Europe Getting Its Game On

The new season in Europe is only a few weeks old, but already there are promising signs that the 2002-03 campaign will be one to remember.

Competitive, compelling and controversial. That’s the norm when it comes to the scramble for honors in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain--the five major European leagues.

Throw into the mix the only slightly less captivating races in, say, the Netherlands, Portugal or Turkey, and it’s easy to understand the grip that European soccer has on fans worldwide.

Only a few days ago, in fact, Arsene Wenger, the French coach who last season masterminded Arsenal’s English league and cup double, said that the time would come when European teams would play some of their competitive matches in Asia.

“I could imagine some day Arsenal playing Real Madrid in Shanghai, for example,” Wenger said in London. “Why not?

“You could imagine that a European league could play not only in Europe ... the television companies in the Far East want to see the best in Europe and the market is huge.

“The interest in the English game is also huge. The Premier League is the best-sold championship [on television] in the Far East. Playing over there would be a way of generating income.”

And if Asia, why not America?

Interest in the top European clubs is growing in the United States, as evidenced by television coverage on Fox Sports World and ESPN2.

The latter network offers enticing tidbits of the Champions League, in which 32 teams from 14 countries are involved in the cut and thrust that eventually will result in two of their number reaching the final in May.

The best thing about ESPN2’s coverage of selected games is the commentary of Mike Hill, far and away the best soccer play-by-play announcer in the U.S. The most frustrating aspect of the coverage is the promotion of Champions League games on ESPN International that are not shown in the U.S.

“And next, for our international audience only ... “ might be the most despised phrase on the network.

But back to Europe.

In addition to the domestic leagues and the Champions League, 64 clubs are seeking to win the UEFA Cup, the lesser of Europe’s two continent-wide club competitions.

And when the world’s top players are not engaged in domestic or Europe-wide competition, many are involved in their national teams’ efforts to qualify for the 2004 European Championship in Portugal.

It all makes for a hectic schedule, during which club loyalties and nationalistic fervor, mudslinging and mind games, injuries and intrigue, all serve to keep the pot forever boiling.

Italian fans, for instance, have been encouraged by the strong start made in the Champions League by AC Milan and Juventus, last season’s Serie A champion.

“With them, the hope of a turning point that leads us out of years of setbacks, fear and miserable and depressing football is becoming stronger every minute,” Gazzetta dello Sport noted last week after both teams recorded impressive victories.

Juventus Coach Marcello Lippi, meanwhile, told Corriere dello Sport, “The process of growth that should bring Juventus to the upper echelons in Europe is continuing very well.”

But it is a steep climb. Bayer Leverkusen Coach Klaus Toppmoeller described it well when he said, “The Champions League is another dimension.”

In England, the teams leading the upward hike are Arsenal and Manchester United, despite the personal duel between Wenger and United Coach Ron Ferguson to see who can complain the loudest and the most often about allegedly short-sighted referees, perceived league injustices and the supposedly ugly tactics resorted to by opponents.

So far, it’s a tie.

Ferguson uttered his most humble comment in some time after an unexpected loss to Bolton Wanderers when he said: “We have no divine right to think that, just because we are Manchester United, we can just walk over teams.”

Not in England. Not in Europe, either.

Unlike Major League Soccer, where a .500 record is good enough to make the playoffs, success in Europe’s top leagues depends on almost never losing.

Listen to Manchester midfielder David Beckham after United had been upset by Bolton: “You can only afford to lose four or five [of 38 Premier League] games in a season, and this is our first loss,” he said. “We can’t afford to go through the league losing and drawing games. We’ve got to win.”

It’s the same story elsewhere.

In Spain, fans want to see just how reigning European champion Real Madrid copes with the temperamental Ronaldo, a $46.3-million buy from Inter Milan who, because of injury, has yet to play one minute for Coach Vicente del Bosque.

Real Madrid has scored 27 goals in seven games in four competitions this season and teammates have warned the Brazilian World Cup winner not to expect to waltz into the starting lineup.

“Real Madrid is playing very well at the moment and it’s going to be difficult for him to find a way in,” midfielder Ivan Helguera said. “It’s not easy for anyone to play here. Tell me, who are you going to drop to create an opening?”

Spanish champion Valencia and Barcelona, Real Madrid’s keenest rival, are only two of many clubs intent on humbling Ronaldo and company.

In France, meanwhile, the disappointment of the 2002 World Cup failure has descended like a wet blanket on the league, which has yet to produce any fireworks this season.

In Germany, there also appears to be a post-World Cup fog hovering. The only club showing any sign of Bundesliga domination is Bayern Munich, but Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld’s team has stumbled twice in the Champions League and plays host to AC Milan on Tuesday, knowing that a victory is almost imperative.

Bayer Leverkusen was last year’s darling--or at least its bridesmaid--reaching the Champions League final, the German Cup final and finishing runner-up to Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. But times have changed and Leverkusen is foundering.

“To keep talking about last season is just stupid,” midfielder Bernd Schneider snapped last week. “It’s not going to help us now.”

A more upbeat note was sounded by teammate Jens Nowotny, who told Kicker magazine, “Real may have the best side of all time, but they can be beaten.”

The question in Europe this season is: When, and by whom?