Champions League 2024/25: The managers to look out for
The new Champions League season is upon us, giving football fans a first look at the new Swiss-style format that has been introduced ahead of the 2024/25 campaign. With 36 teams in this year’s competition, betting on football will be more interesting than in recent years due to a wider range of matches and each team only playing each other once in the group stages.
Last year, Real Madrid won the final edition of the traditional Champions League format. Their 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund and Wembley made it a record-extending 16th title for the Spaniards, and a fifth for manager Carlo Ancelotti.
The Italian will go down as one of the most successful managers in European football, and with the quality in his Madrid team, there is every chance he can retain the title this season. However, there are also a plethora of exciting new managers that are paving the way in the modern game.
In this article, we take a look at the sides that have perhaps gone under the radar in this year’s Champions League build up and assess why their managers could cause some upsets in Europe this season.
Xabi Alonso – Bayer Leverkusen
Xabi Alonso made history at Bayer Leverkusen last season when he won the Bundesliga unbeaten and picked up the DFB Pokal to earn the double.
The Spaniard turned Die Werkself’s reputation as nearly-men around when he ended Bayern Munich’s dominance of German football, and narrowly missed out on continental success too, reaching the Europa League final but losing to Atalanta in Dublin.
Alonso has implemented a possession-based style on a team that is known for scoring late goals, and after rejecting managerial roles at Liverpool and Real Madrid, Leverkusen find themselves playing those very teams in their league phase. It will be interesting to see if they can replicate their domestic dominance in the Champions League.
Rúben Amorim – Sporting CP
One of the most sought-after coaches in Europe, Rúben Amorim ended up staying in Lisbon with Sporting after being linked with a plethora of big Premier League sides.
The Portuguese manager, who won the title last season 10 points clear and is unbeaten at the start of this term, will be looking to improve upon his side’s poor form in Europe, having gone out in the early stages of the Europa League in the round of 16.
Sporting have some tricky fixtures to navigate throughout the Champions League, hosting both Manchester City and Arsenal in November, and will need the crowd inside the José Alvalade Stadium to be in full voice to get over the line.
Nuri Sahin – Borussia Dortmund
Last season’s finalists Dortmund were stunned when manager Edin Terzić announced he would leave the club following defeat to Madrid in London.
Nuri Sahin is the man tasked with replacing him – the former Turkey international making over 150 appearances for BVB over two spells at the Signal Iduna Park as a player.
Sahin has previous managerial experience in charge of Antalyaspor, where he got the Super Lig outfit on an impressive winning streak, finishing as high as seventh in the 2021/22 season.
Despite his raw approach to coaching, Sahin will command respect from the Dortmund dressing room in what will be a big season in Europe, given the loss of stalwarts like Marius Wolf, Marco Reus and Mats Hummels. Only time will tell if they have enough experience in the dressing room to reach the knockout stages.
