Reviewing the play of CanMNTers in the UCL/UEL/UECL - Matchday 1 and 2
It's was a busy start to life in European Competition for some CanMNT players in the month of September. In this, I look at how Canadians have fared in the UCL, UEL and UECL so far.
It’s been a busy start to the year for CanMNT players playing in European competitions.
With 7 capped Canadians playing in European competition, along with a further few uncapped dual-nationals, and players who are part of a team playing in Europe, but aren’t actually on said team yet (looking at you, Tajon Buchanan), there has been a lot of CanMNT content on display across the start of UEFA’s Champions League, Europa League and Conference League this year.
After a busy last few years for Canadians in European competition, including the pinnacle of that participation, which came at the end of the 2019-2020 season, where we saw a Canadian, Alphonso Davies, start and win the UEFA Champions League final, it feels like the number of Canadians playing in these competitions only grows every year.
Plus, more importantly, it feels like the numbers of Canadians playing a key role in their team’s success in these competitions is growing by the year, too, meaning that Canadians aren’t just playing in Europe, but are succeeding in Europe, as well.
That has so far proven to be the case through the first few weeks of this year’s return to continental competition. It’s been business as usual in the Champions League and Europa League, plus with the creation of a brand-new competition, the Conference League, it’s only given another avenue for some players to showcase themselves in.
Thanks to that, we’ve seen a fair number of CanMNT content on display on our DAZN screens as of late, which has been nice to see.
But for those who haven’t been keeping up with the play of Canadians in these competitions yet, fear not - this is what this is for! Here’s the first edition of my look at how Canadian players have been doing in European competition so far, in what will be a regular series for both the CanMNT and the CanWNT/CanXNT, who have a hefty contingent of their own in the Champions League, too.
The performances:
To start, it’s been business as usual for Alphonso Davies and Bayern Munich to begin their Champions League campaign, as they look to avenge a surprising elimination in the quarter-finals last year, a result that made their defence of their 2020 triumph one to forget. Injuries were their downfall then, so it wasn’t as if they played particularly poorly, but it was still surprising to see them fall, and based on what we’ve seen from them so far, they’ve seemed to take that personally.
With 2 wins in 2 games, they’re already looking like the early favourites to win the competition, as well, having dispatched FC Barcelona on the road comfortably in a 3-0 win on matchday 1, before taking care of business at home against Dynamo Kyiv in a standard 5-0 victory on matchday 2. Davies played a big role in both of those triumphs, as well, going the full 90 minutes against Barcelona, before going 69 minutes against Dynamo, as Bayern head coach, Julian Nagelsmann, looked to give his star left back a rare rest.
Playing in a bit of a free role down that left flank, he’s continued to show why he’s one of the best at his position, getting forward at every opportunity, while also doing what he needs to do defensively. Seeing that Bayern has 8 goals already, despite not conceding any, that’s prime evidence that he’s doing his job to the best of his ability, and the stats back that up, demonstrating why he’s such a key player for Bayern right now.
Otherwise, heartbreak has been the name of the game for Jonathan David and Lille, who have picked up just 1 point from 2 games to begin their UCL campaign, as it’s so far been a rough start to life in Europe from the defending Ligue 1 champions.
After drawing Wolfsburg 0-0 at home on matchday 1, they went out and lost 2-1 on the road to RB Salzburg on matchday 2, but despite what the scorelines might suggest, they’ll feel hard done by the results.
Against Wolfsburg, David actually scored what appeared to be the winner in the 2nd half, but it was ruled that the ball went out of bounds a few seconds before he scored, leaving VAR to rule out the goal. Versus Salzburg, they suffered similar heartbreak, as they conceded 2 foolish penalties to go down 2-0, before their late push proved fruitless.
Despite that, though, it’s been a promising debut in Europe’s marquee competition for David. He’s yet to get off the mark, but he’s been very good in both games, even winning the POTG award against Wolfsburg. He might not be getting the ball as much as he’d like, as Lille’s offence has had their fair share of struggles, but he’s making the most of the touches that he’s had, showing his value to his side, and why some expect him to break out before the group stages over.
Moving on, though, it’s been double trouble for Besiktas teammates Atiba Hutchinson and Cyle Larin, who have gotten off to a tough start in their club’s long-awaited return to Europe. After falling 2-1 to Borussia Dortmund in a nailbiter on matchday 1, they fell to Ajax 2-0 on matchday 2, sitting without a point through 2 games.
And in even worse news for Canadian fans, Hutchinson and Larin both missed out on that Ajax game as they dealt with thigh problems, injuries that might very well keep them out of the Canada squad for October World Cup qualifiers (you’ll probably know if that’s the case by the time this is out).
In their first game versus Dortmund, they were both quite good, playing a big role despite the loss, and they were missed against Ajax, so their side will be hoping for a quick recovery from their Canadians as they look to bounce back from this slow start.
Returning to that Dortmund game, though, we saw a typical Hutchinson performance, as he covered all sorts of ground at both ends of the pitch across a 78-minute shift, while Larin had a quiet but efficient game out on the left, staying quite involved in the match despite the calibre of opposition.
