The Qualifiers have been played, teams have been eliminated and we are now under way in the 2010/2011 Champions League campaign. Everyone is excited about seeing the likes of real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and all of the other big guns through to the latter stages. This has prompted me to look at the teams that appear to be here for the ride, but who may surprise a few people by venturing into the latter stages. Here are my Dark Horses:
Who would have thought that we would be sitting here, watching Tottenham prepare for a Champions League Campaign? At the beginning of the 2009/2010 season Aston Villa, with their previous season challenging for the top four, Man City with their new found millions and maybe Everton who finished 5th the previous two seasons were considered the teams to break the top four blockade.
However, Tottenham surprised everyone, jumping from 8th to 4th in one season. This enabled qualification for the 3rd qualifying round where they negotiated through to the group stage, via a plucky Young Boys team. They now find themselves in a much tougher situation against the qualities of Werder Bremen, Inter Milan and FC Twente.
Tottenham will look to the the likes of Modric, Bale and Lennon for that European spark, and with the addition of Van der Vaart, they will create a lot of chances for the front men . If Tottenham can gel, they have a strong chance of making the last 16. With the quality they have, they will be able to cause anyone problems as in the knockout stages, anything can happen. Watch out Europe, Tottenham have arrived!
Schalke 04
Schalke 04 sit in a group with Champions league veterans Lyon, Portuguese Champions Benfica and Israeli Giants (European minnows); Hapoel Tel Aviv. This could be considered the group of mediocrity, given the similar level of Lyon, Benfica and Schalke 04 and then the low standard of Hapoel Tel Aviv. Schalke 04 attainned the runners up spot behind an impressive Bayern Munich in what was one of the most competitive leagues in the world last season. To this team, they have added the lethal finishing of Huntelaar and all time Champions league top scorer Raul. If Schalke can perform to a similar level to which they performed last season, Raul and Huntelaar may be able to put the icing on the cake. Given the nature of the group, Schalke have a realistic chance of top spot. This would enable them to get theoretically an easier draw. Maybe a Quarter Final appearance is on the cards for this feisty German team.
Bursaspor
Bursaspor look one of the least likely teams to do anything in the Champions League this season. They sit in a group with one of the favourites, Manchester United, the always dangerous Valencia and the inconsistent Scottish Champions, Rangers.
On the face of this group, it looks like a straight fight for 3rd place between Rangers and Bursaspor, as Manchester and Valencia fans will be very confident of qualification. However, Bursaspor shocked Super Lig followers by becoming only the 2nd team outside of Istanbul to win the title, pipping Turkish giants Galatasaray and Fenerbache. In the 2009-2010 season, Bursaspor scored the most goals, spreading them around the team and the second meanest defence. If they can continue their rise from the Turkish league into the Champions league, with players like Turkish prodigy Yildirim Sercan, they may be able to challenge Valencia for that 2nd place finish in the group. For those fans of Rangers of Valencia, don’t think that your picking up six points from Bursaspor because they may take six points from you if you underestimate them, especially from you Rangers!
Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos are in a tough group with Barcelona, who we all know, Rubin Kazan who proved tough opposition for Barcelona and Inter Milan and minnows of the group FC Kobenhavn. Looking at this group, it appears to be a straight fight for 2nd between Panathinaikos and Rubin Kazan, with Barcelona top and Kobenhavn bottom. Panathinaikos won the Greek Super League last season with a mix of youth with players like ‘wonder kid’, Sotiris Ninis, experience with players like Gilberto Silva, Proven Greek internationals like Giourkas Seitaridis and players who had something to prove, like Liverpool flop Djibril Cisse, who shone last season, scoring 23 goals.
