Will Rodgers get the balance right?
Part of Liverpool’s success last season, in finishing second in the Premier League, was that they had no European competition to distract them. Brendan Rodgers could pick his strongest side each week in league competition and it almost resulted in a first title since 1989/90.
This was also the case in both 2004/05, when they finished fifth, and 2006/07, when they were third, 21 points off top. In both those seasons, Rafa Benitez led the club to the Champions League final, winning it in 2005, by resting key players in league games to focus on Europe.
This season, Liverpool have invested in a squad to compete on both fronts and Rodgers has the strength in depth to do that, if he plays his cards right. However, the new boys failed their first test. Rodgers rested players, Raheem Sterling among them, on Saturday against Aston Villa. New arrivals Adam Lallana, Lazar Markovic and Mario Balotelli under-performed and Liverpool lost 1-0.
Picking the right moment to rest his star players will be a major challenge for Rodgers this season.
Will Atletico still be a force?
In the past five years, Atletico Madrid have become the blueprint which European clubs below the super heavyweight tier of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and co should aim to emulate.
They invest in promising foreign players, promote youth, sell their stars for huge profits – Falcao, Diego Costa, Sergio Aguero – and reinvest intelligently. And they have been improving season by season. Europa League winners in 2009/10 and 2011/12, they were minutes away from winning the Champions League last season and, of course, beat Barca and Real Madrid to the La Liga title.
Atletico’s European performance was particularly impressive. They conceded only seven goals in 13 games, dropped just two points in their group and demolished AC Milan and Chelsea in the knockout rounds.
They again have had a turnover of players, but anyone expecting them to regress might be surprised. Atletico have already beaten Real in the Spanish Super Cup and the league this season and should easily qualify from a group containing Juventus, Malmo and Olympiakos.
Can Juventus restore Italian pride?
In the 1990s, Italian teams were the dominant forces in Europe, winning three Champions League titles and seven Uefa Cups (now the Europa League).
But Serie A’s overall performance has been in slow decline since then. Italian clubs have won three of the past 18 Champions Leagues but since Inter Milan’s victory in 2009/10, they have had just one semi-finalist and three quarter-finalists.
Last season, AC Milan got the furthest, to the last 16 where Atletico dumped them out 5-1 on aggregate. Italy have slipped behind Portugal to fifth in Uefa’s coefficient rankings which determine how many places each country’s league is given in European competitions.
Before he left the job at the end of last season, Juve manager Antonio Conte said his side had “no chance” of winning the 14/15 Champions League.
But, especially with Napoli already out of the tournament, Italy needs a big performance from Juve. Domestic champions three times in succession, and with players such as Paul Pogba, Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez, they should be more confident than their former manager.
twoods@thenational.ae
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