddimensionwith

theintroductionofa thirdEuropean

competitionfor thefirst timesince

thelastCupWinners’Cupin1 999.

RatherthanexitingEuropealtogether,

teams finishing third in theirEuropa

Leaguegroupswilldropintoaknockout

roundinthe newConferenceLeague.

Thismeans more teamswillbe in

continentalcompetitionfor longer, and

there is thepotentialto seenewnames

etchedontoEuropeantrophies.

TheEuropaLeague’splaceand

prominence in thenew-lookfestival

ofEuropeanclubfootball could be

affectedbut,giventheteamsinvolved

andthosewhocouldpotentiallypaya

visit,itwillstillbe an entertainingride.

Onetowatch...Lyon’sRayanCherki

Formerwinner...Lazio

coachMaurizioSarri

EUROPALEAGUE

TheinterestofBetiswillbepiqued

bythefactthatthefinalwillbe

playedintheircityatthehome

oftheirlocalrivals,whichcould

givethemaddedimpetus

Secondchance...the

ConferenceLeague

DeclanRice...the

Englandmidfielder

willbepartofWest

Ham’sfirstforayin

Europesince 2006

behopingto take thatspiritwiththem

ontheirtravelsaroundEurope.

WestHamUnited’srise to the

Premier League’s Europeanqualification

placeswasanunexpectedbutwelcome

surprise.DavidMoyes’sideweregood

value fortheirsixth-placefinish and

wereevenincontentionfor a placein

theChampionsLeagueat onepoint.

Repeatingsuchanachievementinthe

leaguewhilealsocompetinginEurope

willbe a difficultask,butfanswill no

doubtenjoy thetrip.

PortuguesesideBragaand

LokomotivMoscowofRussiatake

theirplaceinthe tournamentonthe

backoftriumphsintheirrespective

domesticcups.

Braga have appearedinthe Europa

Leaguegroupstagesinfiveofthe past six

seasons,reachingthe knockoutrounds

fourtimes.The 2011 runners-upare

coached by Braga-born formerSheffield

WednesdayandSwanseaCitymanager

CarlosCarvalhal, andtheirsquad includes

formerChelsealoanrangerLucasPiazon.

LokomotivMoscow will be without

VedranCorluka,whoretiredtotakeup

a post as Croatiaassistantcoach,but

they’vereplacedhimwithanother

Croatiandefender, 25-year-old

TinJedvajfromBayer Leverkusen.