5 Early Season European Storylines That Won't Go Away

All of the major European football are all now underway. The English transfer window as well as the major nation's windows are closed. However, there are a few nations who still are operating an open market.

The opening several weeks of each nation's domestic campaigns have been completed with one of the first international breaks of the year ready to open up 2014 World Cup qualifying in earnest.

On top of it all, there are multiple inner-club stories that have the news outlets buzzing.

With that said, here are the top five stories that have continued to permeate the news over the past weeks and past few days.

Atletico Madrid to Repeat as Europa League Champions

A Radamel Falcao hat-trick in the opening half of the UEFA Super Cup helped Atletico Madrid to a thorough demolition of UEFA Champions League title holders Chelsea and opened the eyes of many.

Not only do the second-tier champions look ready for another dominant European campaign, but their performance makes one wonder why the winners of the Europa League are not given a place in the Champions League.

Calcioscommesse Has Not Effected Juve's Drive

Italy continues to be famous for its football scandals. The latest in a long line of controversies is the current Calcioscommesse scandal surrounding several members of Juventus's squad and their manager Antonio Conte.

While Conte has been suspended for the next 10 months, including the entirety of the coming 2012-13 season, his club seems to be raring to go for another Serie A title run.

After dominating victories over Parma and Udinese, the Old Lady seems completely unaffected by the scandal surrounding the club.

The Dutch National Team Are Not Who They Used to Be

After a horrendous showing in the UEFA European Championship, the Netherlands National team are in desperate need of a turn around.

The 2010 World Cup runners-up are still hopeful of a strong World Cup qualifying campaign as well as going deep into the tournament in Brazil in 2014.

However, one of the nation's most veteran player's in Dirk Kuyt has even come out stating to Goal.com that the national team are not what they used to be:

"

The players that are still here since the European Championships are coming off a huge disappointment. Under Van Marwijk we played with great confidence for three and a half years. We felt like we would go out and win, no matter who was in the team or who we were playing.

But that feeling has disappeared. The fear of our opponents has disappeared very quickly. It is important that we regain our confidence. I thought all the conversations we had in the three days around the Belgium game were very important. They have given me the feeling that everyone is serious to make something out of it.

"

There is still time for the squad to turn their fortunes around, but they face the biggest challenge of all in defeating their own mental giants to return to form.

Liverpool's Striking Problems

It is no secret that Liverpool and manager Brendan Rodgers are facing a glaring lack of attacking options at the front of the line.

Luis Suarez is a great goal scorer, but even during his prolific years at Ajax he was more of a wide player with freedom to roam the line rather than a constant out-and-out striker.

New signing Fabio Borini is still growing into his talents as a forward and a striker but is being used as a wide player more than a striker.

The loan move of Andy Carroll to West Ham United is still a head scratcher as the England international did give them depth. After his strong season ending from last year he seemed determined to fight for his place.

However, the bigger problem is that the club failed to sign anyone on the final day of the transfer window.

Some young additions have been made, but there is nothing to signify where the goals will come from. The loss of Dirk Kuyt, Maxi Rodriguez, Craig Bellamy and Andy Carroll saw the biggest goal scorers of the last season head out the exit door.

Cristiano Ronaldo Not Happy at Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo had a strong two-goal weekend against Granada in the past round of Real Madrid's La Liga BBVA campaign. However, he refused to celebrate his goals for reason's yet to truly be revealed.

According to his comments post match, as reported by ESPN, Ronaldo is not happy with Madrid at the moment:

"

I'm sad because of a professional issue and the club knows why. That's why I didn't celebrate the goals, because I'm not happy. The people [at the club] know why.

It's nothing to do with Andres Iniesta [winning UEFA's Best Player in Europe award]. I won't talk about this anymore and I will concentrate on Portugal for now. There are more important things [than this].

The people at the club know about this. I cannot say any more.

I'm fine. I am going to Portugal to see if I recover in the next couple of days, because I want to play those two games, which are so important for the team.

"

The continued saga over his unhappiness now has him being linked with a move away from Madrid to Manchester City. Metro has linked the player to the English Premier League side for an outlandish £160 million offer.