While I intend to look at all of the Premier League and occasionally various other leagues, in the end, this blog will have a slight slant towards Liverpool - I am a fan.
It is less than an hour before Liverpool kickoff the 2nd leg at Anfield of the Round of 16. Their opponent - Portuguese club Sporting Braga. They have to overcome a 1 goal deficit, and hopefully the Reds will prevail, but Europe is a different beast. And to prove that point, as write this, Manchester City is currently playing Dynamo Kiev in the same competition, and they are attempting to overturn a 2 goal deficit. Manchester City has more money than most leagues in Europe do, and yet they are currently struggling against the 2nd best team in the Ukraine. It doesn't seem to matter who you buy or how much you spend - on the day, a team that on paper is significantly inferior can surprise even the moneybags team that is Manchester City.
Getting back to Liverpool - Europa League is Liverpool's last chance of silverware for this year and, well, I really could care less. It's not that I don't want Liverpool to win, but their displays in Europe have been rather lackluster. After beating Rabotnicki 4-0 on aggregate, Liverpool scraped through to the Group Stage after a scrappy affair with Turkish side Trabzonspor. In the group stages, Liverpool finished top, but with the exception of a couple of routs at Anfield, the matches were less than inspiring, with four of them ending in draws, three of those 0-0.
The question then remains - is it a case of Liverpool not caring about Europa, or was it more the malaise of being in Europe's second-rate competition. Looking at the remaining 16 teams in the competition, and there are some major teams from across the continent - Ajax, PSV, Porto, Rangers, Villarreal etc., one would think there would be some excitement - but there is no skirting around the fact that there is less interest in this than the more illustrious and lucrative Champions League. The winner of Europa League will get less money than say AC Milan or Valencia, who went out of the Round of 16 of Champions League, while the cheapest tickets at Wembley for the Champions League Final are still more expensive than the priciest tickets in Dublin for the Europa Final. All to say, I don't blame Liverpool for trying out their youngsters and not putting 100% into the matches - in the end, it is a rather dull league consisting of teams that play that with little desire and heart - like a group of teens that weren't invited to the popular party and so started their own - it's a party, but it simply isn't that cool.
All the same, with Andy Carroll being able to line-up for Liverpool in the competition, and Raul Meireles being dynamite since the return of the King, Liverpool could potentially give the run-around to Braga and book their place in the Quarters. The only caution I present is that five years ago, Liverpool returned from a 1-0 loss to Benfica, and proceeded to get spanked by them at Anfield. History has a habit of repeating itself - hopefully not this time.
Oh, and as I sign off, I checked the final score - Manchester City could not overcome Dynamo Kiev. They likely didn't have the same drive that they will next season in Champions League. I sign off as Liverpool kicks off - Go Reds.
I couldn't agree more. The Europa league seems to be a low priority for the big EPL teams (read: Liverpool). Although it means a good deal to clubs with more modest ambition, like Fulham last year (no disrespect intended, I cheered them along all the way), it just is not that enticing to the big clubs. The league seems to be Liverpool's priority even if they are unlikely to rise higher than sixth this year. Perhaps sending a signal for next year by finishing strongly in the EPL in an attempt to regain a Champions League place is more important? Or perhaps Liverpool are slightly embarrassed to be in the Europa league in the first place, so are not too motivated to win it? As for City, they would celebrate like mad right now if they won even the Carling Cup, but that fourth-place spot is obviously of far greater importance.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, have you written off the Mighty Spurs for that spot already?
Never wrote Spurs off - don't even remember mentioning Spurs!
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