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Playing in the Champions League, Europe's premier club competition, is a dream that every player plying their trade in the continent vouches for. It's a tournament that brings us some of the top guns of Europe under the same shade of UEFA, vying for the coveted prize while also providing some tantalising entertainment.Teams across the European association consider the billing as one of the top most and only 32-clubs from across the continent get the privelege to participate in one edition. This leavessome outfits away from the spotlight of one of the grandest stages staged in European football and when it comes to some really high-profile clubs, missing out for even a year is bordering dangerously on blasphemy.Here across theslideshows, we look at the some of the clubs that were away from the famous night lights of Champions League for a certain period and have now clawed their way back into contention.
#5 Maccabi Tel Aviv
A club from any subaltern league are always considered to be a slam dunk to the bigger clubs. But this Israeli club have got into the elite 32 in some style. Having crowned the champions of Israel back in May, the capital club successfully passed through the qualifying rounds, before driving out last season’s pre-quarter finalists FC Basel on away goals.
Maccabi Tel Aviv were last seen in the Champions League back in 2004, when they exited in the group stage as the likes of Bayern Munich and Juventus were too powerful for them. 11 years later, they enter the scenario again and are the only club from Palestine to do so during that period.
Their return will be marked with fixtures versus Dynamo Kiev, last season's quarter-finalists FC Porto and a daunting prospect in Premier League holders Chelsea, in group F. As some really big challenges lie in waiting for The Yellows, prolific striker Eran Zahavi will be heavily relied upon as the outlet in the attack.
#4 PSV Eindhoven
The new champions of Netherlands, PSV Eindhoven return to Europe’s top flight on the back of a historic Eredivisie triumph, when they successfully usurped Ajax’s four year long domestic hegemony, last term.
The most glorious club of Netherlands after the aforementioned Amsterdam side, the 1988 European cup winners will compete in the Champions League for the first time since 2008 and are the sole torch-bearers of the Dutch contingent.
They will an old employer in Memphis Depay when they take on Manchester United, followed by a date with Russian outfit CSKA Moscow and Bundesliga runners-up Wolfsburg, in a relatively sturdy test in group B.
Although their glorious years in Europe have come only in the 20th century and their current status is a mere shadow of their illustrous past, ThePeasants will be buoyed to put up a valiant fight, even if their chances of progressing to the latter stages are faint.
#3 Valencia
Another Spanish contingent making their way after considerable time of absence, Valencia became the fifth club from Spain to qualify for the tournament proper when they ousted French counter-parts AS Monaco in the play-offs, thereby making the nation the first to have five clubs participating in the same edition.
Valencia have always proved to be a thorn in the side of the elite clubs of the domestic league, but never really managed to play in the same vein at the biggest platforms. Their last appearance in the Champions League came only in the 2012/13 campaign, where they made it to the last 16, but failed to make it even to the group phase in the following two seasons.
Now back in action after a gap of over 3 years, it would well and truely be a baptism of fire for Valencia when they’ll be going against some of the heavyweights of Europe for the first time. Albiet, they won't have too much of a hassle in dealing with the likes of Zenit St.Petersburg of Russia, Olympique Lyon of France and Gent from Belgium, when they take them on in group H in persuit of a place in the knockout rounds.
#2 Sevilla
An underdog in La Liga but a force to be reckoned with in Europe, Sevilla sent ripples across the continent with their emphatic, back-to-back victories in the Europa League in the last two years. The Andalusian club emulated their heroics of 2005 and 2006, when they had previously lifted the prize for two years in a row the first time.
However this year, there was an added bonus to winning the secondary club football tournament of Europe - a direct entry into the premier edition that is the Champions League, which Sevilla so nonchalantly clinched.
Los Nervionenses return to the stage they last graced in 2010, when they were driven out in the last 16 by CSKA Moscow and are aiming to go a longer way this time. Despite seeing some of their prized assets being pillaged away by more high-profile clubs, Spain’s oldest side remain a formidable one and it would be intriguing to watch how strong of a challenge can they assert this time.
Considering the mammoth task they have been handed right at the start after being pitted against Italian champions and last season's runners-up Juventus, Premier League giants Manchester City and second runners-up of Bundesliga Borussia Monchengladbach, in the 'group of death' that is group D, let us see how they fare.
#1 Manchester United
A club of high prestige, decorated with an illustrious history, a year without the anthem of the Champions League being played at the Old Trafford is unthinkable for Manchester United, for they have been one of the hot shots of the competition over the years.
After the tumult under the tutelage of the much despised David Moyes, the Red Devils finished a lowly 7th in the league that season, thereby missing out on a spot in Europe for the first time in 17 years.
A sea of change followed, along with a new figure in Louis Van Gaal, patrolling the dugout. And although they failed to clinch any silverware under him too, a glint of hope could be felt in the Old Trafford, as those memorable European nights were on the cards for next season.
Club Brugge of Belgium stood as the final hurdle in their way back in the Champions League, but the two-time winners paved their way through at a canter, as they brushed the minnows aside on a 7-1 aggregate score in the playoffs. What awaits them now, is a test from Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow and the sternest amongst all, Vfl Wolfsburg.
Champions League returns to the red half of Manchester albeit after a year, it’s still a moment every faithful was thirsty for during that period.
