UEFA’s ‘other’ competition, the Europa League, begins on Thursday, with 48 teams starting their journeys toward spring final in Basel, where one club will earn a berth in the 2016-17 Champions League.
Here is World Soccer Talk’s preview:
Group A
The groupings start off with what could be the toughest of the lot: Ajax (Netherlands), Celtic (Scotland), Fenerbahçe (Turkey) and Molde (Norway). Ajax and Celtic shifted into this competition after UEFA Champions League playoff round defeats. Their rivals entered after third qualifying round losses – Fenerbahçe lost out to Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine); Molde to Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia).
Ajax have made it through to the round of 32 in all three of their previous UEFA Cup and Europa League group stage campaigns. I see that trend continuing this season. Ajax have long had one of the best academies in Europe, and a recent product to keep your eye on is midfielder Davy Klaassen. Klaassen replaces the departed Niklas Moisander (transfer to Fiorentina) as club captain. Another academy product leading the scoring charts is winger Anwar El Ghazi. El Ghazi spent time in the youth academy of Feyenoord and Sparta Rotterdam before going to “finishing school” at Ajax. He’s started the domestic season on a tear, scoring six times in five matches.
Fenerbahçe had a busy summer in the transfer market, signing former Manchester United players Robin van Persie and Nani. It will be hoped that van Persie can replace the goals of the departed Moussa Sow (transfer to Dubai side Al-Ahli). With that added experience and firepower, not to mention the intimidating home atmosphere, Fenerbahçe are the team to beat in this group.
Celtic will have to find a way to improve both their set piece defending and their ability to close out games once if they hope to progress. Compounding their issues is the loss of center back Virgil van Dijk (transfer deadline day move to Southampton). Manchester United prospect Tyler Blackett arrived on a season-long loan, and having put in some impressive performances last season, Celtic will be optimistic that he can replace van Dijk.
Molde are struggling this season after winning the Tippeligaen in 2014. Manager Tor Ole Skullerud was fired after the club lost in the third round of Champions League qualifying. They are well off the pace domestically, trailing leaders Rosenborg by 21 points. Despite the struggles, Molde still possess some capable attackers in Mohamed Elyounoussi, Ola Kamara and Tommy Høiland. Being in late season form could help.
TV schedule:
Thursday, September 17:
Fenerbahce vs. Molde, 1pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Group B
Liverpool (England) will be the favorites to finish top and can be thankful for a favorable draw as the Reds are still a work in progress. They have attempted to strengthen their squad with the summer signings of James Milner, Danny Ings, Christian Benteke, Nathaniel Clyne and Roberto Firmino. However, they sold Raheem Sterling to Manchester City, and so far the goals have dried up for Liverpool. They started the domestic campaign with a pair of 1-0 wins, but their form has dropped dramatically since. Back to back losses have raised many questions about the defensive, as well. In both losses they conceded three goals, and the central pairing of Lovren and Skrtel have not covered themselves in glory.
FC Girondins de Bordeaux (France) have a poor record against English clubs — one win and two draws in 10 game – so they will hope for a change in fortunes against Liverpool on Matchday 1. Bordeaux finished sixth in Ligue 1 last season and currently sit 10th after five matches.
Their main attacking threat is midfielder Wahbi Khazri, a former France under-21 international who now plays for Tunisia at the international level. Khazri has started the domestic campaign with three goals in five matches and also scored in their playoff round first leg against FC Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan). Bordeaux just held Paris Saint-Germain to a 2-2 draw, and if they continue to play in that manner, they’ll grab a spot in the Round of 32 ahead of Rubin Kazan and Sion.
FC Rubin Kazan (Russia) have successfully navigated their way through to the round of 32 in all three of their previous Europa League group stage appearances. However, they only entered into the Europa League this season because Dynamo Moscow failed to comply with UEFA’s financial fair play rules. They currently sit 12th in the Russian Premier League and have been held scoreless in four of their eight matches. Their main threat for goals is forward Igor Portnyagin.
