10 Players with Points to Prove in 2014-15 Champions League
The Champions League group stage returns this week with an enticing collection of high-profile matches.
Real Madrid’s dramatic victory over city rivals Atletico in last season's final remains fresh in the memory, but with a new campaign comes new challenges. There are records to be broken, dreams to be realised and heroes to be born.
Inevitably, there are also new points to prove for the vast cast of top-level professionals who will be competing for this season’s European cup. Ten such players would seem to stand out the most in that regard.
In selecting players for this list, I have considered those whose abilities or reputations have particularly come under scrutiny recently and those whose capacities have been doubted.
In some examples, there are players whose performances have fallen below the expectations that accompany their reputation. These characters need to demonstrate that they can still perform at a level once expected of them. There is also one player who has been asked to replace a big-name teammate, and as such he is under pressure to live up to his predecessor's standards.
Generally, these players are out to demonstrate something to the media, fans and, perhaps, themselves, over the coming Champions League campaign.
Neymar
1 of 10
Last season, Gareth Bale scored decisive goals in both the Champions League and the Spanish Cup finals for Real Madrid, winning both competitions.
Neymar, by contrast, won nothing but the Spanish Super Cup. Despite a fine display in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Atletico Madrid, he was impotent as Barcelona crashed out of the competition.
Though Bale cost more than Neymar, he, as Real’s marquee signing of last summer, is the ultimate, inescapable point of comparison for the Brazilian forward. Bale scored six more than Neymar in La Liga and contributed four more assists—albeit while enjoying more luck with injuries than his rival.
This year, with the Brazilian superstar back to full fitness, he can hopefully begin to deliver on the early promise he showed in Catalonia.
Unless he can do this, a combination of Lionel Messi, a returning Luis Suarez and Luis Enrique’s proclivity to blood young players may heap more pressure upon him.
Joe Hart
2 of 10
Goalkeepers are meant to improve with age.
Unfortunately, Joe Hart appears to be regressing.
The England No. 1 was responsible for blunders at the likes of Chelsea, Aston Villa and Cardiff City last season and hasn’t exactly inspired much more confidence this term.
Senegal forward Mame Biram Diouf deserves great credit for his magnificent dribble against City, and the Citizens’ defenders definitely ought to take some of the blame. However, Hart should have done better to block the finish, which was straight at him.
Once again, fingers were pointed at the goalkeeper as defensive frailties cost City valuable points.
Intriguingly, the club have conceded more goals this season than their beleaguered cross-city rivals, United.
With the greatest respect to Costel Pantilimon, unlike last term, Manuel Pellegrini has a serious contender he can turn to between the sticks. Willy Caballero wasn’t recruited for £6 million just to wait in the wings, and should Hart fluff his lines once more, it would be little surprise to see the Argentine stopper brought into the starting XI.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
3 of 10
After arriving at Borussia Dortmund from Saint-Etienne, Gabon forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang enjoyed an excellent start to life in Germany. He scored a hat-trick in his Bundesliga debut against Augsburg, and a star was born.
However, despite excelling for the first half of the season, he faded after mid-February and contributed only three assists between Valentine’s Day and the end of the season.
Once again, the versatile attacker has started the campaign well. He has been outstanding thus far for Dortmund (four goals and two assists in his last five matches) and seems to have rediscovered his form.
However, it must last deeper into the season. There is no Robert Lewandowski to bail Dortmund out anymore, but in big-money recruit Ciro Immobile, Aubameyang has some competent competition should he slump once more.
In the Champions League, Dortmund will need to wiggle past either Arsenal or Galatasaray to make the knockout stages. They will be counting on the Gabonese star.
Danny Welbeck
4 of 10
Players having a point to prove after being jettisoned by Louis van Gaal is a theme in this slideshow. Few will have more incentive to thrive on the big stage this season than Danny Welbeck.
The England international has been a Manchester United stalwart since truly breaking into the first team at the beginning of the 2011-12 season. He has made at least 25 league appearances for the club in each campaign thereafter and was the highest-profile academy graduate at the club.
Clearly, the incoming Dutch boss wasn’t sold on Welbeck’s qualities, and he had little hesitation dispatching of him ahead of the close of the summer transfer window.
Tellingly, Van Gaal had few qualms about offloading the England international to Arsenal, one of United’s key rivals this season. Surely the former Netherlands boss wouldn’t have sanctioned the deal had he feared what Welbeck could offer the Gunners.
With a fee of £16 million being spent on his services, the forward will surely be one of Arsene Wenger’s key men as the Londoners try and navigate the group stage. That pressure and the motivation of Van Gaal’s scorn could see Welbeck make a major impact in the Champions League.
Mario Balotelli
5 of 10
The jury’s out on Mario Balotelli—something we've been saying for years.
