The European Leagues & Competitions Thread V2

[Vesper 27,282]

Ten stars to watch in the Champions League (and it’s not the usual suspects)

https://theathletic.com/1973321/2020/08/06/champions-league-players-to-watch-bayern-real-psg-juventus-atalanta-atletico-barcelona-leipzig/

The Champions League is back. Eleven games in the space of 17 days will decide the best club team in Europe, but which players could prove pivotal in this hectic winner-takes-all feast of football?

Our experts have picked 10 under-the-radar players who could do just that, from a 20-year-old La Masia graduate set to make his European debut to a 32-year-old Argentinian who created 102 chances in Serie A this past season.

There are four quarter-final places still to be decided in the next couple of days — Atalanta, Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig and Atletico Madrid are already through — before the competition takes on a single-leg knockout format for the final three rounds next week in Portugal.

Last-16 second legs
Friday: Juventus (0) v (1) Lyon
Friday: Manchester City (2) v (1) Real Madrid
Saturday: Bayern Munich (3) v (0) Chelsea
Saturday: Barcelona (1) v (1) Napoli

Quarter-finals
Wednesday (QF4): Atalanta v Paris Saint-Germain
Thursday, August 13 (QF2): RB Leipzig v Atletico Madrid
Friday, August 14 (QF1): Barcelona/Napoli v Bayern Munich/Chelsea
Saturday, August 15 (QF3): Manchester City/Real Madrid v Juventus/Lyon

Semi-finals
Tuesday, August 18: Winner of QF2 v Winner of QF4
Wednesday, August 19: Winner of QF1 v Winner of QF3

Final: Sunday, August 23
All matches kick off at 8pm GMT

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Riqui Puig (Barcelona)

Taking the playmaking reins in the Barcelona midfield against Napoli will be a young midfielder who has not yet played a minute in continental football.

Riqui Puig has long had a big reputation around the Nou Camp, but for quite a while he was more famous for his absence than his presence. Born locally and educated at Barcelona’s famous academy, La Masia, even Puig’s name screams Catalonia. That name made plenty of headlines when Barcelona’s under-19s won the UEFA Youth League two seasons ago.

The Barcelona head coach at the time, Ernesto Valverde, was not so impressed, barely giving Puig a look-in. It reached the stage when Puig’s absence from the team was the main complaint from some fans and pundits before Valverde was fired in January. Some began to wonder whether the expectations would be detrimental Puig. Could the longing around the Nou Camp for the “next Xavi” or a “new Iniesta” warp impressions?

Given a chance by new coach Quique Setien since the post-lockdown restart, Puig has shown he has the personality and talent to recharge a midfield that has been very low on energy and ideas this season. A very happy Lionel Messi opening his arms for Puig to celebrate a goal the 20-year-old had assisted appeared to confirm his arrival as a key part of the senior set-up.

 

(Photo: Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Barcelona’s other midfield options have been disappearing. Arthur Melo has decided he no longer owes the club anything after they pushed him out to Juventus, while Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal are suspended for this decider against Napoli. Neither Ivan Rakitic nor Frenkie de Jong have had great seasons but they should join Puig in a midfield three starting together for the very first time. It is far from an ideal situation but Barcelona and Setien are in a desperate situation.

Puig has so far dealt very confidently with all he has faced so far. He looks ready for this new stage.

Next game: Saturday; last-16 second leg, Napoli (H). 1-1 after the first leg

Dermot Corrigan

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Papu Gomez (Atalanta)

It’s a joy to watch Papu Gomez, not only for his bravura but the intelligence he applies to his game. His revelation about using the referee as a reference point — “the ref is always in space” — is ingenious and the way the Argentinian varies his play, starting out wide or drifting between the lines then maybe coming deep and taking the ball from his centre-backs makes it so difficult for Atalanta’s opponents to know who has the job of picking him up.

Papu created 102 chances in a team that scored 98 league goals this season, making Atalanta the most prolific side in Serie A since 1952. He has made it into double figures for assists in each of the last four years. No one in Europe’s top five leagues can match him for that level of creative consistency over the same timeframe.