FC Sion (Switzerland) are making their Europa League group stage debut, having qualified by winning the Swiss Cup. They finished seventh in the Swiss League last season and currently sit fifth this campaign. The player to watch for Sion is Pape Moussa Konaté, a Senegalese striker who currently has four goals in six domestic matches. I wouldn’t expect Sion to advance from this group, and they are likely to struggle against the quartet’s more experienced clubs.
TV schedule:
Thursday, September 17:
Bordeaux vs. Liverpool, 1pm ET, FOX Sports 1, ESPN3.com and FOX Soccer 2GO.
FC Sion vs. Rubin Kazan, 1pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Group C
First place in the group should be Borussia Dortmund’s (Germany) to lose. The club still has many veterans of their Champions League quarterfinal run from 2013-14. Top players such as Mats Hummels, Marco Reus and Nuri Şahin give Dortmund a depth that other clubs in the group cannot match. Over the summer they added a mix of veterans like midfielder Gonzalo Castro (€11 million transfer from Bayer Leverkusen) as well as exciting young talent like Adnan Januzaj, who is on a season-long loan from Manchester United. Gone are forwards Kevin Großkreutz and Ciro Immobile, but the impact of their loss should be minimal.
Dortmund’s opposition in the group includes Greek side PAOK, who finished third in the Superleague last season. Their main attacking threats are Greek international Stefanos Athanasiadis and Slovak winger Róbert Mak, who paced them in qualifying with three goals. Last season’s joint top scorer, Facundo Pereyra, was shipped out by sporting director Frank Arnesen. You might recall the name from his time with Tottenham, Chelsea and Hamburger SV. Arnesen brought in Dimitar Berbatov on deadline day to help bolster the attack.
PAOK face Azerbaijani side Qäbäla FK, who signed Pereyra on loan. Qäbäla (often written as Gabala FK) have reason to be proud, having made it all the way from the first qualifying round to group stage. They knocked off some bigger sides on their way through, being well organized and maintaining a compact team shape at home (no goals conceded in four home games). Goals are an issue for this side, and they’ve struggled in away matches during qualifying. Unless there is a change in form, they will be facing an early exit.
FC Krasnodar (Russia) entered the Europa League at the third-qualifying round and defeated Slovan Bratislava on aggregate, 5-3. A true United Nations squad with 11 different nations represented, Krasnodar were founded just seven years ago and have now reached the group stage in consecutive seasons. To reach this level already is an amazing accomplishment for the ownership and current manager Oleg Kononov.
Some would say they’re doing it in the right way, as owner Sergey Galitsky has stated that rather than continue to buy players, the aim in the next few years is for more than half of FC Krasnodar first team to comprised of players developed by their extensive academy network. FC Krasnodar runs a network of youth football schools throughout the Krasnodar Krai and Adyghe regions. They finished third in their group last season, and I’m picking them to go one better this time and qualify for the Round of 32.
TV schedule:
Thursday, September 17:
Borussia Dortmund vs. FC Krasnodar, 1pm ET, FOX Sports 2, ESPN3.com and FOX Soccer 2GO.
Gabala vs. PAOK, 1pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Group D
This could well be the dreaded “Group of Death” that every cup competition seems to provide.
Club Brugge (Belgium) will hope to put aside the heavy defeat in Champions League playoffs against Manchester United (7-1 on aggregate). Brugge made it to the quarterfinals of last season’s Europa League but are drawn into a tricky group this time around.
What I learned by watching Brugge against Manchester United was that they have players that can create chances. I was aware of Victor Vazquez, the former Barcelona academy player, before the playoffs, but the two legs against the Red Devils brought forward Tuur Dierckx to my attention. Playing out on the left, he was eager to attack defenders and sent a few good looking crosses into the penalty area. If they can have a bit more solidity at the back (they’ve conceded eight times in seven domestic matches), their chances of progressing will improve.