Dominant international performances haven’t disguised the fact that his first spell in England, with Manchester City, will forever be remembered more for farce than for finishing.
At Liverpool, the conditions appear to be right for the forward to begin to realise his vast potential.
If Brendan Rodgers can ensure the player remains motivated and focused and the Italy international can translate his goalscoring returns of the last two Serie A seasons (12 in 12 starts and 14 in 25 starts) to Anfield, then it will have been a gamble worth taking for the Merseysiders.
However, the forward has only scored four goals in 17 Champions League appearances for both Milan clubs and City. If Liverpool are to enjoy a triumphant return to the competition, Balotelli will need to improve.
Isco
6 of 10
"Overshadowed" is probably the best word to describe Isco’s Real Madrid career to date. His move to the club from Malaga was fairly insignificant in comparison to Gareth Bale’s blockbuster switch from Tottenham Hotspur.
Despite some fine showings in La Liga, he had to be content with a place on the bench in last season's Champions League final. He wasn’t even included in Spain’s provisional World Cup squad, having lost his way slightly in the second half of the campaign.
As Madrid refreshed their squad this summer, selling Xabi Alonso and Angel Di Maria, one might have suspected that Isco would be given greater responsibility. However, the arrivals of Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez threaten the playmaker’s spot in the side like never before.
Unfortunately, the talented 22-year-old is in danger of following a pathway regrettably similar to that of current Real Sociedad man Sergio Canales.
Shinji Kagawa
7 of 10
At Old Trafford, Louis van Gaal is building a side crammed with intelligent, versatile players with excellent technical ability.
However, there was no room for Shinji Kagawa, a player who, a season or two ago, would have fulfilled all of the above criteria. After a troubled stay in Old Trafford, the Japan international has made the almost inevitable move back to Borussia Dortmund, where one senses that his qualities will be more appreciated.
There were some good times in Manchester—including a superb hat-trick showing against Norwich City—but back in the Bundesliga, Kagawa will look to prove that he can be as effective as he was in his first stint with BVB.
Nuri Sahin hasn’t quite rediscovered his former zest under Jurgen Klopp, and Kagawa will need to demonstrate that he hasn’t faded for good on the continental stage.
Jack Wilshere
8 of 10
As with so many other players on this list, there aren’t many who doubt Jack Wilshere’s ability.
The midfielder is a fine passer, possesses keen vision and has the agility and balance to dribble past his opposition like few other English players of his generation. He also possesses an exquisite touch and has emerged as a key figure in Roy Hodgson’s post-World Cup Three Lions side.
However, following a litany of injuries, Wilshere has yet to truly demonstrate that he can be the dominant, world-class midfielder that many of his fans had been anticipating since he burst onto the scene. ESPN’s Stewart Robson stated his belief that the midfielder is struggling to hold on to his place at Arsenal and that the troubled 22-year-old ought to seek pastures new and re-establish himself.
Competition for spots in the Gunners’ midfield is fiercer than ever, and if Wilshere can’t impose himself on key Champions League games, further questions will be asked.
Chicharito
9 of 10
Ian Hawkey of the Sunday Times wrote this about Javier Hernandez ahead of the World Cup:
"Javier Hernandez, meanwhile, wears blinkers. The Manchester United striker has, he says, kept his mind closed to where his club career has taken him over the past nine months, and shut off to the periphery any thoughts about his club future while Mexico remain engaged in the World Cup.
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Indeed, the forward’s decline at Old Trafford was quite outstanding. Most young strikers would be expected to build on their goalscoring tally each season, but Chicharito actually did the opposite.
In the 2010-11 season (his first at United), he scored 13 EPL goals; the next two seasons yielded 10 goals each; last season, it was only four. Over the last three seasons, his Premier League starts have also declined—from 18 in 2011-12 to nine the season after and only six last term.
Chicharito desperately needed a fresh start, and he has (surprisingly) been invited to Real Madrid on a season-long loan deal to prove his worth. What an opportunity for the 26-year-old forward to demonstrate that he truly belongs in the upper echelons of the European game.
Luis Suarez
10 of 10
Right now, there aren’t too many people in world football, let alone in the Champions League, with more to prove than Luis Suarez.
No player would want to move to a major side like Barcelona—undisputedly one of the world’s biggest clubs—accompanied by the level of acrimony that Suarez has brought with him from Liverpool.
At the World Cup, the Uruguayan forward was once again involved in an ugly biting controversy and, as a repeat offender, was hit with a particularly punishing sanction by FIFA. The result is that the former Ajax man has yet to take to the field for Barcelona after being banned from “all football-related activity” for four months. He is eligible to play from October 25.
But still, few doubt his talent. For Liverpool last season, he was immense, dragging the team towards the title and demonstrating his ability to score any manner of goals.
However, there remain major question marks over his behaviour and mentality, and the spotlight will be well and truly on him in the Champions League this term.
