DARK HORSES
While Portuguese powerhouse Sporting have gone from one debilitating episode to the next these past few months – fans attacking players, a subsequent exodus of talent, the ejection of controversial president Bruno De Carvalho and Sinisa Mihajlovic’s nine-day tenure as coach – the Lisbon side ought not to be written off just yet.
Back for a second spell at the Alvalade controls, coach Jose Peseiro steered the club to a UEFA Cup runners-up spot in 2005 and still has plenty of class to work with, notably attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes and young Cape Verde winger Jovane Cabral.
After achieving a highly creditable fifthplace finish in Ligue 1 last season, Rennes will be determined to make a success of an all-too rare European adventure, only their seventh in their history. Their coach Sabri Lamouchi, who was a midfielder for France in the 1990s, certainly knows what he is doing, promoting tactical discipline, combativity and counter-attacking flair. Look out for emerging attacking midfielders Benjamin Bourigeaud and James Lea-Siliki.
Turkish clubs are always energised at this level and Fenerbahce will be going that extra yard to make an impact. They may be in financial peril at the moment – in debt to the tune of € 620m – but they still have many on-field assets, namely Slovak stopper Martin Skrtl, French playmaker Mathieu Valbuena and African forwards Andre Ayew and Islam Slimani. Former PSV coach Phillip Cocu is the new figure in the technical area.
Spartak Moscow have the tactical shrewdness and organisational skills of their Italian coach Massimo Carrera in their favour. But they will have to make do without the brilliant all-round attacking game of Dutch winger Quincy Promes who made the switch to Sevilla.
Austria’s perennial champions Salzburg, semi-finalists last season, will be looking to make up for the disappointment of losing to Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League final qualifying round.