Napoli (Italy) are off to a slow start in Serie A with only two points from three matches. There’s been no major change in the squad (Gökhan Inler was the only departure), but there has been a change in managers. Rafa Benitez left to take over at Real Madrid and Maurizio Sarri was hired to lead Napoli.
Sarri has bounced around several Italian clubs but is best known for his recent work with Empoli. He managed them to promotion from Serie B in 2013-14 and against the odds kept them in Serie A with a 15th place finish last season. If the wins don’t start rolling in, Sarri will quickly find himself under pressure. This squad has the talent to progress to the Round of 32 but must show a more complete game to advance.
One might be tempted to overlook Legia Warszawa (Poland) in this group, but they have made it to the round of 32 in two of their three UEFA Cup and Europa League group stage campaigns. More relevantly, Legia are in great form, having won all six of their qualifying games to make it to the group stage.
FC Midtjylland (Denmark) are a club that I got interested in at the start of last season. Matthew Benham (owner of English Championship side Brentford) saw value in a club that was knocking on the door of European cup competitions for several seasons. He became the majority shareholder of FC Midtjylland and they went on to win their first major trophy — the Danish Championship.
Benham has instilled a data-driven approach to developing players based on the ‘Moneyball’ methods introduced by the Oakland Athletics baseball club in the 1990s. Much like FC Krasnodar, they are rejecting the big money deals of the transfer market and are continuing the good work started by their academy in 2004. That’s not to say they don’t spend, just carefully. An example would be their €1 million deal for striker Martin Pušić in last season’s winter transfer window. He went on to score eight times in 16 matches and helped them to secure their first title.
This group seems impossible to predict, so a prediction is obviously in order. I’m going to go with Midtjylland and Legia Warszawa strictly based on current form.
TV schedule:
Thursday, September 17:
Midtjylland vs. Legia Warsaw, 1pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Napoli vs. Brugge, 1pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Group E
Czech league champions FC Viktoria Plzeň should be considered favorites to progress. They lost in the third round of Champions League qualifying to Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) but breezed past Serbian side Vojvodina in the Europa League playoff round (5-0 on aggregate).
Plzeň successfully navigated their way through their only previous Europa League group stage in 2012-13. The squad is largely comprised of Czech or Slovak born players except for top scorer Aidin Mahmutović. The Bosnian striker led the team with 12 goals last season. However, a new threat is emerging in Slovak forward Michal Ďuriš, who is the leading scorer this season with four goals in six domestic matches.
Villarreal (Spain) finished sixth in La Liga and gained automatic entry to the group stage. Goals were in short supply last season, when the Spanish club finished with a mere 48 goals in 38 games but only conceded 37. They’ve attempted to add some spark by signing Congo international Cédric Bakambu, who scored 21 times in 35 games for Turkish club Bursaspor. He’s already paying off, having scored three times in his first two appearances for the club. Another big signing that’s off to a flying start is Roberto Soldado who joined from Tottenham for a reported £10 million (less than half what Tottenham paid for him in the summer of 2013). Soldado has two goals and two assists in three matches. With this new attacking verve, I like Villareal’s chances of advancing.
Rapid Wien finished second in the Austrian Bundesliga last campaign and find themselves again second so far this term. They are without striker Robert Berić, last season’s top scorer with 27 goals, who has moved to French club Saint-Étienne. Since his departure, the goals have largely been coming from midfield, with Austrian under-21 Florian Kainz and Germans Louis Schaub and Steffen Hofmann leading the way. But results have started to slip since Berić departed, and unless either Deni Alar or Matej Jelić emerge as a consistent threat, their chances to progress are shaky.
Dinamo Minsk (Belarus) needed extra time against FC Zurich (Switzerland) in the third qualifying round and went to a penalty shootout to defeat Red Bull Salzburg (Austria) in the playoffs. There’s no such outlet for them in the group stage, so they will need to improve on their ability to close out matches. In both cases, they led after the first leg and simply could not hang onto their lead.
