FANS of European football are now only days away from the first round of group fixtures for this season’s Champions League, and although English clubs failed miserably last season to even make the semi-finals, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal will aim to make this season’s final, enticingly staged at Wembley next May. Tuesday and Wednesday nights will never be the same again. Expect another over-polished Sky Sports production featuring pointless questions by Richard Keys, and the continued presence of the ever-shortening trousers of Jamie Redknapp. Over on ITV, viewers will look to see who the replacement is for Robbie Earle, a pundit nobody openly liked until the nation felt sorry for him after this summer’s World Cup tickets fiasco.
Of course, we as a footballing nation turn into expert pundits ourselves over the course of the season, but not all fans will want to see English clubs do well in European competitions. The argument here being that it’s hard, for example, to hate Chelsea every week, then suddenly be expected to support them on a Wednesday night against a Spanish club, with only marginally more foreign players themselves.
The much-heralded English clubs had dominated in the competition until recently, with every final since 2005 featuring one of the Premiership big boys. Thus it was refreshing last season to see Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Lyon fight it out with the not-so-refreshing Barcelona for the coveted trophy.
Not that English clubs had embarrassed themselves last season. Manchester United went out unluckily on away goals to a Bayern Munich side that seemed somewhat destined to reach the final. Chelsea were ousted over two tight games by eventual champions Inter Milan, and Arsenal were the unlucky opponents to face Lionel Messi’s Barcelona. Only Liverpool failed to impress, though such was the inner turmoil at Anfield last season, it wasn’t surprising to see them fail to qualify from their group.
Manchester United did manage to win the now-defunct Cup Winners Cup in1991, but then suffered some awful Champions League campaigns until 1997 when they reached the semi-finals. Arsenal and Chelsea also managed to win the same trophy in 1994 and 1997 respectively, but the big trophy, the European Cup, continued to elude the English elite until United’s success in 1999.
The days of naïve English clubs taking to Europe in the early to mid-1990’s are sadly missed. Attacking 4-4-2 formations away from home were hilariously torn apart by experienced compact European outfits, and the limit on foreign players (including Welsh, Irish, Scottish players) made for some dubious line-ups. In 1994 English goalkeeper and porn-star lookalike Gary Walsh was chosen to replace the ‘Great Dane’ Peter Schmiechel as Manchester United took on Barcelona at the Nou Camp. How Ferguson must have rued his decision as Walsh played more like Bradley Walsh, and United were hammered 4-0. The best players in the world were certainly not playing in England at that time.
Indeed, when Manchester United finally won the European Cup in 1999, they beat a marvellous Juventus side along the way, a side that had reached the three previous finals. Marcello Lippi’s Juventus sides of that era were undeniably magnificent, featuring players like Zidane, Del Piero, Deschamps, Davids, Di Livio, Peruzzi, Conte, Vieri, Boksic, Jugovic, Ravanelli, Sousa and Vialli. They were equal to the superb AC Milan side of the early 1990’s, although Milan admittedly won more European Cups.
The success of clubs like Juventus, Milan and Ajax in the 1990’s, combined with the superior talent of the players at their disposal, gave the Champions League a real mystique. It gave English football a target to reach, a level of football that has now been met, and indeed sometimes surpassed in recent years. Beating a side like AC Milan away from home would have been unthinkable 15 years ago, but as Wayne Rooney and Manchester United disposed of the Italian giants with ease last season, it was sad to see a Milan side that lacked the quality and the aura usually associated with the club. It was in stark contrast to the team they share their stadium with - Inter, who saw manager Jose Mourinho successfully impose his superb tactical acumen on a side that lacked direction and organisation in previous European campaigns.
English clubs should return to dominant ways in this season’s Champions League, but if they fail it will at least add weight to the argument that the competition is still anyone’s to win, not just the rich Premier League elite. Indeed over in Spain, as Real Madrid have found out to their cost in recent seasons, money cannot guarantee you a European Cup, though this year, in Mourinho, they may well have the right man in charge finally.
Finally, for the nostalgic amongst you (and for Inter Milan fans), here's a link to a clip of a goal scored at the San Siro that I hadn't seen for ages. Enjoy.
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