While we’re still almost five weeks away from the opening day of the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League has – admittedly quietly – already begun, with the first qualifying matches, involving sides like Linfield and FCI Tallinn taking place last week.
Admittedly, we’re some time away from the point that most consider the ‘opening round’ of the tournament – the group stages – as the draw for said stage doesn’t actually happen until August 24th, but even so – we know the majority of the biggest teams that’ll be involved and it’s quite easy to predict the major players who might be there towards the end.
The Champions League is easily the premier club competition in the world, and at this early stage, here are five things to look forward to before it begins again.
#1 Can Real Madrid three-peat?
Since the beginning of the Champions League era back in 1992/93, there have been 13 different winners. Real Madrid are the most successful side, having won the tournament five times, one more than rivals Barcelona, and in June they became the first team to retain the trophy since AC Milan in 1989/90 prior to the change in format.
The big question going into 2017/18 then is can Real retain the trophy again and become the first side in the modern era to win three Champions League trophies in a row? It’s a tricky one to answer. The odds are clearly against them given it took 25 years for a team to retain, and of course, all of Europe’s biggest clubs are now snapping at their heels. But if anyone can do it, it’s Zinedine Zidane’s team of Galacticos.
They might be losing James Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata this summer, sure, but they still have Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Isco, Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos, and so on, and that isn’t even scratching the surface really given they traditionally splurge on at least one mega-money transfer – possibly someone like David de Gea or Kylian Mbappe.
History might point against Real Madrid making the final next May in Kiev, but with their history and current form, it’s almost difficult to bet against them.
#2 Can the Premier League make its mark again?
While the last English side to win the Champions League was Chelsea in 2011/12, it could be argued that 2007/08 was the high water mark for the Premier League in the competition. After all, that was the season that saw Manchester United defeat Chelsea in the final, while Liverpool also made the semis before being knocked out by Chelsea.
Since then though, English teams have struggled to make their mark on the tournament. Since Chelsea’s win in 2012 in particular, only two Premier League sides have gotten past the quarter-final stage – Chelsea in 2013/14 and Manchester City in 2015/16. Last season saw only Leicester make it into the last eight in fact.
2017/18 though could be different. Five Premier League sides – Chelsea, Tottenham, Man City, Man United and Liverpool (assuming they qualify for the group stage) – will be gunning for Europe’s biggest trophy and given the riches that adorn the league these days, surely at least one of those sides will be aiming to make the semi-finals at the very least.
If that isn’t the case and we see another disappointing Champions League campaign for the Premier League sides, it’d be a damning verdict on English football’s place in Europe in general. Premier League money may be able to buy great players, but this season should show if it can buy European success too.
#3 Will we see any one-sided games?
As the competition is primarily made up of the cream of the crop of European clubs, you don’t really expect any one-sided thrashings in the Champions League, particularly once the wheat has been separated from the chaff after the group stages are done. Last season though threw up some astonishing results in the knockout stages too, results that sent shockwaves across Europe.
We had the second-round games involving Arsenal and Bayern Munich, for instance, a tie that was expected to be competitive given Arsenal had beaten Bayern at home in 2015/16’s group stage. Instead, Bayern hammered the Gunners 5-1 both home and away in one of English football’s most embarrassing results. Then there was the wild Paris St. Germain vs. Barcelona tie that saw the French side win the first leg 4-0, only to lose the second 6-1 to allow Barca to somehow go through.
Even the quarter-final had a one-sided result – Juventus comfortably beat Barcelona 3-0 in the first leg of their tie, effectively killing the hopes of Barca despite their miraculous comeback in the previous round.
Will this season see any similar results? Who knows? But the Champions League has always thrown up the odd crazy result – remember when Man United hammered Roma 7-1 in 2006/07? – so surely 2017/18 won’t be any different.
#4 Will there be another Kylian Mbappe?
Prior to 2016/17, Kylian Mbappe was a largely unknown prospect playing for Monaco – he’d only made 14 first-team appearances for the club and the idea of a world-record transfer fee being discussed around his name would’ve seemed insane.
Mbappe’s performances in the Champions League last season changed all of that though and made him into Europe’s hottest property. Sure, he also scored 15 goals in the French league, but it was his Champions League showings – six goals in all of the knockout stages against Man City, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus – that really opened eyes.
His thunderous half-volley against Man City in the first leg of their tie made him the second-youngest French scorer in the competition’s history, and he never looked back.
With plenty of young talent in the Champions League this season, including the likes of Saul Niguez, Ousmane Dembele, Dele Alli, Christian Pulisic and Gabriel Jesus, the chances of someone shooting to superstardom through their performances have to be pretty high. And of course, Mbappe himself will be in the competition again – whether that’s for Monaco, or one of Europe’s bigger fish remains to be seen.
Perhaps a relative unknown won’t explode onto the scene in a similar way, but the Champions League is definitely ready for a young talent to make their name there again, and it should be fun to find out exactly who that is.
#5 Who’s going to be a good outside bet?
While Real Madrid started as one of the favourites for the tournament in 2016/17 and ended up winning, not many people were talking up Monaco or Juventus as possible finalists at this time last year. And yet the Italians ended up facing Madrid in the final after edging out the French side, with some more favoured sides – Barcelona, Paris St. Germain, and Bayern Munich – falling by the wayside.
The big sides like Real, Barca and Bayern will always be the favoured contenders while the likes of Chelsea, Man United and Man City also have the financial clout behind them to buy themselves into a strong position. But which outsiders could end up rising to the challenge and going on a run into the deeper stages this season?
Tottenham Hotspur could be a decent bet – they struggled last season but have more experience this time around, ended the season as the Premier League’s hottest side, and Harry Kane can’t stop scoring goals. RB Leipzig surprisingly finished second in the Bundesliga last season and have some tremendous young talent such as Emil Forsberg, Timo Werner and Naby Keita – as well as a huge chip on their shoulder due to being the most hated side in Germany.
Also read: 5 reasons why Tottenham Hotspur will light up the Champions League in 2017-18
And that isn’t mentioning Monaco. Admittedly, Bernardo Silva is gone and they may also lose Tiemoue Bakayoko, Kylian Mbappe and Thomas Lemar, but who knows what other young talent the French side may be hiding?
Europe’s biggest clubs will always hold an advantage but some of the smaller sides are catching up. Could 2017/18 be the year that an outsider wins the biggest prize? It’ll be interesting to find out.