Goal production has been coming from Serbian winger Nenad Adamović (six league goals) and Montenegrin striker Fatos Bećiraj (eight league goals). Bećiraj also scored the extra-time winner over Zürich.
TV schedule:
Thursday, September 17:
Rapid Vienna vs. Villarreal, 1pm ET, ESPN Deportes and FOX Soccer 2GO.
Viktoria Plzen vs. Dinamo Minsk, 1pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Group F
It’s been a summer of change at Olympique de Marseille (France), with forwards André Ayew (10 league goals) and André-Pierre Gignac (21 league goals), playmaker Dimitri Payet (17 assists in 36 league appearances) and midfielder Florian Thauvin (5 goals, 8 assists) all departing. Gignac’s 21 Ligue 1 goals put him second in the league. Marseille has dipped into the loan market to try and bolster the squad. Mauricio Isla has joined from Juventus, Remy Cabella from Newcastle United and young talents Javier Manquillo and Lucas Silva have joined from Atletico and Real Madrid, respectively.
Former Real Madrid midfielder Míchel has a big job on his hands getting the squad to gel. So far, the results have not been going there way, and they sit mid-table. Marseille were shut out in three of their first five games, a trend that has to reverse if they want to progress.
FC Groningen (Netherlands) embark on their first Europa League group stage campaign and face Marseille on Matchday 1. Could an upset result be on the cards? Well, Groningen lost some key components this summer, including attacking midfielder Tjaronn Chery, who joined Queens Park Rangers in England’s second division. Chery netted 15 times in 34 league matches. His goals could be replaced by new signing Jesper Drost. Drost is a 22-year-old attacking midfielder who has great skill and the ability to accelerate quickly with the ball at his feet. Definitely one to watch in this group.
In what is the recurring theme in this group, Braga (Portugal) also lost their top scorer from last season when Éder moved to English Premier League club Swansea City for an estimated £5 million fee. Braga have a replacement in Ahmed Hassan, who they signed from Rio Ave.
Braga qualified directly for the group stage based on last season’s fourth place finish. They’re a defensively solid team and that will continue to be their strength. I like their chances of progressing based on that.
FC Slovan Liberec (Czech Republic) have won all four of their European games this season, conceding just once in the process. Their defense was nowhere near that solid last season (43 goals conceded in 30 league matches), so it will be interesting to see how they hold up against sterner competition.
Liberec finished 12th in the Czech League and gained entry to the tournament via their winning the Czech Cup. They have made significant personnel changes in their backline (several players moved on, Ondrej Svedjik was brought in on loan from Sparta Prague, and the club made the permanent signing of goalkeeper Tomas Koubek, also from Sparta Prague).
Liberec made it through to the round of 32 in 2013-14, but I’m less convinced about their chances this season.
TV schedule:
Thursday, September 17:
Slovan Liberec vs. Braga, 1pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Groningen vs. Marseille, 1pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Group G
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) have redemption on their mind after being beaten by Sevilla in last season’s final. They have to be an early favorite in this group, having successfully made it through their previous three group stage campaigns. Yevhen Seleznov is deployed as a lone striker and is off to a hot start with five goals in seven domestic matches. Dnipro are usually tough for other teams to score against, and I would expect a similar approach this season, with 1-0 being a frequent scoreline. Dnipro will hope they are on the right side of that outcome more often than not.
As previously discussed in our Champions League playoff preview, Lazio (Italy) are largely an unchanged squad from last season. They relied on goals from a variety of sources without an out and out main threat. Miroslav Klose led the way with 16 in all competitions while Antonio Candreva, Felipe Anderson and Marco Parolo all reached double figures. A late summer signing has been the top goal-getter thus far this season. Alessandro Matri joined at the end of the transfer period on a loan deal from AC Milan and scored two goals in his debut in a 2–0 win over Udinese.
