The men’s Champions League season begins on Tuesday, September 19. This season, from a Finnish point of view, the fact that a Finnish goalkeeping coach will be seen on the side of the field increases the interest Jyri Nieminen. He coaches in the Dutch Feyenoord, which faces Scottish Celtic in the opening round.
– A match between two really lively, loud and even rowdy fan cultures. We will definitely see a game where bruises are not spared on the field. At the same time, there is a meeting between two fanatical groups of supporters in the stands. In addition, it is interesting to see how Nieminen’s handprint can be seen in the play of the team’s goalkeepers, describes Urheilu’s expert Antti Pohja.
The 20-year-old striker from Slovenia also brings his own spice, especially to early season matches Benjamin Sesko. Will he be able to hit the net for reigning champions Manchester City ahead of the crucial European Championship qualifier against Finland?
In this story, Antti Pohja evaluates the three most interesting points of the Champions League group stage.
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1. Slovenia’s rising star
Before the start of the European football season, player transfers are one of the most exciting things off the pitch.
For Finns, the most interesting person to watch is Leipzig’s recent acquisition Benjamin Šeško. The Finnish men’s national team Huuhkajat will face Slovenia on October 14 in the European Championship qualifiers. In a tight qualifying group, Huuhkajat won 2–0 at home, but before the away match, Slovenia is one point ahead of Finland.
– It is not possible to say how strong he will be in the Champions League for the rest of the season, but it is interesting to follow Šeško from the beginning of the season, expert Antti Pohja says.
The Slovenian has started his Leipzig career as a substitute, but still scored two goals in the Union Berlin net in 16 minutes. In the EC qualifying match against Northern Ireland at the beginning of September, Šeško scored one and assisted two goals as Slovenia won 4–2.
– His playing time will certainly increase in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League, because Leipzig has a lot of games to play. If miracles do not happen, he will come to the national team break in a good attack against Finland.
Pohja compares Slovenia’s situation with Finland’s forward situation: Oliver Antman is sidelined due to injury, Teemu Pukki seemed a bit tired in the Denmark match and Joel Pohjanpalo signed a long extension contract with Venezia, who play in Italy’s second highest league level.
Pukki and Pohjanpalo play a large amount of minutes in smaller leagues and both have a big responsibility for their teams’ scoring.
– Šeško probably does not need to play full minutes in every match. If he also gets some successes, it will be an ideal situation for Slovenia. Then he will have a feel for the game, but he won’t join the national team already tired.
Leipzig will face the Swiss Young Boys and the English Manchester City in the Champions League before the match between Slovenia and Finland in the European Championship qualifiers.
Recent player transfers also include the Spaniard, who won the Champions League four times and played 137 matches in the series Sergio Ramos37. He continues to increase his game numbers in Sevilla.
Once won the Champions League Angel Di Maria, 35, is playing in the group stage again after joining Portuguese side Benfica in the summer. Di Maria also won the World Cup last winter with Argentina.
Leonardo Bonucci moved to Union Berlin, after which he has shaken up the football world by suing his former club, the Italian Juventus.
2. Who will challenge Manchester City?
According to expert Pohja, we will start the new season with a setup where we are looking for a challenger for Manchester City. The team played a great last season when they won the treble of English Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.
– City was once again able to develop their game, even though they brought in new players. Opponents didn’t learn how to stop the team last season. City still has extensive player material, which combines both turnover and continuity and the ability to renew.
Last season at home, Arsenal was able to challenge City up to a certain point. In the final of the Champions League, the Italian Inter made the match even with their game plan and got to excellent goal positions, especially in the last minutes. According to Pohja, there are even now worthy challengers.
– Arsenal. Bayern Munich is a team with similar turnover and continuity. Real Madrid can never be counted out of the figure when I talk about the Champions League. It is also interesting to see where Xavi Hernandez piloted by Barcelona this season can.
Pohja states that part of the fascination of the Champions League is still that it is difficult to name a clear favourite. The competition format emphasizes so much the game plan of a single match and its success.
3. The most interesting initial block in advance
From the group stage of the Champions League, the stronger teams often advance to the playoffs. Pohja considers the F group as the toughest this season, where Paris Saint-Germain (France), AC Milan (Italy), Newcastle United (England) and Borussia Dortmund (Germany) play.
– The group as a whole is interesting, although there may not be a favorite to win the entire competition. In my papers, Dortmund will probably have the weakest role in that group. It will be interesting to see what Newcastle can do under the pressure of Milan and PSG.
Pohja says that many probably consider PSG to be the early favorites of the group. However, he believes that the group will see a lot of cross-play, so the runners-up will survive by their small margins.
– The F block is certainly the one from which almost anyone can continue. In theory, the winners are often already clear after the group draw, but this will definitely be an even group.
Opening round matches:
Tue 19.9. Milan–Newcastle, Young Boys–Leipzig, Barcelona–Antwerp, Fayenoord–Celtic, Lazio–Atletico Madrid, Manchester City–Crvena zvezda, PSG–Dortmund, Shakhtar Donetsk–Porto
Wed 20.9. Galatasaray–FC Copenhagen, Real Madrid–Union Berlin, Arsenal–PSV, Bayern Munich–Manchester United, Benfica–Salzburg, Braga–Napoli, Real Sociedad–Inter, Sevilla–Lens