World Soccer - UK (2021-10)

REFRESHINGCHAMPIONS

UPSETPOTENTIAL

SerieA,Ligue1 andLaLiga all
crownedsomewhatoffbeatchampions
lastseason.InItaly,Internazionale
preventedJuventusfromwinningtheir
tenth titleina row;LilleendedPSG’s
similarrunof titles in France;while
inSpain,AtleticoMadridinterrupted
BarcelonaandRealMadrid’sdominance,
winningtheirfirsttitlesince 2014 .Yet
despite enteringasleaguewinners,all
three of thosesidesare less fancied
thantheiraforementioned compatriots.

Thetwo-leggednatureoftheChampions

Leaguemeanssurprisewinnersare rare,

butupsets canstill happen.There area

numberofclubswho,ontheirday,can

troubleEurope’sbest sides.

Portowerearguablythe last side

tocausea realupset whentheywon

thetournament in 2004.Theyfinished

runners-uptoSportinginthe Primeira

Ligalastseasonthough,andthe champions

willjointheminthegroupstage.

Fromtheeastof Germany,RBLeipzig

areatight-knitpressingunit thatcan

flusteranyopposition.Thatstyleis likely

toremainundernewcoachJesseMarsch

and,despitethesaleof keyplayers,they

arestillcapableofmakingtheirmark.

FellowBundesliga sideBorussia

Dortmundmaybe reelingsimilarlyfrom

thesaleofJadonSancho butstill have

plentyof talentattheirdisposal.Their

problemrecentlyhasbeenmakingthe

mostof these playersbeforetheyare

sold,whichissomethingtheywillbe

lookingtoremedythisseason.

Sevillaenter thegroupshavingfinished

fourthinLaLiga andwilllookto progress

tothe knockoutsastheydidlast season.

Thatsaid,the six-timeEuropaLeague

winnerswillnotbetoodisappointedif

theyslipintothatcompetition, as the

2022 finalisbeingplayed at their

RamonSanchezPizjuanhome.

Italianteamswillbe hopingtoridethe

waveofoptimismafterItaly’sEuropean

Championshiptriumph, andthere arefew

moreoptimisticandentertainingsides

thanGianPieroGasperini’sAtalanta.

TheremainingSerieAsidein themix,

Milan, arethesecond-mostsuccessful

teaminthe competition’s historybuthave

struggledrecently. Theirsecond-place

finishinSerieA last seasonwas their best

since 2012 , andsomecleversignings

• includingmakingFikayoTomori’s loan
  dealfromChelseapermanent– means
  thingscouldbelookingup.

THEBIGNAMES

AimingtohaltthisEnglishmini-revival
aresomeofthebehemothsofEuropean
football.Germany’sBayernMunichwon
theChampionsLeagueaspart of atreble
in 2020 andwillbe a forceto be reckoned
with.Julian Nagelsmannhas replaced
Hansi Flickinthe dugout, with highly-
rated FrenchdefenderDayotUpamecano
alsoarrivingfromRBLeipzig.
Barcelona’sadministrative struggles
continue,andRonaldKoeman’s biggest
challengewillbe to stopthoseissues
transmittingonto thepitch.Thiswillbe
theirfirst ChampionsLeaguecampaign
withoutLionelMessisince 2 002-0 3
and,ifotherplayersdonotstep in to fill
thevoidleftbytheArgentine’sdeparture,
theymaybe facingtheprospectofa
first group-stageexitfor over 20 years.
RealMadridarealsogoingthrough
a transitional period.Althoughthe
Galacticosarea thingofthe past,
theSpanishgiantsstillboastan

array of talented playersand,asthe

competition’s most successfulside,the

club’s nameisenoughtointimidateany

Europeanopposition.

ThatGalacticoslabelhasnow been

adopted by 2 02 1 semi-finalists,Paris

Saint-Germain. Theirprioritisingof

ChampionsLeaguegloryis no secretand

they’vesignedGianluigiDonnarumma,

AchrafHakimi,GeorginioWijnaldum,

SergioRamosand,ofcourse,Messi

tothatend.Indeed,winningthe trophy

isnolongersimplya target:itisan

absolutemust.Withsuchtalentattheir

disposal,failingtoend theirwaitwould

beconsideredanabjectfailure.

Similarly,Juventushavenever hidden

theirEuropeanambition.Theiraddition

ofCristiano Ronaldobackin 2018 inan

attempttosecurethetrophy hassofar

failed,butthey’llhaveonemoreshotat

thecontinentalcrown with thePortugal

megastarbefore hiscontractexpires.

SOMETHING

TOPROVE

Dependent...Lillewill relyonBurakYilmaz’sgoals

Pressureon...PSG

aceKylianMbappe

Finalhosts...the

KrestovskyStadium

LaLiga champions...

Atleticocoach

Diego Simeone

UEFACHAMPIONSLEAGUE

Interwillbelesssure of themselves

after thedeparture of themanagerthat

guidedthemtoSerieA glory,Antonio

Conte.He’sbeen replacedby former

LaziobossSimoneInzaghiwhowillhave

todowithoutlastseason’s talisman,

Romelu Lukaku.Hisreplacement,

EdinDzeko,hasenormousshoes

tofillafterarrivingfromRoma.

Repeatinglastseason’s domestic

featwhile also challengingin the

ChampionsLeaguewill be atough

taskforLille; a taskmadeeventougher

bylosinggoalkeeperMikeMaignanto

Milanandmidfielder Boubakary

Soumare to LeicesterCity.

Atletico,onthe otherhand, have

bolsteredtheirsquadwiththesigning

ofRodrigoDePaulfromUdinese.The

Argentinamidfielderstood outatthis

summer’sCopaAmericaandshould

bea goodfitfor Diego Simone’sstyle

• onetheyhopewilltakethemto
  a third finalinnineyears.

AjaxandDynamoKievarethebiggest

namesfromtheteamsnotbelonging

toUEFA’stopsixleagues,and will be

lookingtoshow theirarray of homegrown

talentcancompete at thislevel.

WolfsburgandVillarrealwillbe

lookingtoprovetheyare notthere just

tomake up thenumbers– thelatter

finishedseventhin La Ligaandonly

qualifiedcourtesyoftheir 2021

EuropaLeaguewin.

ClubBrugge(Belgium),Zenit

(Russia)andBesiktas(Turkey)allwon

theirrespectiveleagues,andwillbe

lookingtoprovethe ChampionsLeague

isindeeda leaguefor champions.