The 2012/13 Europa League gets underway this week with a host of qualifying matches taking place so it’s an ideal time to assess which teams have a realistic chance of lifting the trophy in Amsterdam next May.
Chelsea’s Champions League success last season will no doubt spur on the strong Premier League contingent in this term’s Europa League with the likes of Tottenham (12/1 – Winner) and Liverpool (also 12/1) well fancied to go far, while Newcastle at 25s should not be discounted following their impressive campaign.
The main problem with English clubs is they tend to see the Europa League as a hindrance to their domestic aspirations which sees respective managers opting to risk fielding weakened teams in order to rest key men for big Premier League games as the battle for the title and Champions League qualification takes precedence.
Both Manchester United and Manchester City epitomised this when sweeping changes to their line-ups resulted in exits at the hands of Athletic Bilbao and Sporting Lisbon respectively last term.
Therefore, with new Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas no doubt being tasked with the job of getting the Londoners into the Champions League via a top-four Premier League finish, don’t expect him to roll out the big guns for their matches in Europe.
It will be the same story at Anfield where Brendan Rodgers will be focused on dragging Liverpool back into the fight for a place at the top table of European football.
Newcastle’s fifth-placed finish was one of the surprises of last season’s Premier League campaign and boss Alan Pardew will probably be mulling over whether to lower his sights in the league to make a fist of winning the Europa League or use the matches to blood youngsters and give his fringe men a chance to shine.
The majority of English clubs simply do not have the capabilities to consistently fight it out at the top end of the Premier League and enjoy a sustained run in European competition so something will have to give – and it’s usually the Europa League.
Therefore, while we expect Spurs, Liverpool and Newcastle to at least progress beyond the group stages, it is unlikely the trio will go all the way and win the tournament.
Clubs in Spain have enjoyed the greatest success in this competition with Atletico Madrid (12/1 – Winner) winning two of the last three finals, while Sevilla won in 2006 and 2007, and Valencia picked up the then UEFA Cup trophy in 2004.
Atletico and last season’s beaten finalists Athletic Bilbao (14/1) , who comprehensively dispatched Manchester United from last season’s tournament, are both back for the 2012/13 campaign and are capable of lifting the trophy.
Zenit St Petersburg and CSKA Moscow have been relatively recent winners so big-spending Anzhi Makhachakala are worthy of consideration at 20/1 as they will look to put their stamp on European football.
The other big threat is certain to come from Italy as 2010 Champions League winners Inter Milan (12/1) are in the Europa League this term and they will be looking to win this trophy for a record fourth time in their history.
Napoli (20/1) join Inter from Serie A and having impressed in last season’s Champions League against both Manchester City and eventual winners Chelsea, it would be pure folly to discount the men from Naples.
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