The continental tournament commenced on a highly promising note in Europe as the Champions League kicked off in a thrilling fashion. The not-so-fancied counterpart of Europea��s second-level intra-continental tournament, the Europa League, too unfolds in its 2011-12 edition during the midweek, as the teams falling in the second bracket from all around Europe set to begin their European campaign.
Teams in the more famous leagues do not exactly treat the Europa League in the best regards and rather reckon it an unnecessary burden potential to jeopardise their general fitness of the squad. However, UEFA doesna��t discriminate between the two continental competitions of different proportions to determine a leaguea��s co-efficient and hence ita��s important for teams to deal with the tournament in a much more serious way.
Greek outfit PAOK FC welcome Harry Redknappa��s Tottenham Hotspur in the opening day Group A clash, where the visitors are reckoned outright favourites to take three points from Greece but considering they play a very important premier league home match against Liverpool over the weekend, the manager may opt to rest some of his key players.
Russian side Rubin Kazan who quite famously beat Barcelona at Camp Nou in a Champions League group game only a couple of seasons back travel to the British Isles to play the current Irish champions Shamrock Rovers in another Group A game. Their compatriots Lokomotiv Moscow travel to Austria to face Strum Graz in the Group L opener whereas the second match from the same group sees Romelu Lukakua��s youth club Anderlecht host the other Greek side in the tournament, AEK Athens.
The recently cash-rich French outfit Paris Saint-Germain host Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg who failed not to hold Italian giants Juventus for no fewer than two times in the tournamenta��s previous edition. PSG have been one of the biggest spenders in Europe during the summer transfer window and might well begin to make their European presence felt right from the onset. The likes of Javier Pastore and Diego Lugano are exactly the kind of players to reshape the fortunes of a team and PSG could be on the right path to script a bright European chapter in their history. The Group F opener could be an interesting game considering the heavy investments of one team against an organised approach of the other is famous for.
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Reigning Slovakian champions SK Slovan Bratislava, who hogged enough limelight in the qualifying round having stopped Luis Enriquea��s AS Roma progress to the group stages, are now facing Athletic Bilbao a�� a team that carries great historical significance in Spanish football but like many other clubs in the country, is not exactly enjoying the best of the times. All in all, this particular group may have a lot to offer as the tournament progresses with some more interesting fixtures lined up.
Zlatan Ibrahimovica��s youth club Malmo FF begin their Group G campaign on their travel to Netherlands where they face AZ who finished 4th last season in Eredivise, while in another opener from the same group, Austria Wien host the Ukrainian outfit Metalist Kharkiv who finished behind Shakhtar and Dynamo last season in the Ukrainian Premier League.
The title race in the Dutch league went down the wire last season and unfortunately FC Twente got marginalised by a mere two point difference. The second place finish could only earn them a spot in the Europa League and they begin their European journey as they travel to West London to play Chelseaa��s local rivals Fulham in their Group K encounter. Martin Jola��s team had finished as runner-up in the tournament a couple of seasons back under then manager Roy Hodgson and havena��t played in Europe since. However, their league engagements over the weekend may see Martin Jol resting some key players. In the other Group K match, Polish champions Wisla Krakow play host to Odense who finished second last season in the Danish league.
German Cup winners FC Schalke 04 caught everyonea��s attention last season with their Champions League heroics where they brutally ousted the holders Internazionale beating them 2-5 away at San Siro. Schalke went on to play the semi-finals of the tournament but unfortunately the English giants Manchester United proved to be too much for them. However, owing to the poor show in the domestic league last season, Schalke could only feature into the Europa League and are flying to Romania where local clubs Steaua Bucuresti host them. In another Group J opener, Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa play host to Cyprus outfit AEK Larnaca.
Group I is arguably the most exciting of groups with presence of high profile teams like Udinese, Atletico Madrid, Celtic and Rennes. After showing immense promise last season, Udinese could not manage to hold on to two of their best players and much expectedly failed to go past the Champions League qualifiers. However, as they begin their Europa League campaign playing at home against French unit Rennes, they have everything to play for. Serie A fixture list isna��t exactly kind for the upcoming weeks but Udinese must not leave it to the later stages as their group is relatively tougher. Palermo and Roma have already been denied a chance to play in the tournament and Udinese have a greater responsibility to strengthen Serie Aa��s position in UEFA rankings.
