Manchester United (5/6 Group, 16 Tournament)
Last Year: Lost in Last 16 to Real Madrid (3-2 agg), won
Premiership
Manager: David Moyes
Best performance: 3x Winners (1968, 1999, 2008)
Manchester United found things easy in the Premiership last season,
but Sir Alex Ferugson’s time in Europe ended in controversy and acrimony as his
Manchester United side lost control of their last 16 second leg against Real
Madrid with just over half an hour to go as Nani’s red card turned a tie
against Real Madrid that United had an excellent grip of upto then. In the aftermath
of the extraordinary semi final performances from the German pairing of
Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, what was a cracking last 16 tie has been
much forgotten, but is worth recalling as it shows exactly what United will be
missing with the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson now gone from the touchline, if
not the club.
David Moyes could turn out to be a fine long term
replacement but time is the key factor and United’s failure to improve the
squad significantly over last year’s outfit is worrying when taking their
chances for this year’s competition into account.
In a frustrating window, United chased many of Europe’s top
midfield targets but were either knocked back or posted misguided bids – a
paltry £12 million for Roma’s Daniele De Rossi amongst the most comical – and
ended up only getting Maourane Felliani for their efforts. Fellani is an improvement
for United’s midfield, but for him to be the only addition is a bit worrying in
terms of squad depth and with Shinji Kagawa their only major playmaker apart
from Wayne Rooney, injury is an ever-present threat.
Rooney and Robin Van Persie are capable of turning around
any game and do provide a pertinent threat, while David De Gea is a fine
goalkeeper, but in terms of a winning run there are some big weaknesses in the
side that haven’t been properly addressed in my opinion. United are a general
8/11 shot and a best of 5/6 to take this group, but with Shakhtar Donestsk,
Bayer Leverkusen, and Real Sociedad all tough trips it hardly appeals as great
value.
Bayer Leverkusen (5/1 Group, 125/1 Tournament)
Last Year: Lost to Benfica in round of 32 (3-1 agg), 3rd
Bundesliga
Manager: Sami Hypia
Best Performance: Finalists (2001)
When thinking of German football many will have eyes only
for Dortmund and Madrid but the only side to beat Bayern Munich in Germany last
year, Bayer Leverkusen have enjoyed an bright renaissance in the last two
seasons and can feel confident about making a bold bid for the latter stages of
this year’s tournament.
Sami Hypia’s side were just one point behind an admittedly
below par Borussia Dortmund last year - but should be given huge credit for
playing some of the most attacking football in Germany, with a total of 104
goals serving notice of their attacking threat, while they ended the season 10
points clear of Schalke in fourth.
One goal defeats to Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund –
the only sides to take all three points off them at home – serve notice for any
teams travelling to the BayArena this season, and their Europa League loss to
finalists Benfica was no disgrace.
While the losses of Andre Schurrle to Chelsea and Dani
Carvajal to Madrid are two blows, Hypia has recruited wisely in bringing in
Hueng-Min Son - who scored 12 for a poor
Hamburg side last season - from Hamburg to add to his tacking threat, while
Sidney Sam has shown immense promise with 4 goals in 5 games this year, and
Stefan Kisseling – the Bundesliga’s top scorer last year with 29 goals – is an
ever present threat to lead the line and has 17 goals in 2013 to his name
already. A midfield axis formed by Lars
Bender, Stefan Reinartz and Simon Rolfes has potential to trouble their
opponents at home and away and they should feel confident of launching a big
challenge for qualification.
Shaktar Donestk (5/1 Group, 125/1 Tournament)
Last Season: Lost in last 16 to Borussia Dortmund (5-2 agg)
Best performance: Quarter Finals (2011)
Manger: Mirca Lescu
Europa League winners in 2009, Shaktar have fast become one
of Europe’s toughest trips and one of the most entertaining sides on the
continent but that has come with the price of losing much of their best talent
over the past three summers and this year more than ever they look a weaker
side.
The dominant force in the Ukrainian league for the past four
years, Mirca Lescu’s side have gone pound for pound with the best in Europe at
times over the last three years – especially in the group stage last year where
it took a last minute winner to beat them at Stamford Bridge and they fully
outplayed Juventus in Turin before going down fighting to Borussia Dortmund in
the last 16.
Clearly a match for anyone on their day, they could have
harboured high hopes of an extended run in this year’s tournament with the same
side, but losing the heart of their midfield in Willian and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to
Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund respectively is a real hammer blow for the club
to deal with.
The superb Armenian scored 25 goals in
just 29 games for Shaktar last season – an extraordinary total for a midfielder
even given his extreme love for bombing forward – while Willian was one of the
prime playmakers on the continent last year. The emergence of a worthy rival at
home in Metalist Kharkiv suggests that those withdrawals have had their effect
despite the arrivals of Adriano Mineiro and Frederico Rodrigues Santos and
Shaktatar may be vulnerable this season.
Real Sociedad (7/1 Group, 150/1
Tournament)
Last Season: Not in Europe, fourth in
La Liga
Previous best: Group stages (2002)
Real Sociedad have been away from the Champions League for
10 years and since have fallen off the La Liga radar but that is no reason to
doubt Spain’s fourth side and the Basques can make a big bid for the last 16.
Having snatched European football courtesy of Valencia’s last
day loss against Sevilla, a remarkable achievement given that they’d finished
the last two seasons in 15th and 12th .
Much has been made of Real Madrid’s ‘capture’ of Asier
Illlramendi but at a Spanish player record for Madrid (32 million Euros) his
sale has bough finical stability and much of the squad from last season
remains, including Antione Griezmann, Imanol Agirrexte and Carlos Vela, who all
contributed to Sociedad scoring the most goals apart from Barcelona and Madrid
in La Liga, with the three scoring double digits – Carlos Vela, who has made
his transfer from Arsenal full – notching 14, with Agirretxe right behind him
with 13 and Griezmann netting 10.
The departure of Phillipe Montanier to Rennes could be seen
as a blow but Jagobo Arraste has been coaching from the youth level up and his
side’s impressive dismantling of Lyon over two legs – famous for their two
incredible goals in France, especially Griezmann’s stunning volleys – was the
performance of a side that is more than capable of going toe top toe with the
best and they took points of the big two and Altetico Madrid at home last
season.
VERDICT: This is one of the tightest groups in the
tournament with very little between Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen,
Shakhtar Donestk and Real Sociedad. Whoever travels best may take one of the
last 16 places, with the three boasting exceptional home records, and neither
of the sides have exceptional travelling form, which makes picking a bet tricky
on value terms.
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