The European football season will be the busiest ever, and it's shaping up to be a spectacular domestic campaign.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The start of the 2024-25 European football season is almost upon us,
00:05and it's shaping up to be another spectacular campaign.
00:09There's a few new faces along with some familiar ones.
00:12So what stories are making the headlines so far?
00:15Let's take a deep dive into the season ahead.
00:21Hello and welcome to Football Now.
00:24On this week's episode we're taking a look at what we have to look forward to
00:28once the European football season gets underway.
00:32It's not been away for long, but we've certainly missed it.
00:35There are some great stories to sink our teeth into as the leagues begin to kick off.
00:41Let's take a look at what's in store.
00:43Starting with Kylian Mbappe, who returned to the pitch as a Real Madrid player
00:47after what was the biggest transfer of the summer.
00:50His dream move to Real Madrid finally materialised
00:53after years of being linked with Los Blancos.
00:56He's a mighty addition to what is already a very strong squad.
00:59Carlo Ancelotti will have plenty of attacking talent to choose from this season,
01:03and he could have trouble keeping all of his players happy.
01:06How could we see Madrid line up tactically
01:08as they look to defend their European and domestic crowns?
01:12I actually believe that Ancelotti could play him as a centre-forward,
01:17but not like a classical centre-forward,
01:19like almost imitating what Karim Benzema did in the 2021-22 season.
01:24This false nine that comes to midfield to receive the ball, to launch the wings,
01:29he could replace BenÃtez, he could replace Rodrigo,
01:33he actually can play all around the pitch.
01:35And to have those three players who can play at every position in attack,
01:40that is something that adds dynamism,
01:43that opens spaces for players like Bellingham arriving, or for Valverde even.
01:48So it opens this huge box of resources that Ancelotti has now at his disposal.
01:54Over to Germany, and after being dominant in the Bundesliga for so many years,
01:59Bayern Munich have a huge task ahead in wrestling back the title from Bayer Leverkusen.
02:05Xabi Alonso's team were quite literally invincible last season,
02:08and they'll be keen to keep hold of their crown.
02:11Bayern, meanwhile, are looking for a little bit of stability,
02:15and they're hoping that their new coach Vincent Kompany can deliver them just that.
02:19It was an appointment, though, that raised a few eyebrows
02:22after Kompany's Burnley team were relegated from the Premier League last season.
02:27So can he be the man to bring success back to Bayern?
02:31I think for many Bayern fans, being manager of Bayern Munich
02:35is the second best job in Germany after chancellor.
02:37It's just seen as the best thing in the world, and anyone would be lucky to do it.
02:42And in many ways it is.
02:44But of course, in the last five or six years or so,
02:46they've gone through managers very fast.
02:48I think it's an interesting appointment.
02:50I think his style of play suits the club.
02:52And I think for him, obviously, this goes without saying,
02:55but it's easier to work with a squad of Bayern Munich's quality
02:59in a league like the Bundesliga, where every game is Bayern's game to lose,
03:03than to play with a Burnley that's been promoted
03:06against these huge sides in the Premier League.
03:08So we'll see.
03:09But honestly, if he doesn't win the Bundesliga title, he's gone.
03:12That's always the bare minimum that you have to do as a Bayern manager.
03:17Time to take a look at one of the continent's most exciting small teams now.
03:22Como 1907 earned promotion to Serie A back in May,
03:26for the first time since they went bankrupt in 2016.
03:30Coached by former Spain international Cesc Fabregas,
03:33the side from Lombardy have signed several famous faces
03:37and could be in Italy's top flight to stay.
03:40If you look at the signings they've made this summer,
03:43Audero, Varane, Pepe Reina, Andrea Bellotti,
03:47these are experienced players.
03:49If you look at the names that they've brought in
03:51and the names that already were there,
03:52I do kind of expect them to not be in a relegation scrap.
03:55I have no doubts whatsoever that life living around Como
03:59will be absolutely wonderful for them and their families.
04:01You know, they're essentially living in some sort of a paradise.
04:04But it's the football that has to work
04:06and they have to be able to express that on the pitch.
04:08We've heard about the current headlines then,
04:11but that's not all.
04:12Keep an eye on these stories as they unfold throughout the season.
04:16Managerial change has been one of the main themes of the summer.
04:19A crop of Italy's top clubs,
04:21including Milan, Juventus, Napoli and Fiorentina,
04:25all have new men in the dugouts.
04:27In England, Manchester City are aiming
04:28for a fifth consecutive Premier League crown,
04:31but their concern will be around the future
04:33of their manager Pep Guardiola.
04:35The Spaniard is entering the final year
04:37of his contract at the Etihad.
04:39If it is to be his final season,
04:41Guardiola will surely go out to win another Champions League trophy.
04:45And Europe's elite club competition has been reformatted,
04:48ditching its familiar group stage
04:51for a new 36-team league table system for the first phase.
04:55Each team will be guaranteed two more games than before
04:58and UEFA say the new format will encourage
05:00more competitive games throughout the competition.
05:03It's quite interesting the way they've done that
05:05because it feels like what they've looked at
05:06is what's gone wrong with the Champions League over the past decade.
05:09A, the group stages are generally boring,
05:11and B, there's too many dead rubbers,
05:13so you get to kind of the fifth or sixth day
05:15of the normal group stage and the games don't mean anything.
05:17So they've basically sidestepped those problems
05:20by getting rid of the group stage altogether
05:22with this huge system.
05:23Next season, rather than Liverpool or Real Madrid
05:26being drawn into a separate group
05:28because they're separated by their seeding,
05:29they could feasibly play each other in a group stage,
05:32or an opening stage.
05:33For all we say now, it's only when it's actually put in place
05:36and actually applied that you see how it works in reality
05:40and how fans respond to it, how clubs respond to it.
05:43You're all caught up with some of the biggest stories
05:46in European football ahead of the new campaign.
05:49Let us know what else you think could unfold this season
05:52using the hashtag footballnow202425.
05:56That's all we've got time for from our studio here in Doha.
06:00We'll see you next time.
06:01Bye for now.