ELEVEN PARAGRAPHS AUGUST 11

ELEVEN PARAGRAPHS
                         AUGUST 11
On this 11th day of August at 1:21pm, this team of eleven paragraphs flies
around Europe and introduces the upcoming season. The goalie’s job is to
  list last year’s top three from Europe’s five big leagues. The rest of the
    team plays a 3-4-3. The three defenders preview La Liga, including
 mention of some important missing pieces. Two sitting midfielders are
 solid contributors with words about Serie A. Two attacking midfielders
 pass around ideas from Germany and France. Up front, two forwards
team up to discuss the EPL, while our centre forward finishes with words
                         about the Champions League.

ONE - Here are your top three finishers from last season:

      La Liga - 1. Atletico Madrid 2. Real Madrid 3. Barcelona
      Serie A - 1. Inter Milan   2. AC Milan   3. Atalanta
      EPL - 1. Manchester City 2. Manchester United 3. Liverpool
      Bundesliga - 1. Bayern Munich 2. RB Leipzig     3. Borussia Dortmund
      French Ligue 1 - 1. Lille 2. Paris Saint-Germain 3. AS Monaco

!

TWO -     La Liga lost two longtime superstars over the offseason, less
importantly Sergio Ramos, formerly of Real Madrid and more importantly, Lionel
Messi of Barcelona. There is hardly a person on the planet who hasn’t heard the
news about Leo, who was forced to leave his home club for the bright lights of
Paris. Messi will now join forces with his old rival and nemesis Ramos in Paris.
These huge losses cannot be understated, but La Liga will carry on and continue
to provide much excitement and intrigue.

THREE - The champs Atletico Madrid will begin its title defence away at Celta
Vigo on Sunday. Last season, Diego Simeone’s men flew out of the gates and will
need much of the same this season if Atletico want to repeat. Real Madrid also
begin away from home at CD Alaves. Zinedane Zidane has been replaced by the
ageless Carlo Ancellotti, whose coaching acumen will surely be tested with two
new centre backs poised to start and a bunch of question marks next to the
squad’s marquee names. Barcelona begin this La Liga season home to Real
Sociedad at the Nou Camp on Saturday. Coach Ronald Koeman will remind his
young and talented squad that Barca was a pretty amazing club before Leo
arrived so many years ago and will need to convince the squad that this team will
be amazing after Messi as well. Time will tell if this team has what it takes, but
rest assured, win, lose or draw, Barcelona will continue to play Barca football,
filled with cutting edge possession and never-ending ideas moving forward.

FOUR - This season’s La Liga race is as wide open as its ever been and all
three giant will like their chances of lifting the trophy. Atletico Madrid will look
to Luis Suarez to keep scoring and to its typically stingy defence to remain
stingy. Real Madrid will hope Karim Benzema can continue to fend off Father
Time and perform at high levels, but the fate of the Galacticos will land to the
feet of Eden Hazard and the crop of young talent who must now produce high
quality football week-in and week-out. FC Barcelona will also be eyeing a La
Liga title and have many potential superstars just waiting to bloom. Antoine
Griezmann is already a superstar and the club’s many potential superstars have a
great template to follow.

FIVE - In Italy, the new Serie A season starts on Saturday August 21 with the
reigning champs Inter Milan hosting Genoa. Inter Milan will attempt to defend
its title without last year’s influential striker Romulu Lukaku, who returned to
England. Notwithstanding, let’s continue to expect quality football from Inter.
Newly appointed manager Simone Inzaghi will look to build on the fine work of
his predecessor Antonio Conte, who created a fine system of entertaining and
productive football. Undoubtedly, the Nerazzuri will not cry about players they
don’t have, but will believe in the players they do have. Neighbours and derby
rivals AC Milan will continue its revival project this season and will begin the
season with high hopes of reaching the summit. Coach Stefano Pioli has added
some talent and will look for progress from his Rossoneri incumbents.

SIX - In Italy, high hopes and expectations can also be found in the capital,
where AS Roma will want to believe this season’s Scudetto can come to Rome.
Coach Jose Mourinho will certainly be entertaining; the question is: will his team
play with the calm, cohesion and quality required to find enough points to lift
the trophy? High flying Atalanta will love to continue its climb in Serie A, while
Lazio and Napoli will look for quick starts to ignite their hopes for glory. The
last word goes to the Old Lady, Juventus, who relinquished the title last season,
after streaking to 9 titles in row. Coach Massimiliano Allegri will attempt to pull
the strings on a return to the top and ideally to the start of a new streak.

SEVEN - In Germany, Bayern         Munich will be tough to beat as usual. While
the Bavarian side can’t help themselves when it comes to claiming domestic
trophies, the rest of the Bundesliga is quietly, but certainly getting better and
better. RB Leipzig stormed into the spotlight a few years ago and seem more
than comfortable hob-nobbing with the continent’s elite. Borrusia Dortmund
and Wolfsburg, who finished 3rd and 4th last season won’t give away anything,
always making opponents earn everything they get. Down the table in Germany,
other surprises are also likely from quality sides striving for consistency.

EIGHT - In France, Ligue 1 just got a lot more interesting with the addition of
the planet’s best player, Leo Messi. He is 34 years old, but if you watched him
recently at the Copa America, you know he’s still the amazing Leo Messi. Paris
Saint-Germain, who are not the reigning champs, were favourites before Leo
arrived and now capturing the title will bring more relief than joy. No offence to
the rest of France’s top division, but it’s likely going to be a great race for second
place between the champs Lille, Monaco, Marseille and Lyon.

                        !
NINE - The English Premier League returns Friday with Arsenal travelling to
promoted Brentford. This game kicks off the 30th season of the EPL and the
140th season of English top flight football. Manchester United (20) have won
the most titles, followed by Liverpool (19), Arsenal (13) and Everton (9). Aston
Villa and Manchester City are next with 7 each. Manchester City were runaway
winners last season, thanks to Pep Guardiola and his willingness to use his entire
squad, keeping everyone fresh, everyone sharp and everyone feeling like a
starter. City are favourites to win again and though many will bet against them,
no one will be fooled if they do.

TEN - What was once a a big three with Man United, Liverpool and Arsenal
became for many years a big four with the emergence of Chelsea. Manchester
City found big money owners and made it a big five, shooting to number one,
pushing everyone down a rung. Tottenham built a new stadium and pushed
open the door to a top six. Oh so quietly, Leicester City has made it a top seven
with a surprising EPL triumph in 2016, followed by recent solid finishes and last
year’s FA Cup victory. This season, we look and see the likes of West Ham and
Everton and Leeds and we ask ourselves if we’re ready for a big eight in the
world’s top league. Truth is whatever you call it, this league will certainly
entertain, excite and energize.

                                  !
ELEVEN - Is to too early to discuss the Champions League? I suppose not.
Frankly, many would agree it is never too early or too late to discuss the planet’s
best club competition. The qualifying rounds are wrapping up and we’re all
looking forward to the group stage draw on August 26 and Match Day One on
September 14-15. Chelsea Football Club of England and the EPL are the holders,
beating Manchester City in May’s final. Both will be back on the road to the final
and will be severely tested by the continent’s best. This amazing competition
was built to find the best clubs, cut them down to the best of the best clubs and
then ultimately, find us the one and only champion who finishes on top.
Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United join FC Barcelona,
Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St. Germaine on the incredible list of teams
vying for European glory.
                                       THANKS FOR READING!
                                       DANNY SANKAR