KAMPALA: England’s sole remaining representative in Europe’s three premier club competitions, Aston Villa, are to battle for the Premier League’s battered reputation when continental football resumes over the next 72 hours. The EPL is widely touted as the world’s most competitive top flight division but it’s apologists have been forced to eat humble pie by failure of the country’s so called Big Six to reach any of the continental semifinals.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is a European club football specialist who already has four Europa League crowns under his belt. His vast experience, coupled with the 1982 European Cup winners status as bookmakers favourites and the fact the Villa Park outfit command an annual transfer budget that’s almost double any it’s Europa Conference League rivals has cast the spotlight on the Villans ahead of Thursday’s semifinal first leg tie against Greece’s Olympiakos.
Emery has tended to field non regulars Jhon Duran, Alex Moreno, Moussa Diaby and Nicolo Zaniolo in Europe but with silverware on the horizon, he will be hard pressed not to start with his preferred front three of Leon Bailey, Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers. Defenders Diego Carlos and Pau Torres should both feature given their experience as previous Europa League winners.
Real Madrid also find themselves in the familiar position of having to fend for Liga Santander’s record in Europe as the division’s sole flag carriers in the last four of Europe’s three club competitions. Los Blancos are the bookmakers new favourites to lift the Uefa Champions League for a record 15th time after they ousted Manchester City on penalties in the quarterfinals.
Santiago Bernabeu supremo Carlo Ancelotti, who is the only manager to have won the tournament on four occasions, underlined how seriously he takes tonight’s semifinal showdown with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena by resting ten first team regulars for the game by omitting them from the starting line up in last Friday’s 1-0 win at Real Sociedad.
The hero of Madrid’s penalty shootout victory over Manchester City, Andriy Lunin, Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo Goes, Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde, Toni Kroos, Antonio Rudiger and Ferland Mendy are all set to be recalled after being rested in the trip to San Sebastian. Real’s English star and top scorer Bellingham will be keen not to be outshone by Three Lions team mate Harry Kane, whose 42 goals across all competitions to date is his best ever haul.
Bellingham and Kane are both rivals for this year’s Ballon D’Or to Champions League top scorer Kylian Mbappe Lottin who is certain to come out all guns blazing in tomorrow’s showdown between Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint Germain at Signal Iduna Park. Mbappe came off the bench in Friday’s 3-3 draw with Le Havre as Parc des Princes boss Luis Enrique preserved him for Europe.
Dortmund manager Edin Terzic had no such luxuries as he had to field his best XI in his side’s 1-4 defeat at RB Leipzig with the likely front three of Karim Adeyemi, Niklas Fulkrug and Jadon Sancho all featuring.
The first extra place in next year’s expanded Uefa Champions League is going to Italy’s Serie A thanks to the presence of AS Roma, Atalanta and Fiorentina in the semifinals.
Danielle de Rossi’s rejuvenated Giallorossi will try to end Bayer Leverkusen’s 46 match unbeaten run when they host Xabi Alonso’s newly crowned Bundesliga champions at the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday while Gian Piero Gasperini’s Nerrazzuri tackle an Olympique Marseille outfit led by ten goal Europa League top scorer Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. Fiorentina start as slight favourites in their duel with Belgium’s Club Brugge.
TODAY
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
WEDNESDAY
Borussia Dortmund v Paris Saint Germain
THURSDAY
EUROPA LEAGUE
AS Roma v Bayer Leverkusen,
Atalanta v Olympique Marseille
EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE
Fiorentina v Club Brugge,
Aston Villa v Olympiakos