Overall, Lazio are off to a slow start, losing to Juventus in the Supercoppa Italiana, being soundly defeated by Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League playoffs and suffering a crushing 4-0 defeat away to Chievo in their second match of the Serie A campaign. Manager Stefano Pioli has a lot of work to do to get the side in more consistent form.
AS Saint-Étienne (France) finished fifth in Ligue 1 last season and defeated Romania club Târgu Mureș and Moldovian side Milsami to reach the group stage. I felt that Saint-Étienne had made a couple of really clever signings during the transfer season and could be a surprise performer in this group. I enjoyed watching Kévin Théophile-Catherine play for Cardiff City during their Premier League campaign. He added an attacking threat to the left side of the team while still defending well. Unfortunately, he broke a bone in his foot and will be out for up to three months. The other signing I liked was the addition of Robert Berić from Rapid Wien. Nolan Roux, a summer signing from Lille, has been playing as a No. 9 but has never been a prolific scorer. Ligue 1 is a step up in competition for Berić, but I think he’ll still produce goals given time to settle into the team.
Rosenborg (Norway) is one of two sides (Gabala FK the other) who have made it all the way from the first qualifying round to the group stage of this season’s competition. Along the way, the Norwegian champions have defeated some famous names – Romania’s FC Steaua Bucureşti and Hungary’s Debreceni VSC. The club is also leading the Tippeligaen
by a wide margin.
Rosenborg play with an attack minded 4-3-3 formation and forwards Alexander Søderlund and Pål André Helland have been scoring goals by the bucket load this season. Søderlund has tallied 25 goals in 32 total appearances in 2015 while Helland has 22 in 27. The third member of the front trio, Tobias Pilegaard Mikkelsen has chipped in 10 goals.
Rosenborg will hope this dominant form continues and gets them into the Round of 32, a place they have not been to since 2007-08.
TV schedule:
Thursday, September 17:
Dnipro vs. Lazio, 3pm ET, ESPN3.com and FOX Soccer 2GO.
Saint Etienne vs. Rosenborg, 3pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Group H
My choice for top spot will be Beşiktaş JK. The Turkish club finished third in the Superlig last season and are off to a solid start again this campaign. They have also turned to some veterans for help, bringing in Ricardo Quaresma and Mario Gomez.
I do have a bit of personal bias, as I’m a fan of Canadian Atiba Hutchinson, one of our best players ever. He predominantly plays as a holding midfielder with Beşiktaş but in the past has also played on the right side of midfield or as a full back on either side of the pitch.
Beyond the familiar names are the real key components for Beşiktaş. Wingers Gökhan Töre and Olcay Şahan are the driving force in the squad and shone in last season’s Europa League campaign. Expect more dazzling wing play from the pair this time around.
Sporting Clube de Portugal had a busy offseason. Gone are the likes of Nani and Diego Capel, but what might hurt a bit more is the loss of young, talented defenders Cédric Soares and Naby Sarr. Joining the club are central defender Naldo (from Udinese), creative winger Bryan Ruiz (from Fulham) and a couple of veterans in right back João Pereira and central midfielder Alberto Aquilani. After narrowly missing out on advancing to the Champions League Round of 16 last season, Sporting will have a point to prove and should be able to advance out of this group.
Lokomotiv Moskva’s capture of the Russian Cup gave them direct entry to the Europa League group stage. Lokomotiv struggled for goals last season (41 goals in 37 total matches), but so far this campaign things have gone a bit differently. They are using the same 4-2-3-1 formation as last season but have changed personnel in the striker and trequarista positions. No one has established themselves as the dominant players in either role, but more goals are being produced. Striker Oumar Niasse has performed best in the early going with three goals in fiveappearances. Winger Alan Kasaev has already equalled his three league goals from last season. If Lokomotiv can continue to find goals then they will push Sporting for second.
