Gervinho and the 5 African Players to Watch in the 2014-15 Champions League
The Champions League returns tonight, with Europe’s finest beginning to contest the group stage, all with the ambition of competing in the final on June 6 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
The best players from across the world will be featuring in the tournament, and Africa will, as ever, be well represented. The continent’s contingent will be hoping to improve on last season’s showing when neither of the teams contesting the final contained an African star.
In this feature, we profile five African players to watch in the 2014-15 Champions League. Those listed have been selected because we believe they demand particular attention in Europe this season.
There are talents approaching their peak, young players making their way in the game and emerging forces primed to take their game to another level this season.
Please note that while all of those players listed are eligible for African nations, they may not necessarily have made their senior debut and may have featured for a European side at youth level.
Yacine Brahimi
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Is Yacine Brahimi primed to be one of the breakout stars of this Champions League season?
Anyone who witnessed the Algerian’s magnificent performance against LOSC Lille in the play-off round might be inclined to think so.
The North African was magnificent, demonstrating an aptitude for the big occasion and pushing Porto into the group stage with a goal and an assist.
The playmaker is on a roll, having also starred for Algeria at the World Cup this summer.
Following a peripatetic few seasons, the recent crystallisation of Brahimi’s talent has come suddenly—although that’s not to say there weren’t indications beforehand.
The North African does need to demonstrate, however, that he can find a measure of consistency to his game, particularly if he wants to retain a role in the centre of the park and not be shunted out to the flanks.
Last season, for Granada, there were dazzling performances against Barcelona, Elche and Malaga, but they were too few and far between.
Can Brahimi both adapt to a new club and a new country, and step up to prove himself to be a Champions League-calibre performer?
Tiemoue Bakayoko
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The project down on the Riviera has been a little reshaped this summer. With the likes of Radamel Falcao, James Rodriguez and, to a lesser extent, Eric Abidal having departed from Monaco, the club has been shorn of its star power.
However, there is no need, necessarily, for overt pessimism.
The squad still boasts the likes of Fabinho, Layvin Kurzawa, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, all players in their early 20s who look to have long futures in the game.
Another who falls into this category is Tiemoue Bakayoko, who only just turned 20 earlier in the year.
The central midfielder quickly emerged as a key performer at Rennes, having been brought into the first team by Philippe Montanier and quickly began to look the part as an anchor man, sitting in front of the defence, breaking up the play and starting new moves.
He was signed by Monaco this summer, and while the transfer might arguably have come a little too soon, there is no doubting that Bakayoko is destined for the top.
The French youth international is eligible to play for the Ivory Coast and may become one of the growing number of African players to opt to represent one of the continent’s sides.
Ahmed Musa
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Writing for Goal Nigeria in December 2013, I argued that Ahmed Musa could be the World Cup’s breakout star.
Ultimately, there were other unheralded players who impressed more than the Super Eagles forward, but that’s not to say he didn’t leave his mark. Against Argentina, in Nigeria’s final group game, it was a case of “Anything Messi can do, Musa can do better,” as the Barcelona man’s two goals were met with instant, explosive retorts from the 21-year-old.
The CSKA Moscow man may be young, but he doesn’t lack experience. He already has 40 Nigeria caps, while he has made nine Champions League appearances for the Horses.
Last year, the capital club bombed in the European Cup, finishing bottom of a group containing Manchester City, Bayern Munich and minnows Viktoria Plzen. This year, the pool is even tougher, with Roma replacing the Czechs.
If CSKA are to stand any chance of progression—or even of securing a Europa League berth—Musa must be on top form.
Can he bring his considerable talents to bear against elite opposition? You suspect Argentina would back him…!
Karim Bellarabi
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Few players across Europe have started the new season as impressively as Karim Bellarabi.
The 24-year-old first scored a decisive away goal against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League play-off to secure a valuable 3-2 away victory for Bayer Leverkusen. He then followed that up by scoring the fastest goal in the Bundesliga’s 52-year history by firing home after nine seconds against Borussia Dortmund.
Before the international break, he also found the net as Leverkusen beat Hertha Berlin 4-2.
Last season, Bellarabi enjoyed a taste of first-team action and honed his craft at Eintracht Braunschweig. He formed a fine partnership with Congolese forward Domi Kumbela, and while the pair couldn’t keep the Lions in the top flight, both demonstrated a capacity to play at a higher level.
When asked by Bundesliga.com about the secret to his early success this season, Bellarabi said the following: “I've taken it upon myself to seize every opportunity I get with both hands. You can't keep getting second chances in life, so this season I wanted to assert myself right from the start. That was always my aim.”
Can he carry his excellent form into the Champions League? Bleacher Report’s Tom Sunderland supposedly believes he might, naming Bellarabi as one of his “5 Players to Watch in 2014/15 Champions League Matchday 1.”
Gervinho
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Which direction will Gervinho’s odyssey take this season?
The Ivorian’s career resembles a classic Disney film—the promising youngster with feet of flames, doubted by many, ridiculed by his international teammates, on the brink of failure, only to be reinvigorated by a reunion with an old master.
Last season, at AS Roma, the forward put his Arsenal misery to one side and looked a man reborn under his Lille coach Rudi Garcia.
He scored nine times in 33 Serie A appearances last season, adapting to life in Italy immediately, and was rewarded earlier today with a new contract extension, via Sky Sports.
Roma's return to the Champions League this season will be feverishly received in the capital, but the Giallorossi will need their fleet-footed Ivorian to be at his absolute best to sneak ahead of either Manchester City or Bayern Munich into the last 16.