True, the diminutive 32-year-old does not strike many people as obvious captain material. But he is a technical and emotional leader rolled into one. Atalanta’s spirit is infused by the man known as Papu. The team plays with his infectious “allegria” (joy) and you can’t help but smile when they take the field.

That quality is more important than ever given the pain and suffering their hometown of Bergamo experienced throughout the pandemic. Papu was made an honorary citizen of the city last December and speaks for everyone at the club when he says Atalanta want to give its people a lift after so much trauma. As the only Italian team already through to the quarter-finals, three games are all that separate Papu and his team-mates from an achievement that would even make Leicester City’s Premier League title pale by comparison.

Next game: Wednesday; quarter-final, Paris Saint-Germain

David Alaba (Bayern Munich)

There is no such thing as a low-key player in this Bayern line-up. But out of all their stellar performances this season, David Alaba’s transformation from marauding left-back to playmaking centre-back has perhaps not received quite the attention it deserves.

The 28-year-old was initially drafted into the heart of the defence as a makeshift solution, covering for the absences of Lucas Hernandez and Niklas Sule. It’s a role he first played with much aplomb in Pep Guardiola’s last season in charge (2015-16) but four years down the line, the Austria international has gone to another level.

He has essentially been flawless for the entire campaign, their most important progressor of the ball — thanks to supreme passing skills honed in his midfielder past — and also one of the side’s leaders. Reporters covering Bayern’s games after the Bundesliga restart were surprised to hear Alaba, unassuming to the point of being shy off the pitch, shouting out an incessant stream of instructions and motivational cries to team-mates.

 

It’s this willingness to take responsibility that has Bayern worried he might leave this summer, as negotiations over a contract extension beyond 2021 have been at an impasse for a while. Executive chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge might have worded his description of Alaba as “the black Beckenbauer” a little ungracefully, but the underlying sentiment is true enough.

Twelve years after joining the club as a 16-year-old, his game mixes elegance on the ball with a sense of imperial authority the Kaiser himself would have been proud of. If Alaba goes on to win Bayern a second Champions League in a second position, his status as “a future all-time best in the club’s history”, in the words of Guardiola, is guaranteed.

Next game: Saturday; last-16 second leg, Chelsea (H). Bayern lead 3-0 after the first leg

Raphael Honigstein

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Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)

RB Leipzig made it clear just how much they believed in the potential of Christopher Nkunku when they handed him a five-year contract last summer.

The former Paris Saint-Germain academy product, 22, perfectly fits the club’s philosophy of buying high-talent, high-growth players early in their careers, but even sporting director Markus Krosche might have been surprised by how quickly the Frenchman took to the Bundesliga. He scored five goals and provided 15 assists in the league, from five different positions on the pitch.

“Christopher can play as a box-to-box midfielder, No 10, winger, striker,” Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann said. Along with those four positions, Nkunku has also been deployed as a highly-effective foil for the now-departed Timo Werner in a second-striker berth.

There’s little the fast and guileful Paris-born universalist can’t do well, which can sometimes be a problem for a player of his ilk. Nkunku is almost too versatile for his own good, offering up a variety of options but no necessity to find him a defined role. There’s a temptation to treat him as a human pick-and-mix shop, providing instant gratification in countless ways. His fine performances have been a little overlooked as a result.

Now Werner is at Chelsea and so no longer his first point of reference next or directly ahead of him, Nkunku should benefit from more opportunities to let his creative juices run. Nagelsmann has hinted he will be one of the players entrusted to break down Atletico Madrid’s defensive walls as Leipzig attempt to blend intricate combination play in small spaces with defensive rigour out of possession.

Next game: Thursday, August 13; quarter-final, Atletico Madrid

Raphael Honigstein

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Marco Asensio (Real Madrid)

Few players enjoyed the return to football after lockdown as much as Marco Asensio.

His first touch following La Liga’s resumption in mid-June was to guide a Ferland Mendy cross into the net against Valencia. Just 12 minutes later, his clever pass set up Karim Benzema for the final goal in a 3-0 victory. It was not a bad contribution, given it was his first appearance in any game for just over a year after an ACL injury in a pre-season friendly against Arsenal last July.

