Champions League is there for the taking for Premier League’s elite
BAR disasters or freak results, all five Premier League teams will be in the last 16 Champions League draw next month. It has been a difficult couple of seasons in Europe’s top competition for the cream of the English league and they are certainly back with a vengeance.
Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool, if they can sort out their defence, could all be contenders for the European crown.
United should coast through in their last game and the return of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will give them a lift. In fact, they already have.
Pogba makes a difference with his unpredictability and ability to open defences up while Zlatan made a grand entrance before the game, milking the applause as he walked on, as the rest of the United squad were already warming up. Old Trafford loved it, of course, and every time he got up to warm up, the atmosphere lifted.
It all comes to a head in Manchester in a couple of weeks with the derby and it will be interesting to see the contrasting styles and approaches of the two managers.
City are playing out of this world but Jose Mourinho relished pitting his wits against Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona when he was Real Madrid coach, and no doubt he will next month too.
Defensively, Guardiola has a couple of problems with John Stones out for a spell and Vincent Kompany showing no signs of shaking off his injuries long term. That could mean Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi playing at the back for a while, but time will tell how that pairing goes.
They are fortunate that in front of them is one of the best Premier League attacking units I’ve seen.
The midfield three of Fernandinho, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne is off the scale. De Bruyne, in particular, looks as good as anybody in Europe. Up front, they have Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling, who are all capable of scoring wonderful goals at any time.
If you get a chance, you should see the clip of Guardiola working with Sterling, going through his movement around the box. Sure enough, Sterling replicated it against Feyenoord to score the winner during the week. They are in a very good place at the moment. As are Tottenham, despite yesterday’s disappointing 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion, and to qualify from their Champions League group at this stage of the season is a wonderful achievement.
The way they bounced back from the disappointing defeat at Arsenal to beat Borussia Dortmund was particularly impressive and says a lot about the character of Mauricio Pochettino’s squad.
They still need a point at home to Apoel Nicosia to top the group, but the only danger of winning it is that it brings some tough runners-up into the draw, which could include Bayern Munich and Juventus. Real Madrid will be in that group who have finished second, too, if Spurs can get the job done.
Chelsea have a much tougher last game against Atletico Madrid, knowing that a victory will secure top spot and even if Diego Simeone’s team win, it might not be enough to take them through to the knock-out phase.
After the recent 3-0 defeat to Roma, many people questioned how the champions would do on their return to the Champions League but they have proved the doubters wrong.
Chelsea’s players are hitting form at the right time and Eden Hazard is now back to his best having quickly established an understanding with Alvaro Morata.
The return of N’Golo Kante has already made a big difference to Chelsea, as we saw last season, and if they can keep everyone fit, they will have a big say in the Champions League and Premier League.
As for Liverpool, they could score against the best sides in Europe but they are simply too fragile at the back, as we saw in Sevilla.
To throw away a three-goal lead and qualification with a game to go was criminal, considering they only looked dodgy for two or three minutes in the first half and were as good as you will see for the other 42 minutes.
In big games, particularly away from home, you have to sit in and defend and Liverpool just crumbled. It’s not good enough.
It is a major worry for their fans and Jurgen Klopp has been denied an opportunity to rest some players for the last group game because they need a result. With the busy Christmas schedule ahead, that could have been invaluable.