With the World Cup now over, its once again time to focus on club football, and with that comes with Europa league (Champions League reviews will come later, as there is a lesser variety of teams qualifying and so many spots are already decided). The second qualifying round starts July 15th, and here is a list of teams (slightly unusual) to watch this season, as well as in the current qualifying round.
Olympiakos
- Next Match: vs Besa Kavajë (Albania) July 15th and 22nd
- Reason to watch: Olympiakos has great experienced players in the likes of Olof Mellberg and Dennis Rommedahl along with exciting Brazilian talent Diogo. The team is starting in the early qualifying rounds this year, but really has the potential to go far in the tournament.
Maccabi Tel Aviv
- Next Match: vs Mogren (Montenegro) July 15th and 22nd
- Reason to watch: This team isn’t usually mentioned as one to watch, but they do possess a very talented player in Maor Buzaglo, an attacking midfielder who can split any defense with his passing, as well as score important goals.
Liverpool
- Next Match: Third qualifying round
- Reason to watch: It seems like a really easy choice to pick this team, however Liverpool had a down year last season (finishing 7th), so it should be interesting to watch what this team will look like before the English Premiership starts, given a new manager and probably new players as well.
CSKA Moscow
- Next Match: Third qualifying round
- Reason to watch: This team is completely loaded with new up-and-coming talent. Wonderkid Alan Dzagoev, great young goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, and World Cup 2010 star Keisuke Honda make up just some of the names on this squad. If CSKA play to their potential, this team can definitely win the Europa League this year.
Club Brugge
- Next Match: Play-off round
- Reason to watch: A little bit of trivia comes into play here. Club Brugge have made the UEFA Cup/Europa League a record 15 consecutive times so far, extending that streak again during the 2010-2011 season. The club has a good young defender in Dutchman Ryan Donk (24) and a good up-and-coming striker in Nigeria’s Joseph Akpala (23), who has scored 22 times for the club in 63 appearances.