In the second Group I opener, Atletico host Scottish runner-up Celtic in what could be another interesting clash. Atletico are under an overhaul having lost both Aguero and Forlan to Manchester City and Inter respectively but havena��t failed to invest the cash properly. The much hyped Falcao transfer that cost them a fortune must bear fruits right from this stage of the season. The acquisition of Diego too could prove to be vital.
It all boiled down to an all Portuguese Europa League final last season as FC Porto and SC Braga earned their places to fight to reach for the pinnacle. Much to the expectations of many, Porto registered a convincing victory and the then European newbies begin their campaign on the opening day facing English League Cup champions Birmingham City in an away game. Birmingham quite famously defeated Arsenal in a final that may continue to haunt Arsene Wenger and his boys for the years to come. Braga arena��t exactly deemed to replicate their last seasona��s form but are pretty much a team start as favourites against a Championship team. Belgian outfit Club Brugge play host to Slovenian champions Maribor in a relatively anonymous Group H clash.
Andy Graya��s Barcelona nemesis Stoke City are travelling to Ukraine to meet Dynamo Kyiv in the Group E opener. The historic side that Dynamo are, must rise up to their stature in a European tournament and in all probabilities erstwhile Milan superstar Andriy Shevchenko may hang up his boots at the end of the season which should strengthen their motivation ever further. It is difficult to predict Stoke Citya��s approach towards the tournament from this point but they are certainly not one of the favourites to win the Premiership title and hence have practically got no reason not to take Europa League seriously. But again, for a team whom Barcelona fear playing against, it might well be too trivial a tournament. Turkey and Israel share quite a few common cultural overlaps but they should hardly matter when Beskitas play host to Maccabi Tel Aviv in another Group E game on the first matchday.
If not for another unfathomable result after Intera��s shock defeat at San Siro to Turkish club Trabzonspor, it should ideally be a cakewalk for Lazio as they meet Romaniaa��s FC Vaslui at Stadio Olimpico. Edi Rejaa��s men started the season in a very effluent fashion having managed a 2-2 draw against champions AC Milan with both their new strikers a�� Klose and Cisse a�� registering their names on the scoresheet. With Udinese already depleted and Napoli expected to have one long season owing to their Champions League commitments too, Lazio have a realistic chance to finish in the top three this season which may see them treat Europa League again only as much seriously as Rafa Benitez treats his jobs. Switzerlanda��s runner-up FC Zurich, who beat Milan at San Siro two seasons back, are playing hosts to Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Figoa��s youth club Sporting CP. In Domingos Paciencia, they boast of a dynamic manager and with their recent triumph in the league, they should be no short of confidence going into this game.
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Danish champions FC Copenhagen, who went to the knock-out round in Champions League last season, having forced Barcelona to settle for a draw on the way, failed to secure a second straight berth in Champions League but are nevertheless one of the teams to watch out in the Europa League. In a Group B opener, they face Ukrainian travellers Vorskla Poltava who arena��t exactly enjoying the greatest times in the domestic league for the ongoing season. In the other Group B game, German outfit Hannover 96, who game Bayern Munich a run for their money in the race for the elusive third Champions League spot, are hosting Belgian runner-up Standard Liege. Hannover are currently ranked 9th in the Bundes Liga table and have all the reasons to start on a bright note at the European front.
Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven should, in major likelihood, have no troubles winning the group C, having been drawn with the likes of Hapoel Tel Aviv, Rapid Bucuresti and Legia Warsaw. PSV welcome Legia Warsaw on the opening day and it will take a herculean effort from the Polish side to come out with a point from the game. Romanian outfit Rapid Bucuresti travel to Israel on the opening day to lock horns with Hapoel Tel Aviv a�� who finished second last season in countrya��s premier league.
Overall, the opening day shouldna��t be even half as exciting as the Champions League matchday turned out to be, but a lot of quality sides who have much to play for, feature in their respective matches. It is still early days in the season but a good display at this stage assures teams some breathing space in the further rounds of the competition. With this ideal, the major players should all aim to maximise their results on the opening day.
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