The UEL returns to our screens this week and there are some big boys in the mix who might just go all the way
The UEFA Europa League may be European football's second elite club competition, still the Champions League's ugly sister to some, but it has been growing in prestige since it replaced the old UEFA Cup in 2009/10. There was initially a lot of cynicism about the UEL, but over the years those criticisms have slowly faded away and it is now seen as a valuable piece of silverware for almost any European club. Giants of the game like Manchester United, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid have graced multiple finals in the past decade or so and coaches across the continent take it seriously, as do fans.
One of the key reasons to watch the Europa League as a fan of a so-called "elite" club is the knowledge that winning it will see your club catapulted into the next season's Champions League group stage. Another is the opportunity to experience high profile knockout games against huge clubs from across Europe, even if your club had a disappointing previous campaign and failed to finish in the UCL qualification places.
There are already some hugely talented squads in the mix for the Europa League group stage, and some of the world's best betting sites are already trying to figure out who might lift the trophy come the end of the season. It's important to bear in mind that after the group stage, various teams from the Champions League will drop down into a playoff against second placed teams in the Europa League groups. This means that some even bigger names could potentially be entering the competition later, which might affect the odds currently at play.
For now, we know who the early big hitters are. Many of these teams will likely go far in the tournament, and one of them just might win the whole thing. Some believe that the teams dropping down from the UCL are automatically superior and have a huge advantage, but in reality just four of the thirteen winners since 2009/10 came out of the Champions League group stage. Additionally, the past three losing finalists in the competition came down from the UCL, only to lose to teams who began in the Europa League groups.
History suggests that one of these big clubs will be crowned Europa League champions come the end of the season.
*all odds from bet365 via Oddschecker
Arsenal (11/2 Favourites)
After a blistering start to the season, it's no surprise to see Arsenal right upt here in the minds of the bookies. They are currently top of the league with five wins from six games in the Premier League, as Mikel Arteta's squad really seems to be gelling. The Gunners are returning to European action after spending last season out in the cold. They will want to come back with a bang and go one further than they did four years ago when they went out losing finalists against Chelsea. 40-year-old Arteta can already boast bringing silverware to the Emirates by winning the FA Cup in his first season in charge. After a rocky transitional period, the North London powerhouses really seem to be turning a corner and a Europa League win would be the best way to silence any of their critics and give them confidence to keep building and keep developing their young but fiercely talented squad. The bookies are understandably giving them a really good chance.
Manchester United (8/1)
Betting on outright winners of tournaments at such an early stage is always a hard call to get right, but there are few teams in the Europa League groups with the pedigree of Manchester United. Even during this much less impressive period of their history, they can fall back on two UEL finals in the last six seasons, including one win, under Jose Mourinho in 2016/17. The Red Devils now have an equally charasmatic manager at the helm in their exciting new Dutch coach Erik ten Hag. After two very disappointing first Premier League games, ten Hag has turned United into a real force in the league, winning four on the bounce. With the addition of superstar signings like Casemiro and Anthony, they stand a real chance of having a much more positive season than their last. They are rightly at the top of the list of potential Europa League winners, given the depth and quality of their squad, and the tactical acumen of their manager. Manchester United will be a difficult team to bet against in the UEL this season.
Roma (14/1)
Speaking of Jose Mourinho, the Portuguese predictably continued his habit of winning trophies by helping Italian sleeping giants Roma to the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League last season, the third tier of European club football, to become the first coach to win all three competitions. That win saw his side automatically qualify for the UEL, which you better believe he will be targeting. Apart from at Spurs, where he was sacked just days before a domestic cup final - which he will feel he could have won - Mourinho has won silverware at every single club he's managed, over a career which now spans more than 20 years. The only caveats to that statement were his brief stints in charge of Benfica and União de Leiria where he coached just 11 and 23 games respectively, before being snapped up by Portuguese giants Porto, where he shocked the world by winning the UEFA Champions League, a miracle he would go on to repeat at Inter.
Roma have done some very good business in the transfer market, held on to some key stars and are growing in confidence by the week. However, the key factor is of course Mourinho. As one of the most decorated managers of all time, he boasts two Champions League winners medals, two Europa Leagues (including one during the old iteration of the competition, the UEFA cup), league titles in three of Europe's five top leagues and many, many more glories throughout his career. That's a manager who can inspire a team to glory. He did it last season as they captured the UECL and many will back him to do it this season in the UEL.
Real Betis, Lazio & Real Sociedad (25/1)
Bringing up the rear are three very decent dark horse shouts with shockingly appealing odds.
Spanish side Real Betis have made considerable progress on a shoestring budget since the arrival of former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini. The Chilean won the Premier League title with the blues, among other trophies, brought the Copa Del Rey to Betis last season, and has previous in Europe, having won the Intertoto Cup for Villarreal. They may not have the biggest squad but they have a very capable coach and one who will surely lead this team far in the competition. Since the switch to the Europa League, eight of the last thirteen winners have been Spanish (Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Villarreal winning those combined eight trophies), and Pellegrini will believe his side have a real shot of joining that illustrious group.
Likewise, Lazio, under former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, will fancy themselves to go far in this season's Europa League. After a hugely impressive spell at Napoli, in which he pioneered his own identifiable brand of football, Sarri won this competition with the West London side, beating Arsenal 4-1 in Baku in the 2018-19 edition. With more than 30 years of experience as a coach, and a squad full of veteran talents at his disposal, Sarri will rightly target the Europa League as a way to add some more silverware to his cabinet and guarantee automatic qualification for the Champions League, especially given how competitive the top four picture in Serie A has become in recent years. Captain and potent striker Ciro Immobile and midfield maestro Sergej Milinković-Savić will surely be crucial to any such success this season.
Then there are Real Sociedad. Losing outstanding young striker Alexander Isak during the summer transfer window might dent their hopes of European glory this season, but the Basque outfit still have plenty to be positive about. They have a settled squad full of exciting young stars, many of them homegrown, and an impressive, up-and-coming coach in Imanol Alguacil, who delivered the club its first trophy in decades when they beat local rivals Bilbao to win the 2019-20 Copa Del Rey. He's proven he can win cup ties and bring silverware, and he's developing young players well. Sociedad won't give punters the same confidence as the likes of Arsenal or Manchester United but they are certainly worthy and capable dark horses who just might pull off a shock.
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