Coach Zinedine Zidane eased him back into action carefully, but Asensio made his case for more minutes quickly. He scored again against Alaves and again on the final day of season at Leganes after the title had been secured. He looks fully recovered from his knee injury, delighted to be playing again, and very eager to make up for lost time. The contrast with lethargic contributions from more senior colleagues Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez has been huge.

Asensio should really now be ahead of even last year’s galactico signing Eden Hazard for a place in attack alongside Benzema in their ‘qualifier’ away to Manchester City. His ability to take a chance could be crucial, given Real Madrid need to score at least twice at the Etihad to progress, while his energy and enthusiasm fit well with the demands Zidane places on all his stars.

At 24 years old, Asensio is ready to make consistent, decisive contributions for Real Madrid and Spain. He has not lacked for career highlights so far (including the last goal in the 4-1 Champions League final victory over Juventus three years ago). Still, his career has not yet reached the heights that many predicted. The unique circumstances of this season’s competition, and the timing of his return, give him a chance to crack on again.

Next game: Friday; last-16 second leg, Manchester City (A). City lead 2-1 after the first leg

Dermot Corrigan

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Renan Lodi (Atletico Madrid)

Renan Lodi’s debut for Atletico Madrid last August did not go exactly to plan — the 21-year-old’s enthusiasm spilt over into rashness with two needless yellow cards within 60 seconds just before half-time at home to Getafe.

The Brazilian left-back later revealed he was struggling to settle in the Spanish capital, and had told his girlfriend to pack her things as they were heading straight back home. However, a chat with head coach Diego Simeone settled him down, and his next game brought an assist and a man of the match performance as helped Atletico rally from 2-0 down to beat Eibar, 3-2.

There have been a few more hitches along the way, and Simeone regularly substituted him through the autumn when it seemed opponents were targeting his side of the pitch. Generally, though, Lodi has been an outstanding success thanks to his hard running, technical gifts and excellent crossing. Much like his predecessor at left-back, compatriot Filipe Luis, Lodi has become one of the most important creative outlets in the Atletico team. Alongside his friend and former Athletico Paranaense team-mate Bruno Guimaraes of Lyon (more on him shortly), Lodi looks set to be an important member of the Brazil set-up in the coming years.

Lingering doubts about his defending were put to bed when he confidently overcame Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold in the last-16 victories over Liverpool. Only three players now have more outfield minutes than him for Atletico this season, with Lodi easily outperforming England’s Kieran Trippier on the opposite flank of their new-look back four.

 

 

Along with fellow summer 2019 arrivals Marcos Llorente and Joao Felix, Lodi’s emergence is one reason why Atletico fans are confident before their quarter-final against RB Leipzig. His marauding runs forward will be a key part of Simeone’s plan for that game and Atletico’s hopes over the coming seasons.

Next game: Thursday, August 13; quarter-final, RB Leipzig

Dermot Corrigan

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Bruno Guimaraes (Lyon)

Watch Lyon midfielder Bruno Guimaraes for 90 minutes against Juventus tomorrow and there is a good chance your eyes will deceive you. If he performs as he did in the first leg, back in March, he will dominate to such a degree you will assume you’re watching a proven star with 50 Champions League games under his belt — someone who has already been to football finishing school and graduated with honours.

But Guimaraes is just getting started. That game against Juventus was his debut at this level, and only his second for Lyon after joining from Brazil’s Athletico Paranaense in January. His performance would have been impressive in any context but for a complete European football novice it was nothing short of remarkable. The 22-year-old could be forgiven for wondering how far that initial momentum might have taken him — he received his first senior Brazil call-up in March, after just four appearances for Lyon — but there is little reason to expect a drop-off.

 

 

In possession, Guimaraes is a driving force. He is a calm passer of the ball, but also a brave one: he wants to hurt the opposition, either with a drilled through ball or one of his trademark switches to the flank. He reads the tempo of the game well, managing its internal rhythms. “He’s a fantastic footballer,” Lyon coach Rudi Garcia said after the derby win over Saint-Etienne that followed the Juventus first leg. “Everything flows better when he is playing.”

