Jurgen Klinsmann won the World Cup and European Championship with Germany during a brilliant career in which he played for Inter, Tottenham and Bayern, among others. As a coach, he led Germany to third place at the 2006 World Cup and led the U.S. men’s national team from 2011-16. In addition to the ESPN.com column, he is a regular guest on FC Daily.
The Champions League is the best competition in football and its hitting rounds offer the highest quality of the game.
Don’t get me wrong: I love the World Cup, the European Championship and the Copa America, but if you played the best national teams against the best club teams the nations would be lost. As a coach, in the meantime, you are always looking at what is being done in the Champions League. From an ingenious approach to the speed of games, it sets trends.
You could look at Barcelona under Johan Cruyff in the 1990s to see how they stretched the field to open teams and used the outdoors almost as climbers. Or take a look at how the No. 6 has developed into a very important career, with players like Didier Deschamps or Andrea Pirlo almost more of a “quarterback” passing the No. 10, or Javier Mascherano move back to defense. Then you had teams playing without a striker, using six attacking midfielders instead, like Barcelona with Lionel Messi as a deceptive nine.
– Klinsmann: UCL’s knowledge can help USMNT stars
– ESPN FC Daily stream on ESPN + (US only)
It’s true that the group stage can get a little bored if their favorites are too strong, but at the end of the competition, you really want the best teams to be up against each other, and the an existing format provides a better chance of that happening. . It also forgives you for a bad game, unlike when I played!
Back in the old days of the old European Cup, I was at Inter and we pulled Malmo from Sweden, led by Roy Hodgson, in the first round. They won the first leg 1-0, and then parked the bus for a draw in Italy. In those days, that would mean one point from two games and a position that would have been saved by four more games. Back then, we were out.
But while more games are better, I hope we never get to a European Super League stage, meaning some clubs don’t play in their domestic tournaments. You always want other teams to have a chance to get into the Champions League and compete with the best. Speaking of which, let’s take a look at the contestants to win this season’s competition.
One of my other former clubs, Bayern Munich, is the goalkeepers and team that will make the case as the rounds start to hit. It is arguably the largest club in the world and set up to compete every year; you know, as a player or as a coach, the job is to win titles and there is an approach that is repeated every day, whether it is at training, a German Cup game or a Champions League final.
Bayern set the tone for what other clubs want to achieve, but it ‘s always hard to say again as Champions League winners as there is a slight reduction in energy into the next natural year and you ask: “How can we do that again?” Real Madrid are the only team to have won the trophy today, so that shows you just how challenging the men at Hansi Flick are.
It helps that they have Robert Lewandowski, the number 9 best in the world and a great example of how good you can be over a long period of time if you fit perfectly on style of play, if you stayed as hungry as ever. before and if you like.
Left foot, right foot, headaches, even free kicks, Lewandowski has everything in the repertoire that a complete fighter needs, and you can show what it will do for any young player. anyone learning the game. I mentioned Marco van Basten in my last column and he is the player that comes to mind when I look at Robert over the years.
Another important player is Thomas Muller, whom I first met more than 10 years ago when I was Bayern’s manager. What stood out immediately was his information and conclusions; whatever it does, it does it in the simplest way possible. He is a master at tying the dots and Bayern Munich has this “chippiness” which means he is never satisfied. Even if he gets three goals today, he is already aiming for the next game!
I expect Bayern to beat Lazio and Juventus to go through against Porto. Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona are 50-50, Liverpool are at the edge over RB Leipzig and Manchester City are very clear against Borussia Monchengladbach. Sevilla against Borussia Dortmund will be an open affair as the German club struggles and Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea will be very interesting to watch with high energy coaches Diego Simeone and Thomas Tuchel on the sidelines.
Perhaps the amazing team in this Round of 16 could be Atalanta against Real Madrid because the football they play is fun to watch – high energy, high pressure – and the understanding to each other perfect. It’s a struggle to keep that up over an entire season until they lose some games in Italy that you wouldn’t expect, but they did quarterfinals last season and so on. they have some experience at the highest level.
The key to finding a Champions League deep run is finding shape and rhythm at the right time. Bayern, for example, closed last season with 21 consecutive wins in all competitions and what you see around this time are the top teams trying to find the acceleration mode and come to terms with it. out of the winter cold, which makes them extremely dangerous.
You look at Barcelona and Real Madrid, who had a rough start to the season. Paris looked alike and changed manager, although Man City found their form a little faster but even never were they more diligent. Bayern took some time to distance themselves from the rest of the Bundesliga.
Bayern took some time to separate themselves from the rest of the pack in Germany, but they returned from winning the Club World Cup with another Bundesliga title in their sights, as well as being successful again in the League of Nations. Heroes, who will be very important when they are there will resume this week.