Juve, PSG the only picks outside the Big Leagues

When Manchester United subjugated English football so, they for the most part didn’t quite have the team tactics or the individual technical quality to rule Europe.

In the first half of that domestic dominance, pre-1999, United and the other English clubs were only reacquainting themselves with the dynamics of the European game after a lengthy ban had left them lagging well behind the rest of the continent.

For United it all came together in 1999 when arguably the best ensemble to ever execute a 4-4-2 were finally crowned king of Europe.

Alex Ferguson knew however that the peak of that 4-4-2 was also the end of its era, and made several attempts at re-invention.

Post-1999 adaptation was painfully slow and there was elimination by Bayern, Real Madrid, Leverkusen, Deportivo etc all the way to 2008 when things worked out again, and but for meeting debatably the best club side ever in subsequent finals, a Barcelona whose coach had elevated total football to a higher pedestal of perfection with the help of the world’s best player, that United could have added to its European collection before Ferguson called it a day.

All that while, Liverpool who had been the direct cause of England’s European ban were struggling with stretched-out domestic transition; had they recovered as quickly as United in the early nineties they would have won more continental silverware in the same period.

Evidence was momentarily provided midway through the noughties when, amidst all that chopping and changing they chanced upon Rafa Benitez, a man who so had the measure Europe that out of nowhere he took them to the summit in 2005 and came close again two years later.

Liverpool are England’s club for Europe in the same way Bayern are for Germany, AC Milan for Italy, and Real Madrid for Spain until Barcelona produced that magical era between 2006 and 2011.

It is against that kind of backdrop that I have always enjoyed the Champions League, and two games into the 2015 edition I look into what those countries have to offer.

Spain
They remain the best bet to produce a champion. But it can only be one of two because Atletico Madrid blew their best chance last season and Bilbao are out of their depth.
With the foursome of Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema and Rodriguez Real Madrid are a potent threat; but this trophy has never been retained, and concerns at the back and in goal suggest that history is not about to change.

The loss to PSG revealed that Barca have defensive flaws to iron out too, and keeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has acclamatisation work to do, but the prospect of Luis Suarez linking up with Messi and Neymar is a mouthwatering one that lends hope to a first title since 2011.

Germany
Dortmund have the ingredients and experience to shake up Europe, especially when Marco Reus and Ilkay Gundogan recover to join the returning Kagawa and the two new goal getters.

It is hard to see them winning it though, certainly not Leverkusen or even less so Schalke, and so with Bayern should all the chips rest once again. Xabi Alonso and Mehdi Benatia have improved them, and if Robert Lewandowski can begin to add to the guaranteed haul of Thomas Muller and the promise of a great second season for Mario Gotze, then there is no reason why Pep Guardiola can’t deliver here too.

England
Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal are ably equipped at the level of technical quality, but while the Blues have Jose Mourinho’s know-how, Man City suffer from the luck of the draw and Arsenal from tactical lapses and mental mettle.

Chelsea are best placed, but Man City have the ability to go all the way if they can wiggle out a group they are already losing the grip of, and where first time winners are concerned Arsenal are ahead in the queue thanks to the law of averages. For the current Liverpool though, there is not much beyond the rich history, but it doesn’t count many times …

Italy
The exciting Roma will eventually come up short. Juventus have the ammunition back to front, but a recollection of the great ensembles that slipped up at the final hurdle in 1997, 98 and 2003 gets one in the have-to-see-it-to-believe-it mode.

The only team outside of the top four leagues with the all round ability to win the Champions League this year, something they hinted at with a fine display midweek, are PSG. But since they are not Marseille, it would have to be a first time for them too. However, no better weapon to use against pedigree and jinxes than finance.

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