Albanian club Klubi Futbollistik Skënderbeu Korçë are making their debut appearance at the group stage level of any UEFA competition. Not only is it Skënderbeu’s debut, it marks the first time an Albanian club has progressed to the group stage of a European competition. Their march to this point started back on July 14th in the Champions League second qualifying round. They lasted until the final hurdle, when they were simply outclassed by Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia). Based on what I saw in those two matches, I’m afraid that more of the same is the likely result for Bardhekuqtë (The White and Reds).
TV schedule:
Thursday, September 17:
Sporting vs. Lokomotiv Moscow, 3pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Skenderbeu vs. Besiktas, 3pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Group I
Basel (Switzerland) would love to reach the final this season, as it is being played in their home stadium. First things first though, Basel will feel some confidence in this grouping having already overcome the Lech Poznań 4-1 on aggregate in this season’s UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. In case that didn’t provide enough headlines, Basel also face their ex-manager Paulo Sousa, who is now the Fiorentina boss. With their wealth of European experience and current form (they are undefeated in eight domestic league matches with a +15 goal difference), I’m picking Basel as the winner of this group.
Fiorentina (Italy) are another club with redemption on their minds. On their run to the semifinals last season, the Viola defeated Tottenham and Roma before they lost to eventual winners Sevilla. Gone are Mario Gómez (on loan to Beşiktaş), winger Mohamed Salah (loan from Chelsea ended), and midfielders Joaquín, Alberto Aquilani, Juan Manuel Vargas and David Pizarro. As the transfer period was coming to a close, Fiorentina brought in Jakub Błaszczykowski on loan from Borussia Dortmund to try and replace the speed and wing play that Salah had contributed last campaign. The club is also hoping that a fit Giuseppe Rossi will translate into a steady supply of goals. After two major knee injuries have cost him two seasons, can he hold up? Let’s hope so, as his goal scoring rate with Fiorentina has been good (17 in 26 appearances). Fiorentina and Basel should be able to advance from this group thanks to drawing some weaker opposition.
Polish champions Lech Poznań, nicknamed Kolejorz or The Railwayman, are back in the group stage for the first time since the 2010-11 season. They were knocked out at the third round of qualifying in three consecutive seasons. This year’s path was a little different as they lost to Basel in the third round of Champions League qualifying before defeating Hungarian side Videoton in the Europa League playoff round.
Their talisman is Finnish attacking midfielder Kasper Hämäläinen, who lead the way with 15 goals and eight assists in all competitions last season. They’ve added center forward Denis Thomalla from German second division club Rasenballsport Leipzig. Thomalla spent last season on loan in the Austrian Bundesliga with SV Reid where he scored 10 goals and added seven assists in 29 matches. Despite that, I don’t see them being able to take any points off the top two clubs in the group.
Belenenses (Portugal) are the likely last place finishers in this group. They finished sixth in the Primeira Liga. No matter the outcome, Belenenses will be proud of making their UEFA group stage debut. This will be the longest campaign in their European history (at least 10 games). Their longest previous outing was a four-game trip to the 1988-89 UEFA Cup second round. Belenenses will not be simple to beat but I feel their cautious approach and lack of goals (no player reached double digits last season) will be their ultimate undoing.
TV schedule:
Thursday, September 17:
Fiorentina vs. FC Basel, 3pm ET, ESPN3.com and FOX Soccer 2GO.
Lech Poznan vs. Belenenses, 3pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Group J
Tottenham Hotspur crashed out in the Round of 32 last season and will look to go much further this time around. The overhaul of the squad continued this offseason with more departures than arrivals. The big summer signings were forward Heung-Min Son (£22 million from Bayer Leverkusen) and central defender Toby Alderweireld (£11.5 million from Atlético Madrid). They should be improvements on the players in those positions that have departed — Vlad Chiricheș and Roberto Soldado. The team is built around English striker Harry Kane and so far he’s not found the scoresheet. Spurs will need to find some goals from Kane and others if they are to progress.
