EUROPEAN PEDIGREE HOW THEY QUALIFIED TACTICAL TALKING POINTThe most successful club in
European history, with 13 European
titles, including five in a row from
1956 to 1960: a quintet of victories
that confirmed the club’s legendary
status and helped to establish
the European Cup as the modern
game’s most important competition.
European Cup winners in 1991,
when they held out to beat
Marseille on penalties in Bari,
Red Star are the last European
champions to hail from Eastern
Europe and the only Serbian/former
Yugoslav club to have lifted the
famous trophy.
UEFA Cup semi-finalists in 1996,
when they lost to Zinedine Zidane’s
Bordeaux, Slavia have only
competed in the Champions
League group stage on one
previous occasion. In 2008 they
finished third despite losing 7-0 to
Arsenal in one of their games.
Valencia reached the Champions
League in their first appearance
in the competition but lost to
Real Madrid in the 2000 Final.
Since then they have made
regular appearances in the
group stage and won the 2004
UEFA Cup Final.
Salzburg will be competing in the
Champions League group stage
for the first time, having previously
failed to negotiate the qualifying
rounds. They reached the Europa
League semi-finals in 2017, losing
to Marseille, and reached the round
of 16 last season.
Regular group-stage competitors
in the Champions League since
2000, their best performance was
reaching the 2005 quarter-finals,
where they lost to Barcelona.
Shakhtar were the last winners of
the UEFA Cup, in 2009, before it
was rebranded the Europa League.
Tottenham were the first English
club to win a European trophy,
claiming the 1963 Cup-winners
Cup. They added the UEFA
Cup in 1972 and 1984 but they
had to wait until 2019 for an
appearance in the Champions
League Final.
Zenit have been Champions
League group-stage regulars in
most seasons since 2008, the
year of their greatest European
triumph: the UEFA Cup Final, when
midfielder Andrei Arshavin inspired
a 2-0 win over Rangers at the City
of Manchester Stadium.
Third in La Liga, 19 points behind
champions Barcelona and seven
behind Atletico Madrid. In March,
Zidane was re-appointed as coach,
replacing interim boss Santiago
Solari, who had stepped in when
Julen Lopetegui was sacked in
October 2018.Real spent a hefty €203m on Eden
Hazard, Luka Jovic, Ferland Mendy,
Rodrygo and Eder Militao. They
offloaded Marco Llorente (Atletico)
and Dani Ceballos (Arsenal, loan)
but failed to cash in on Gareth Bale
and Isco. How can Zidane keep
everyone happy?The Serbian champions did it the
hard way, coming through four
preliminary rounds. They overcame
Lithuania’s Sudova, HJK Helsinki
of Finland and Danish champions
Copenhagen before seeing off
Swiss champions Young Boys in
the play-off round.Last season, Red Star beat
Liverpool in Belgrade and drew
0-0 with Napoli, with the vociferous
home crowd playing as much of a
role as the team’s tactical approach.
Former Chelsea winger Marko
Marin has been a key creative
figure in Red Star’s recent success.The Czech champions were
narrow winners over Romanian
champions CFR Cluj, who had
beaten Celtic in the previous
qualifying round. The secured a 1-0
win in both legs of the play-off to
reach the group stage for only the
third time in their history.The summer signing of one-time
Romanian starlet Nicolae Stanciu
from Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli has
given Slavia new creative options
in midfield, where Tomas Soucek
provides defensive solidity and
winger Lukas Masopust can deliver
the unexpected.Valencia grabbed Spain’s final
Champions League spot, having
spent only six days of the Liga
season in the top four. Their
exceptional second half of the
season culminated in victory over
Barcelona in the Spanish Cup Final,
their first trophy for 11 years.Marcelino’s rigid 4-4-2 system may
not be particularly pretty but it has
been highly effective. Playmaker
Dani Parejo and Geoffrey
Kondogbia form a strong central
midfield partnership while Maxi
Gomez, a €40m signing from Celta
Vigo, will add dynamism to attack.As champions of Austria for the
sixth successive time, having won
10 out of the previous 13 titles. An
improvement in Austria’s UEFA club
coefficient status – to 12th place- gained the country an automatic
spot in the group stage for the
first time.
Salzburg again lost key players
this summer (Hannes Wolf to
Leipzig, Munas Dabbour to Sevilla).
Can the new signings – who include
Slovenian forward Benjamin Sesko
(Domzale, €2.5m) and Danish
defender Rasmus Kristensen
(Ajax, €5m) – step up?Champions of Ukraine for the third
season running with striker Junior
Moraes, signed from Dynamo Kiev,
starring as the league’s top scorer.
Success, which also included the
Ukraine Cup, was achieved despite
their continued war-enforced exile
from home city Donetsk.Shakhtar continue to rely heavily
on imported Brazilian talent,
notably striker Junior Moraes,
winger Marlon and veteran
captain Taison. However, Ukraine
international Viktor Kovalenko
could be their most influential
player in midfield.After finishing third in last
season’s Premier League, behind
Manchester City and Liverpool.
Alarmingly for Pochettino, their
form nose-dived badly in the
final few months of the campaign
and they lost seven of their last 12
league games.Record signing Tanguy Ndombele,
who cost an initial £55m from
Lyon, will certainly strengthen
the Spurs midfield. But doubts
remain over the future of Christian
Eriksen and have highlighted a
worrying issue of who will provide
the side’s creativity.Russian champions for the fifth
time. Veteran striker Artyom
Dzyuba weighed in with crucial
strikes, while Iranian international
forward Sardar Azmoun added
creativity and goals to the attack
following a mid-season arrival
from Rubin Kazan.Can €40million Brazilian winger
Malcom rebuild his career in
Russia after a frustrating season
at Barcelona following a summer
2018 transfer from Bordeaux?
Defender Douglas Santos
(Hamburg, €12m) has added
to the Brazilian ties at the club.GROUP STAGE
2019-20Costly...
Ferland MendyJoy...Young
Boys are
beatenSuccess...
overcoming
CFR ClujRallied...MarcelinoGround...Red
Bull ArenaInfluential
...Viktor
Kovalenko
(left)Record...
Tanguy
NdombeleWinger...Malcom