So while it hasn’t been the start that Besiktas has hoped for, if they can get their Canadians back for the next matchday, they’ll have to fancy their chances at making a run at a top 2 spot, but for now, they’ve been left reeling through 2 matchdays.
Otherwise, to round up our look at the Canadians in the UCL, it’s worth shouting out Tajon Buchanan’s Club Brugge, who have been one of the big stories of the Champions League thus far. Obviously, with Buchanan not joining the club until January, as his deal with the Belgian giants saw him loaned back to the New England Revolution for the rest of 2021, he hasn’t played a role in this success, but it’s worth noting that the better that Brugge does, the better it is for Buchanan.
So to see them sit tied atop Group A with 4 points is good, especially considering that they sit in the group of death with Paris Saint Germain, Manchester City and Red Bull Leipzig. That hasn’t fazed them so far, though, as they first drew PSG before beating Leipzig, showing that they do indeed have a shot of progressing as a top 3 team out of this group.
If they can find a way to keep that up over their next 4 games, that’d be good news for Buchanan, who’d then get a chance to see either the Champions League or Europa League knockout stages when he finally arrives in Belgium, which would be a nice way to introduce him to his new club.
Moving over to Europa League, it’s been a mixed start for Milan Borjan and Red Star Belgrade, though, as they sit with 6 points out of 6 so far, but Borjan only featured in the first of those two games, as he tested positive for COVID-19 this week, missing out on the 2nd match.
So while he but in a good shift in a 2-1 win over Braga, he was left to watch on as Red Star slipped past his old club, Ludogrets, 1-0, earlier this week, forced to watch on with a diagnosis that could very well keep him out of Canada’s October squad.
Overall, though, it’s been a very positive start to the Europa League for Red Star, which is good for Borjan, but it was very unfortunate to see him miss out on the 2nd game, and hopefully his recovery from the virus can be a quick and prompt one, allowing him to return to his usual role in the Red Star goal.
And speaking of mixed starts for Canadian veterans in Europa League, it’s also been a tough go for Scott Arfield and Rangers in the competition, as they sit with 0 points from 2 games, with Arfield playing a grand total of 0 minutes so far.
But that’s been part of the overall problem for Arfield this year, as he just unfortunately hasn’t been starting for Rangers this year, and unlike last year, he’s not getting extended runs as a super-sub, either, having to content himself with a measly 55 minutes across 11 league, cup and European games so far this year.
So if anyone is surprised why Arfield has struggled to get back into the Canadian fold this year, it’s been because of that lack of minutes, and this Europa League campaign has so far been evidence of that.
The silver lining, however? With Rangers’ poor record in the competition, that could lead to Arfield getting more minutes, but as it stands, it hasn’t been a great start to the year for the Canadian.
Lastly, to round off talk of Europa League, it’s worth talking about one dual-national that has been making some noise in the competition, and that’s Ferdi Kadioglu, who has played a big role for Fenerbahce through 2 games.
It hasn’t been a great start from them in the competition, as they have just 1 point in 2 games, but Kadioglu has played 161 minutes out of a possible 180 so far, going 77 in a 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, before going 84 in a 3-0 loss against Olympiacos.
Playing as a left wing back, he’s proven to be a very steady presence down the left-hand side for Fenerbahce, showing surprisingly adept defensive awareness to go along with his more offensive nature, which is expected given that he used to be a winger.
So even though he hasn’t committed to Canada, and might never do so, it’s been good to see him do well, because as long as the door remains open, there’s a lot to be intrigued about with the 21-year-old with Dutch and Turkish heritage.
Lastly, moving over to the Conference League, we’ve then got our last Canadian on this list, and that’s Liam Millar, who has helped Basel to a decent start, sitting with 4 points out of a possible 6 so far. Plus, after playing just 32 minutes in a 0-0 draw against Qarabag on matchday 1, he had a big game for Basel on matchday 2, going 60 minutes in a 4-2 win over Kairat Almaty, picking up an assist on the opening goal.
As a result, he’s got the distinction of being the only Canadian to pick up a goal or an assist in European competition so far, but that just shows how good he was against Kairat, as he’s quickly become a key part of this Basel team as of late.
Playing as a winger, it was a slow start to life over in Switzerland for the youngster, but he’s been picking up steam as of late, and that shone through in his latest game, showing why he’s been one to watch recently for Canadian fans. With his willingness to take on defenders 1v1, before trying to set up his teammates and take on shots himself, he’s an exciting player to watch when he’s in form, as he has been these past few weeks.
Looking Forward:
Overall, though, it’s been a decent start for Canadians in European competition, which has been exciting to follow along from afar.
Obviously, some players are doing better than others, but that’s just the reality of this sport, so the fact that there are so many Canadians to even keep an eye on in these competitions is what’s most exciting about all this.
Plus, with it still being early in the competition, there’s a good chance that we still see a strong contingent of Canadians stick around after the group stages are done, giving us a chance to potentially contend for some silverware.
So might we see another Canadian lift a major trophy sometime when these competitions wrap up in a few months? Who knows, but the fact that there are so many of them even competing is nice, as that’ll have a rundown effect on the CanMNT both now and in the future.
And hey, if someone does lift a trophy, as Davies did last year, that can never hurt, so there’s always that to watch out for, too.
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Alphonso Davies in action for Bayern Munich