Anderlecht finished third in the Belgian league last season, which granted them automatic entry to the Europa League group stage. The player to watch is 18-year-old Youri Tielemans, the youngest Belgian player to play in the UEFA Champions League, making his debut in 2013 when he was just 16 years old. He’s off to a hot start this season with three goals and an assist in six domestic matches.
Of worry for Anderlecht is that they have won only one of their last eight European home games. I don’t see their fortunes changing anytime soon as they face Monaco on Matchday 1 and their record against French clubs is quite poor — they are without a win in their last five encounters with Ligue 1 sides.
Monaco (France) missed out on the Champions League group stage after being defeated by Valencia. The big sale was Anthony Martial to Manchester United for a reported initial fee of £36 million in a deal that could net the club as much as £58m, including the percentages Martial’s former clubs Lyon and CO Les Ulis will claim. However, Monaco also attracted some top players on loan — defender Fábio Coentrão from Real Madrid and Stephan El Shaarawy from AC Milan.
Shaarawy is a particularly interesting prospect. He’s been hampered by injuries the past couple of seasons but has pace, agility, dribbling ability, and technical skill to be a star player. If he can stay healthy, Shaarawy could add the creative spark that Monaco is lacking at the moment. I see them battling for second place in the group with Anderlecht.
Azerbaijani champions Qarabağ Futbol Klubu are the the second team from their nation to advance to the group stage of a European competition. They missed out on the Champions League, losing to Red Bull Salzburg in the third qualifying round. They have struggled every season as they face bigger and more experienced clubs, and I don’t see that trend reversing. Even domestically they did not have a dominant goal scorer, and that will not help them get results in this competition.
TV schedule:
Thursday, September 17:
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Qarabag, 3pm ET, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Soccer 2GO.
Anderlecht vs. Monaco, 3pm ET, ESPN3.com and FOX Soccer 2GO.
Group K
Schalke (Germany) automatically qualified for the group stage because of their sixth place finish in the Bundesliga last season. They had a strong run in last season’s Champions League and narrowly lost to Real Madrid by a 5-4 aggregate in the Round of 16.
All’s not rosy, though, as midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng remains suspended by the club for incidents back in May of this year. Forward Sidney Sam was also on the outside looking in but the transfer of Jefferson Farfan to Al-Jazira in the United Arab Emirates gave him an opportunity to rejoin the squad. Star winger Julian Draxler has also been sold to Wolfsburg for €36 million.
In response Schalke have added more depth in the defensive end with the signings of holding midfielder Johannes Geis from Mainz and central defender Matija Nastasić from Manchester City. Argentine Franco Di Santo was added from Werder Bremen, but I don’t see that resulting in a large upswing in goals.
Schalke are not a prolific scoring team, but they are well experienced ,and despite the ups and downs of the summer, they have more talent than the other sides in this group. Schalke will progress, but likely through a good helping of 1-0 victories.
Czech champions Sparta Praha, or Železná Sparta (Iron Sparta) as they are nicknamed, should be the odds on favorites to progress along with Schalke. They had a tough draw in the third qualifying round for the Champions League and ultimately lost to CSKA Moscow by a single goal. The two legs were thrilling, and Sparta gave a great accounting of themselves. They then had another entertaining pair of matches against FC Thun of Switzerland in the Europa League playoff round. Sparta were up 3-1 from the home leg and drew 3-3 away to progress. It probably didn’t help that their back four was a bit unsettled by the transfer of Pavel Kaderábek to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim of the German Bundesliga. They look to have settled on Markus Steinhöfer who joined from VfR Aalen who were relegated from the German second division last season.
Sparta’s key man, captain David Lafata, was their leading scorer last season and looks to lead them again this year, even though he will turn 34 this week. He scored a staggering 13 goals in 11 European club games last season. Definitely one to watch out for.
APOEL were double winners last season, capturing the Cypriot First Division and Cypriot Cup honors. They did lose some key elements from last season’s squad – striker Rafik Djebbour (17 goals in 28 matches) jumped to AEK Athens and left back John Arne Riise left to play for Delhi Dynamos in the Indian Super League.