He is combative, too, happy to press and strong enough to manage the physical stuff. “Complete” is probably the word to describe his game. Juninho Pernambucano, Lyon’s sporting director, was surely blowing smoke when he told Guimaraes he would make him the best central midfielder in the world but the idea doesn’t actually look so far-fetched.

The only problem for the Ligue 1 club will be holding onto him. With no Champions League football next season and Barcelona already rumoured to be circling, they will fear Guimaraes’ second European game will also turn out to be his Lyon swansong.

Next game: Friday; last-16 second leg, Juventus (A). Lyon lead 1-0 after the first leg

Jack Lang

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Mauro Icardi (Paris Saint-Germain)

When Mauro Icardi joined Paris Saint-Germain, it was my personal belief he would get close to scoring 40 goals a season if granted regular game time. The Argentinian is one of those strikers who can go 90 minutes with barely a touch of the ball yet still come away with the man of the match award. He only needs half a chance to finish up with a hat-trick.

Opportunities weren’t always plentiful at Inter Milan, yet Icardi still won the Capocannoniere crown twice and outscored all of the club’s modern greats. Ronaldo, Christian Vieri, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Adriano, Diego Milito. Take your pick. The prospect of him joining a team as talent-loaded and attacking as PSG in his prime whetted the appetite more than dinner at l’Arpege. And Icardi hasn’t disappointed. In 2020, he has averaged a goal every 22 touches. His goal involvement per 90 minutes ratio is 0.99 and, in the two seasons he has played in this competition, he has scored nine times in 12 appearances.

Appreciation for Icardi as hometown Rosario’s own version of Pippo Inzaghi would perhaps be greater had he been playing for a Champions League regular rather than Inter earlier in his career. Instead, tabloids and gossip columns focused on the box-office nature of his relationship with his wife and agent, Wanda Nara.

Icardi is famous in Italy for showing up when it mattered most, as his record in Inter’s big games attests. He is exactly the kind of striker a team with PSG’s reputation are crying out for in this competition. Optimism continues to grow around Kylian Mbappe’s recovery from the nasty ankle injury he picked up in the Coupe de France final just under a fortnight ago, but there’s no need to rush him back with a sniper such as Icardi in Thomas Tuchel’s arsenal.

Next game: Wednesday; quarter-final, Atalanta

James Horncastle

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Dries Mertens (Napoli)

The most likeable player on this list — after Papu Gomez. It feels wrong to refer to Dries Mertens as Belgian when he has become an adopted Neapolitan over his seven years with Napoli. “Ciro”, as he is known in the Bay Area, cemented his status as the greatest player since Diego Maradona to pull on powder blue when he became the club’s all-time top scorer in June. The 33-year-old then helped Napoli lift the Coppa Italia, signing a lucrative new contract shortly before kick-off to stay for another two seasons. The significance of that decision cannot be overstated.

Edinson Cavani left for Paris Saint-Germain and Gonzalo Higuain accepted an offer to join Juventus, Napoli’s biggest rivals. But Mertens has stayed and that means the world in a football-mad city that has all the magical realism of a great Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel.

The sight of Naples born-and-bred Lorenzo Insigne wincing and hobbling off late in their final Serie A game of the season last Saturday means yet more responsibility falls on Mertens’ shoulders as they head to Barcelona. Napoli do have options. For instance, they can use the silky Arkadiusz Milik through the middle and restore Mertens to the position he occupied on the left before he reinvented himself as a centre-forward capable of scoring more than 100 goals in next to no time at all.

 

 

(Photo: Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

His record in the Champions League this season explains the offers Inter Milan and Chelsea tabled in the hope they might be able to tempt him away from his bougainvillea-draped seafront balcony in Posillipo. Mertens scored the winner against Liverpool at the San Paolo and put his team in front at Anfield, as he did in the first leg of their last-16 tie with Barcelona. The Catalans got back into the game and nabbed an away goal only after Mertens had to go off with an injury early in the second half.

Napoli have established a reputation as cup specialists under new coach Gennaro Gattuso, so expect to see Mertens wagging his tongue in celebration of another goal dedicated to the club’s barista and kitman, the mythical Tommaso Starace.

