Tonight see’s the return of European football, but what can
we expect from this season’s rollercoaster ride of the Champions League?
As usual four sides will enter from England; we see the
suspected return of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea while mega rich
Manchester City will start their inaugural Champions League campaign in Group A
alongside Napoli, Villarreal and Bayern Munich.
The favourites will of course be none other than last season’s
winners Barcelona. Pep Guardiola’s team that includes the likes of Messi, Xavi,
Fabregas and Villa will expect to lead the Catalonia side all the way to the
final in Munich next May.
The La Liga side were suffered a huge blow in their 2-2 draw
with Real Sociadad at the weekend when new
£26 Million pound signing Alexis
Sanchez picked up an injury that will see him side-lined for 6-8 weeks.
Barcelona’s main rivals, Real Madrid will of course expect
to at least make the semi-final like they did last season under Jose Mourinho.
After labelling himself as the ‘special one’ while in charge at Chelsea, the
pressure will be on for Jose at Madrid to make a real impact on this season’s
competition.
So what about are English teams? Well, last season
Manchester United comfortably strolled their way to Wembley to play Barcelona
in the final. A 3-1 defeat showed Barcelona were the best team in Europe, and
we shouldn’t be surprised should these two meet in the final again in Germany
next May.
Chelsea are still looking for their first Champions League
success while under the ownership of Roman Abramovich, however under new boss
AVB who won the Europa league last season with Porto, we might see their best
shot yet at winning the ‘holy grail’.
It has been a summer of stress and worry for Arsenal and in
truth they are lucky to have even made it to the Champions’ League group stages
after beating Udinese in a qualifier. After selling Fabregas and Nasri this
summer Arsene Wenger needed players desperately and the deadline day signings
of Per Mertersacker, Yossi Benayoun and Mikel Arteta, the Gunners might feel a
run to the final is possible although highly unlikely.
As for the new boys Manchester City, well, it is going to be
an interesting first campaign. Roberto Mancini has a fine array of talent to
choose from and it could be enough to actually see the ‘other’ side of
Manchester actually reach the final and win it. On the the flip side though it
will be tough for City after being placed in Group A, alongside Bayern Munich,
who will also fancy themselves.
It will be as fascinating as ever and I wouldn’t be surprised
if we saw an all Manchester final in Munich….
Who do you think will win this seasons Champions League? Can
Manchester City win the competition at the first attempt? Let me know what you
think.
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