Ten exciting Champions League debutants to watch this week
There will be plenty of familiar faces on show in the Champions League this week, but there are also a number of players hoping to make an impression on the big stage at the first time of asking. We’ve picked out 10 players embarking on their first Champions League campaign who are worth watching.
Erling Håland, Salzburg
Erling Håland may be familiar to Premier League fans as the son of former Leeds and Manchester City defender Alf-Inge, but the 19-year-old is a very different player to his dad.
The striker made headlines over the summer when he scored a triple hattrick – yes nine goals – in the Under-20 World Cup for Norway against Honduras. He moved to Salzburg in January and has started this season brilliantly, scoring 11 goals in seven appearances so far – including two hat-tricks.
Victor Osimhen, Lille
Osimhen is another young striker who has made a fantastic start at a new club this season. Lille signed the 20year-old to help make up for the goals lost by the departure of Nicolas Pépé to Arsenal. Unlike the Ivory Coast international, Osimhen plays through the middle. He has scored five goals already this season and all of them have been at home in front of the Lille supporters.
Arriving from Wolfsburg after a successful loan spell in Belgium with Charleroi, Osimhen has been in red hot form. Having also opened his international account for Nigeria over the latest international break, the striker’s confidence should be through the roof.
Dani Olmo, Dinamo Zagreb
A key figure in the Spain team that won the Euro Under-21 Championship this summer, Olmo is a former Barcelona youngster who made a surprising move to Croatia five years ago. The attacking midfielder can play anywhere behind the striker and he has an eye for goal; he scored in three of his four appearances at the Euros in June and has also scored in three Champions League qualifiers this season.
The 21-year-old is now the captain of Spain’s U21 side and is regarded as one of the top young players outside of Europe’s major leagues. He stood out for Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League last season and now has a chance to prove himself at the top table.
Lisandro Martínez, Ajax
Ajax signed Lisandro Martínez from Argentinian club Defensa y Justicia over the summer as a replacement for Matthijs de Ligt. While Martínez is not as tall as the young Dutchman, he has tremendous ability on the ball. The Argentinian has even covered in midfield of late, completing 91.7% of his passes in five Eredivisie appearances so far.
The 21-year-old has already been capped by Argentina and is tipped to be a key player for the national team in the years to come. Supremely confident in possession, he keeps the ball effortlessly and can breeze past opponents as he moves out from the back. He has completed all 12 of his attempted dribbles this season.
Sander Berge, Genk
Berge is a baby-faced giant in the Genk midfield who was linked to a string of Premier League clubs over the last two years. The 21-year-old is capable both in and out of possession and can take the ball off and past opponents with impressive ease given his stature. He also scored his first goal for Norway over the international break.
Berge has played in the Europa League with Genk, he now has the chance to test himself on another level, having helped the club win their first league title in eight years last season. The Belgian side are in a tough group with Liverpool, Napoli and Salzburg, so he will need to perform especially well if they are to upset the odds.
Maxi Gómez, Valencia
Having scored 30 goals in two seasons at Celta Vigo – making him the sixth top scorer in La Liga over that time – Gómez came close to joining West Ham in the summer, but instead opted for Champions League football with Valencia. He’ll be desperate to make his mark in the competition as a result.
Gómez scored his first goal for Valencia against Barcelona at the weekend. He has a good record against Barcelona – having scored in three of his last five appearances against them – and he has also found the net against both Madrid clubs, showing he can pose problems for the very best defenders. The 23-year-old Uruguayan has the hopes of a nation on his shoulders. Sooner or later he will replace Luis Suárez or Edinson Cavani in the pecking order and, like them, he is a real handful from a physical perspective, as well as a real threat from crosses.
Benjamin Pavard, Bayern Munich
It seems bizarre that a France international who has won the World Cup could have no European club football under his belt, but that was the case for Pavard. It will soon change following his long-awaited move to Bayern Munich. The former Lille and Stuttgart defender can play at the heart of the defence, but he has taken up his usual station at right-back for Bayern, which has allowed Joshua Kimmich to return to midfield.
The 23-year-old already has a goal and assist for his new club and he has impressed both on the deck and in the air. Pavard has completed over 90% of his passes in his four Bundesliga appearances this season and he has won 12 of his 13 aerial duels.
Mario Hermoso, Atlético Madrid
Following the loss of Lucas Hernandez (to Bayern Munich) and Diego Godin (to Inter), Atléti had to bolster their backline in the transfer market. Kieran Trippier and Renan Lodi came at full-back and Hermoso arrived from Espanyol with a reputation as one of Spain’s best young centre-halves.
He has been rotated with former Manchester City player Stefan Savic so far, but the 24-year-old will hope to make the spot alongside José Giménez his own over the coming weeks and months. Having helped Espanyol qualify for the Europa League last season, Hermoso has skipped a grade and jumped up to Champions League football.
Stefano Sensi, Inter
Another player who has broken on to the international stage over the past year, Sensi made the move from Sassuolo to Inter over the summer and is already a huge hit with the Nerazzurri fans. A goal on his debut certainly helped the midfielder settle in and a matchwinner against Udinese at the weekend will have boosted the 24year-old’s confidence even more before his first European campaign.
Sensi has stood out for more than just his two goals, however. The quality and range of his passing has been superb. He’s been given the license to bomb forward at his new club and is flourishing, firing off 11 shots, creating eight chances and completing 88.4% of his passes in three Serie A appearances this season.
Alejandro Gómez, Atalanta
Gómez has been a star turn in Serie A for years and now he is being given his chance to play in the Champions League at the grand old age of 31. The diminutive Argentinian has not been given the international recognition his form has merited, although there is another decent little magician in his path. Still, it will be a joy to watch the Atalanta talisman in the Champions League.
Atalanta will fancy their chances of qualifying from the group along with Manchester City. Gómez will be crucial to their efforts. He has reached double figures for assists in each of the last three seasons in Italy, scoring 29 goals along the way. He has also created more chances (305) and completed more dribbles (273) than any other player in the division in that time. It’s about time the rest of Europe enjoyed what “Papu” Gómez has to offer.
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