This season they have strengthened an already strong squad with players like Jean Alain Boumsong, who can assure the defence if he plays to his potential, Sidney Govou who is a veteran of the Champions League, Luis Garcia who some say single handily took Liverpool to the Champions League final in 2005, and a youth player/flop from Liverpool in Plessis who will be hoping to go the same way as Leto and Cisse. This is a squad littered with Champions league experience, and if they can keep Cisse fit on top of that, with maybe a few Luis Garcia Stunners along the way, who knows how far they can go. With all of these former Liverpool players, can they shock Europe as much as Liverpool did in 2005?
Roma
Maybe this is a sign to show how far they have fallen in recent years, as Roma are no longer a team that the general football fans around the world see as a great threat. They are seen as a beatable team by anyone who plays them. Roma share a group with Champions league runners up, Bayern Munich, Swiss legends Basel and CFR Cluj, who surprised everyone in their last Champions League campaign. No doubt, Basel and Cluj will target Roma as an achievable scalp, However, I’m not so sure Roma will be that easy to beat. I even think that Roma may dare to win the group. Roma missed out on the Serie A title by a mere two points last season, and they are still hanging on to Totti, who is capable of great things. Beyond that, they do have some good young talent in Menez and Okaka, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Fulham. If Roma can take last year’s league form into the Champions League this year, they have the potential to be dangerous, especially with the tinker man, Claudio Ranieri in charge.
Marseille
Marseille sit in a group with Premiership champions Chelsea, Russian familiars Spartak Moscow and Slovakian Minnows MSK Zilina. Marseille and Spartak Moscow will be fighting for that 2nd qualification place, that's a clear given, but the head-to-head matches will be too nervy and close for either team to come out as the clear winner. However, I think MSK Zilina will have a say in who qualifies by taking point off one of them. In my opinion, Marseille have been in this competition too many times to underestimate any team, and they have got the quality to get past small, compact teams like MSK Zilina. If Marseille manage to qualify, I think they have the quality to commit a few giant killings with attacking full backs, Azpilicueta and Taiwo and the strike force of the in-demand Remy, Shakhtar Donetsk legend Brandao and the ever improving target man, Andre Pierre-Gignac. Can Marseille emulate Lyon by making the semi-finals? Ligue 1 says that they are the better team.
Ajax
If you want to see goals, watch Ajax! An incredible 106 goals in a mere 34 games they shipped in last year, and on top of that, they had the best defence in the league. Nobody knows how Ajax didn’t win the league last season ahead of FC Twente.
They have started the season in similar goal scoring fashion, scoring 16 in four. The question is, can Ajax score their way out of the group of death and into the knockout stage? They have been dealt a nasty card, trying to score past teams, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Auxerre. Interestingly enough, all of these teams play a tight, defensive game; AC Milan ply their trade in the notoriously defensive Serie A, Real Madrid look as if they will play a typical Mourihno 1-0 style of football and Auxerre negotiated their way into the champions league playing tight defensive football, scoring the odd winner. Ajax are somewhat of an anomaly in this group. Can the likes of Luis Suarez Score past this higher standard of defence with similar regularity? If they can, they must have a chance, as the winner of the Champions League may very well come from this group.
SC Braga
Group H is surely a bit of a breeze for Arsenal with Braga, with Partizan and Shakhtar Donetsk in their group. However, both Partizan and Shakhtar will look at this scenario and see qualification as a possibility. Braga have been wholly impressive in the Champions league qualifiers, smashing Celtic and beating Seville, showing that they are no pushovers and that they can beat quality opposition.
Braga have an endless supply of talented Braziians in their team who took them to 2nd in the league and now to the Champions League group stage. Shakhtar have some quality, but I feel that they lack the edge that Braga have, and I believe that Partizan just aren’t good enough. The fact that they come from a better league than Shaktar will see them through to the knockout stage where they might struggle, but who knows, as this Braga team is a bit of an unknown entity.
All of these teams have a chance to upset the odds and have good European seasons, but my tip of tips is Panathinaikos. I feel that they have players with an abundance of Champions League experience and some talented young players. It just looks like a good mix to me and I can see them slaying some dragons.
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