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Club football in Europe has gone for a complete overhaul this year.
With managers retiring, some making sensational returns to their former clubs as well as a few high profile appointments, bookmakers are having second thoughts as to who they will be backing for the upcoming season.
Add the fact that this transfer window promises to be one of the most exciting ones with several top players switching their loyalties and major deals being struck. It’s the beginning of an all-new chapter in European football.
The best players from across the globe ply their trade in Europe today. Hence, it’s not a surprise that the UEFA Champions League is considered to be the most competitive tournament by many, with the best clubs and the best players locking their horns against each other in mouth-watering contests.
Xavi, Messi and Neymar combining to play against Robben, Schweinsteiger and Ribery is a prospect that only the Champions League can offer us. Thus, with so much activity happening right now, we all but wonder at what’s coming our way this season. The air of predictability suddenly seems to have vanished.
The biggest change probably concerns Manchester United with their long-serving manager Sir Alex Ferguson calling it quits at the end of last season after 26 years in charge.
The Scot who led United to three Champions League finals in four years, winning one in that famous penalty shoot-out against Chelsea in Moscow 2008, while losing to Barcelona in Rome in 2009 and Wembley in 2011 will be sorely missed.
David Moyes, his successor, faces a tough task of trying to match up to the standards of his predecessor. But with United hierarchy backing him all the way, it’s going to be interesting to see which players he brings in and what brand of football he decides to offer the Old Trafford faithful.
Not too far away at Stamford Bridge, rivals Chelsea, who have just welcomed back Jose Mourinho as manager, are gearing up for the campaign, and with Roman Abramovich never shy of spending, they look to get big names like Edinson Cavani, De Rossi, Hulk and several more to sign on the dotted line for them.
The “Special One” seems determined to build on his legacy at the London club and make them Champions of Europe again.
United’s noisy neighbours, Manchester City, too, have had a change at the helm with Manuel Pellegrini replacing Roberto Mancini after he failed to retain the Premier League title and another dismal outing in Europe, getting knocked out of both the Champions League and the Europa League. With deals for Fernandinho and Jesus Navas already wrapped up and the Abu Dhabi group willing to provide more cash, expect City to do better this season.
Bayern Munich will be looking to start off their new era under Pep Guardiola, who has replaced Jupp Heynckes, right from where they ended the 2012-13 season.
The Champions of Europe have a very strong squad and with Mario Goetze coming in from rivals Dortmund and several other deals in the pipeline, they do not seem to relinquish their title easily.
Money is not a problem for Bayern as they are on firm ground financially, something which the Bundesliga in general can boast about in general. Just exactly how the Bavarians play under Guardiola will be something to watch out for. Don’t expect a German version of the “tiki-taka” to make an appearance though. Interesting times at the Allianz Arena.
Over in Spain, Real Madrid have a new manager as well with Carlo Ancellotti taking over from Jose Mourinho. Real already have a very talented squad and with club President Perez willing to spend big to add more to the list of Galacticos, Madrid look to remain as one of the favourites again for their ‘decima’.
Rivals Barcelona are not to be left behind as they have already signalled their intentions with the signing of Neymar from Santos. If the Confederations Cup display is anything to go by, the Messi-Neymar combination might just be too much for opposition defences this season.
One cannot forget the Ligue One duo this term since they have snapped up some pretty big names in the past two years.
With Monaco signing players like Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez and being linked with a few more, and PSG not willing to be outdone after the departure of Ancelotti to Madrid, French football has suddenly grabbed the limelight.
Clubs like Juventus, AC Milan, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund, too, are striving to keep pace with the others as they look to build on their existing squads.
With several players like Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain, Paulinho already switching clubs and many more like Wayne Rooney, Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, David Villa, Luiz Suarez, Thiago Alcantara , Hulk and Cristiano Ronaldo yet to decide on their future, the permutations and combinations seem to be endless at the moment.
One thing though is for certain, the quest for European dominance has just got tougher.
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