Euro Bite Review No.1: The Benefit of a European Vacation

Kate Partridge reviews this week's European ties and how an absence from continental football could generate the desire needed for success. Two tournaments, seven teams – but only two winners on match week one in the group stages of this year’s European club competitions. Perhaps an inauspicious start for the British teams in the Champions and Europa Leagues – unless you hail from Merseyside, where a bit of a break seems to have done them good.

Liverpool showed the kind of grit and good fortune expected of five-time champions in their Late, Late Show against Bulgarian debutants Ludogorets. But, back among the continent’s elite after five years, Brendan Rodgers’ side were missing the duo that had helped get them there.

With Suarez sold and Sturridge sidelined, the spotlight was on Mario Balotelli – just where he likes it. His maiden club goal and Steven Gerrard’s spot-kick gave the Reds a last-gasp 2-1 win. The performance was patchy, the relief palpable, but the three points invaluable to leave the Reds second to Real Madrid in Group B.

Everton did even better in tier two. After announcing plans for a new ground, they were back on an old one with a Thursday night fixture at Goodison. Their last Europa League foray was a 3-0 thumping at Sporting Lisbon, four seasons back. No such trouble this time. Roberto Martinez’s side swept aside Wolfsburg 4-1 to go top of Group H.

Yet, while the returnees triumphed, an established quintet stuttered. Under Roberto di Matteo in 2012, Chelsea won the Champions League. Twelve months later Rafael Benitez led them to Europa League glory. Last year, back with Jose Mourinho, they reached the last four in the top tier.

This season so far, the Blues are flying. Four wins from four and leading the Premier League. And Mourinho also has something to prove: winning Europe’s ultimate prize with his favourite club, and becoming the first manager to do so with three different ones.

However, despite being drawn in the most benign group, Chelsea were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by misfiring Schalke, currently enduring their worst start to a Bundesliga campaign for 46 years.

Similarly, Tottenham fans had the pleasure of travelling to Serbia to see some offensive banners and their Europa League hopefuls play out a snappy though goalless draw at Partizan Belgrade. While Celtic – who famously beat Barcelona less than two years ago – were held to a 2-2 draw at Red Bull Salzburg.

There was much worse for Arsenal. Playing in their seventeenth consecutive Champions League group stage campaign, they were flattened 2-0 at Dortmund, who had 22 shots to the visitors’ four. Manager Arsene Wenger described his team’s performance as “average.” Player-turned-pundit Paul Merson lambasted it as their worst he had ever seen.

And, despite the heroics of ‘keeper Joe Hart, Manchester City had to stomach losing to a 90^th-minute winner by former defender Jerome Boateng at Bayern Munich. Not the start owner Sheikh Mansour would have wanted in his quest for a Champions League crown.

Perhaps the answer to early success in Europe is to first take a break from it – though this view would hardly be popular, especially in commercial departments, and Manchester United’s next continental opponents had better beware. A more positive assessment of week one would be that no team suffered the embarrassment of a drubbing.

But elsewhere, there were some. Defending champions Real Madrid demolished Basel 5-1. Winger Yacine Brahimi netted a hat-trick as Porto flattened BATE Borisov 6-0. And Olympiakos stunned last year’s runners-up Atletico Madrid 3-2. There were also wins for Juventus, Barcelona, Monaco and Zenit St. Petersburg.

And in perhaps the pick of opening night, Roma thrashed CSKA Moscow 5-1, four of the goals coming in the first half an hour.

Unfortunately for City, Rudi Garcia’s men are now also the early pacesetters in Group E, followed by Bayern – and they did so after three years away from the Champions League group stage.

It seems that in European terms, absence makes the heart grow hungrier. Let’s see if disappointment can have the same effect on match week two.

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