Fernando Cavenaghi has joined from Argentine club River Plate to try and provide goals. So far so good, as he’s scored three in two domestic matches. Cavenaghi has never had a great goal scoring record when he’s played in stronger leagues (Russia, France or Spain), so his impact in this adventure may be limited.
Asteras Tripolis FC finished third in the Greek Superleague last season, their highest finish ever. They also reached the finals of the Greek Cup and took Olympiacos to extra time before losing.
Like many of the smaller clubs in this competition, they lost their top scorer from last season during the summer transfer window when Jerónimo Barrales moved to Turkish club Sivasspor. With that loss of goals, they will struggle against the Schalke and Sparta in particular. Their European adventure will almost certainly end at the group stage this year.
TV schedule:
Thursday, September 17:
APOEL vs. Schalke, 3pm ET, FOX Sports 2 and FOX Soccer 2GO.
Asteras Tripolis vs. Sparta Praha, 3pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.
Group L
This is another tough group to predict. Let’s start by looking at Athletic Club de Bilbao (Spain). They lost to Italian club Torino in the Round of 32 last season after dropping into the competition from the Champions League. They finished their domestic campaign in seventh and had to go through Europa League qualifying to reach the group stage this year. They did just enough to defeat Slovak club MŠK Žilina in the playoffs and will need to improve their form if they hope to better last season’s results.
A rarity here — a club that kept their top scorer over the summer. Aritz Aduriz netted 18 times in 31 La Liga matches and is off to a decent start again this year. Having that continuity and reliable source of goals gives Bilbao an edge on the rest of the teams in their group. I look for them to finish first. We will then see if they can progress beyond the Round of 32.
AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) finished third in the Eredivisie last year well behind both Ajax and PSV. Once again a top scorer is on the move, this time Nemanja Gudelj (11 league goals) was signed by Ajax for €6 million. If that was not enough, winger Steven Berghuis, who also had 11 goals, moved to Watford in the English Premier League and striker Aron Jóhannsson (nine goals) moved to Werder Bremen.
So far this season, attacking midfielder Markus Henriksen has been their lone consistent threat. If that trend continues, they could find themselves struggling to get results domestically and in the Europa League.
FC Augsburg are making their continental debut after a long climb through the lower divisions of German football. They achieved promotion to the 2. Bundesliga for 2006-07 season and began life in the top division in 2011-12. They jumped to a fifth place finish last year, one that no one saw coming. They achieved it largely on their home record, losing only four times in 17 matches. If they can make the most of their home atmosphere in this campaign, could another fairytale ending be achieved? They’ll need to draw on the experience of their forward Halil Altıntop (previously with Schalke from 2006-10) to keep heads calm.
The uphill battle for them is that they lack the sort of forward that can change a game for them. Last season’s top scorer, Raúl Bobadilla, only recorded 10 goals in 32 league matches.
To keep the theme going, Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) sold the contract of last season’s top scorer, Petar Skuletic, to Lokomotiv Moscow, and second leading scorer Danko Lazovic left on a free transfer for Chinese club Beijing Enterprises. However, they have made a signing that looks promising. The well traveled Valeri Bojinov (formerly of Manchester City, Fiorentina, Juventus and others) has signed on for the season and has already produced four goals in five appearances (360 minutes on the field). A product of their academy, center forward Ivan Šaponjić, has also had a hot start with three goals in four appearances.
I’m going to go with Partizan as the dark horse in this group. I think they could produce enough upset results to go on.
TV schedule:
Thursday, September 17:
Ajax vs. Celtic, 1pm ET, FOX Soccer Plus, ESPN3.com and FOX Soccer 2GO.
Athletic Bilbao vs. Augsburg, 3pm ET, FOX Soccer Plus, ESPN3.com and FOX Soccer 2GO.
Partizan vs. Alkmaar, 3pm ET, FOX Soccer 2GO.