Next game: Saturday; last-16 second leg, Barcelona (A). 1-1 after the first leg

James Horncastle

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Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus)

Matthijs de Ligt wasn’t even born the last time Juventus won the Champions League. Watertight defending is more vital than ever to the Old Lady if she is to end that long drought in Lisbon over the next couple of weeks. But first, she has to get to Portugal, with Juventus needing to overcome a 1-0 first-leg deficit against Lyon in Turin tomorrow night.

Pavel Nedved said his club could have no complaints when the draw was made in July. Their French opponents are expected to be rusty after playing one competitive game in the past five months, but Juventus aren’t scoring freely and haven’t been able to shut out teams as they did in the past. Nevertheless, summer buy De Ligt has come on leaps and bounds in 2020 and now looks the most comfortable defender in Maurizio Sarri’s system.

Since swapping sides with Leonardo Bonucci, the 20-year-old seems more at ease and has stood out with a series of commanding performances. Taking questions in English in flash interviews before unexpectedly switching to Italian demonstrates how much his communication skills have also improved over the last year.

Giorgio Chiellini’s knee injury a year ago has deprived Juventus of their charismatic captain practically all season and meant De Ligt was thrown in at the deep end, with Sarri having to rush his integration into the team and Italian football in general.

After a baptism of fire on his debut against Napoli and a few run-ins with Italy’s strict interpretation of the handball rule, De Ligt has backed up what he showed in captaining Ajax to within seconds of last year’s Champions League final.

He is also the youngest defender to score four goals in Europe’s top five leagues this season, including a shot from outside the box away to Udinese only a couple of weeks ago. De Ligt’s status as the best centre-back of the next generation remains unchallenged.

Next game: Friday; last-16 second leg, Lyon (H). Lyon lead 1-0 after the first leg

[kellzfresh 7,226]

4 hours ago, communicate said:

Messi is 33, isolated against set defense 3vs1, still goal ridiculous. 

Barcelona won just because of the sheer quality in attack compared to Napoli 

[communicate 2,703]

1 hour ago, kellzfresh said:

Barcelona won just because of the sheer quality in attack compared to Napoli 

I watch Barcelona once or twice every season just to watch messi. They have been awful for years now, even messi hasn't been at goat like level for 2-3 years but downgrade version messi is still a joke

[NikkiCFC 7,563]

Neymar have bigger salary than whole Atalanta squad.

[Jase 43,479]

Uh oh...

[Laylabelle 9,292]

Our whole group is out of Europe now..

[Puliiszola 519]

6 hours ago, Jason said:

Uh oh...

Damn. Delay the game? Or just continue with those 2 absent

[LAM09 6,535]

Damn. Delay the game? Or just continue with those 2 absent

Oblak is supposedly one of them

[Puliiszola 519]

46 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

1 hour ago, Puliiszola said:

Damn. Delay the game? Or just continue with those 2 absent

Oblak is supposedly one of them

Oh. That's a massive blow for ATM

[Jase 43,479]

9 hours ago, Puliiszola said:

Damn. Delay the game? Or just continue with those 2 absent

No clue and postponing the game is gonna be very tricky given how compressed the schedule already is and it's gonna affect the other teams in the competition.

Apparently Atletico went through another round of testing and are waiting for the results to see if those 2 cases have spread in the team. Fingers crossed for them. 

[Jase 43,479]

Crisis averted...

[NikkiCFC 7,563]

Again...

[NikkiCFC 7,563]

 

[lucio 5,371]

Leon Bailey no longer starts for Leverkusen?

[Vesper 27,282]

2019-20 UEFA Europa League, Quarterfinals

Internazionale v Bayer Leverkusen

http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/int-vs-lev-s2/

https://www.totalsportek.com/bayer-leverkusen/

 

[Vesper 27,282]

2019-20 UEFA Europa League, Quarterfinals

Manchester United v FC Copenhagen

http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/man-vs-kop-s1/

https://www.totalsportek.com/manchester-united-football/

[Vesper 27,282]

Conte clearly no longer favours Skriniar, he hardly plays as of late

[Milan 17,835]

Boom Inter lead