Road to European glory gets underway!
Who are this season’s favourites?
With the first matchday of the Champions League having been completed this week, many supporters may have already decided who the favourites for the tournament are! However, it seems impossible, at least at this point, to look past the reigning champions. Last season, Manchester City finally reached the apex of European football in Istanbul and will be hoping to ascend to its summit yet again this year. The departures of key players such as Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan has not seemingly deterred the Manchester giants from improving as they have continued to look impressive in the early stages of the new campaign. Pep Guardiola has created a system that is able to accentuate his squad’s best attributes without any overreliance on a particular player, making it a perfect breeding ground for the interchangeability of players. Three teams can be expected to rival City, though. They are Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Arsenal. While the Premier League giants are tipped to retain their title, the only club that has successfully been able to do this is Los Blancos. The Spanish giants have made it to at least the semifinals in 11 of the past 13 editions of the showpiece and there’s every chance they make another deep run in the competition given the early showings of their new British superstar Jude Bellingham!
Bayern are another side synonymous with European glory despite their recent form in the competition. With the acquisition of Harry Kane, the six-time winners have sent out a signal of intent that they are eager to challenge for the big prize once again. There remain question marks over Die Roten’s midfield, something their coach Thomas Tuchel has been vocal about himself, but they will expect to be more competitive regardless. Another side who could also be among the very best in the competition this season are the Gunners. Despite a seven-year absence from the tournament, Mikel Arteta will look to usurp his mentor Guardiola on the continental stage at the first time of asking. The north Londoners are perhaps in one of the more favourable groups, and given that the final will be at Wembley Stadium in their hometown of London, perhaps this could be the campaign in which they lift their first-ever European Cup.
Group of death
Arsenal have made a return to elite European competition after close to a decade without its famous anthem ringing out at the Emirates, but they are not the only English outfit making a spectacular comeback to the Champions League. After an impressive, albeit surprising, domestic campaign last season, Newcastle United will go toe-to-toe with the continent’s big boys once again! Eddie Howe might have preferred to be drawn against easier opposition, but instead they have been pitted against some of the best in the game, having been drawn with Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund in Group F. Les Parisiens will be fancied to top the standing based on the experience of head coach Luis Enrique and the high-profile names they boast. The additions of the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Kolo Randal Muani and Marco Asensio will likely give PSG the edge, but the Rossoneri had an impressive transfer window of their own, which saw them bring stars such as Samuel Chukwueze, Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to the San Siro. While PSG and Milan may have brought in some big names, the opposite is true of Dortmund. The Black and Yellow saw their talisman Bellingham leave the club for Real Madrid in July, and so far that transfer seems to be having an adverse effect on them in the new season. Newcastle have also been struggling for consistency of late, but unlike their German counterparts, have better squad depth and are likely to out-perform them. It’s a tough to call as to who will make it to the knockout stage, but what is guaranteed from Group F is non-stop action!
Dark horses
Outside of PSG, there is every possibility that any side could have a deep run into the Champions League given the pedigree they possess, but we have picked out another set of teams that have a big chance of causing some major upsets in the competition this time around. First is Atletico Madrid. Los Rojiblancos possess arguably the best squad in the entire LALIGA, and given how Diego Simeone was able to win more than any other manager in the Spanish top flight in the second half of the 2022/23 campaign, the Argentine has all the necessary tools to throw the script out the window once again by making another charge at European club football’s Holy Grail. The Madridbased side has not made it to the final four of the tournament in six years, but with the resurgence of Antoine Griezmann and the emergence of players such as Pablo Barrios, Atleti have the right blend of experience and youth to do well among the very best on the continent.
Next is Inter Milan. It is perhaps bizarre that the Nerazzurri are being regarded as underdogs considering they made it all the way to the final last season, but not many are tipping Simone Inzaghi’s men to go one step further on this occasion. The 19-time Italian champions have Benfica, Red Bull Salzburg and Real Sociedad in their group, though, and given that they’ve started their league season with a 100% record, including a 5-1 victory over bitter rivals AC Milan, they will fancy their chances of progressing from the group. For most of the off-season, Inter were rumoured to be bringing in Romelu Lukaku on a permanent deal, but after that deal fell through, Marcus Thuram looks like one of the most underrated acquisitions of the recent transfer window. The Frenchman has come into their attack and slotted seamlessly into their 3-5-2 formation. He and Lautaro Martinez have got off to a flying start in the Italian top flight together, and will be hoping to replicate that form in the Champions League.
Key players to watch
While Inter’s striking duo may go under the radar, a player fans will definitely be keeping an eye out for is Harry Kane. The 30-year-old departed Tottenham Hotspur this past transfer window for the Bavarian giants and has already started like a house on fire in Germany. In 2019, he was able to lead the Lilywhites to the Champions League final, and this will perhaps be the first time in his career when he will be competing in a side that has a more realistic chance of holding the bigeared trophy aloft. The London native has only 21 competition goals to his name, but with Kane now playing for Bayern, it feels as though he will be more determined to live up to his price tag as well as the expectations the football fraternity have had for him playing at a bigger side. England’s all-time top goalscorer has never won a trophy in his career, but what better way to break that duck than with the most coveted title in European club football?
Winning the Champions League could also see Kane get his hands on the Ballon d’Or in 2024, but a player who will be hoping to win that honour this year is Erling Haaland. The
Norwegian marksman has already broken a plethora of competition records despite being just 23, and will be hoping that trend continues this season. The Scandinavian is already 19th in the list of all-time leading Champions League goalscorers, and will be looking to further cement his legend with another double-digit haul in the competition, for as otherworldly as the Leeds-born attacker has been since scoring a debut UCL hat-trick, he has, to date, not proved prolific in the latter stages of competition. The ex-Red Bull Salzburg man did not score in either the semi-finals or final last season, something he will know he needs to remedy if he wants to eclipse the Cristiano Ronaldos and Lionel Messis of the world.
Another player who knows he will
T
he path to arguably club football’s most prestigious trophy has begun as the new season of the UEFA Champions League is officially underway. The continent’s biggest sides hav e now started their journey and are v ying to be dubbed the kings of Europe come the end of the campaign, with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City looking to become the first English side to win back-to-back titles! As with ev ery edition of the illustrious 32-team competition, supporters can once again expect an enthralling tournament! Breaking down the biggest talking points is Soccer Laduma international football writer Kamogelo Motecwane. Let’s enjoy the feast!
need to do better in Europe’s biggest competition, and who we think is perhaps the player with the most pressure on his shoulders headed into the tournament, is Kylian Mbappe. The Bondy native is finally the main man at the Parc des Princes following Neymar and Messi’s departures, and while it may be what he might’ve wanted, it seems a poisoned chalice. He may now be the star above all others in the PSG side, but with this comes the pressure of being the man responsible for delivering the French giants their maiden European Cup. Even with his relative youth, his goal tally is among the highest in the UCL’s history and given the success he has enjoyed with the national team, he will be hoping this is the season it finally translates at club level too.