Premiership starts the battle of Europe

We are well into the European season for those clubs lucky enough to have qualified.

While middle-ranked sides, newly-promoted teams and the whole of the rest of English football have to make do with midweek games in windswept half-empty stadiums in the League Cup, for a few, it’s time for European travels.

The contrast could hardly be greater for a team such as Preston North End who were last week involved a trip to a corner of South East London to play Charlton.

At about the same time, Preston’s near neighbours, Manchester United were kicking off in Lisbon against Benfica.

Arsenal, meanwhile, visited the industrial heartland of Germany to play Dortmund.

There was something appropriate about these matches: Manchester United had defeated Benfica 4-1 at Wembley to win their (and England’s) first ever European Cup in 1968.

Arsenal, the best run club in England, must have felt at home in the one country in Europe that seems not to have lost all financial good sense in the last few years.

Matches revealed a lot

A bit was revealed about the personality of the four Premiership teams involved in the Champions League this season during those first games.

Arsenal played their game in probably the best stadium to watch a game in the whole of Europe.

On a normal Bundesliga weekend, Dortmund’s ground holds 80,000 spectators in steep terraces stretching up to the sky and close to the pitch.

These days it’s unknown in the Premiership, but some of these spectators stood to watch the game, rather than sit in the rows of plastic seats that have long since replaced the terraces throughout England.

For European games, UEFA regulations mean Dortmund have to put seats in those parts of their ground where there are normally none.

Despite this, the ground still has a 65,000 capacity – and it is always full of the most vocal supporters around.

It’s quite a contrast with the Emirates; even Arsenal’s previous stadium, Highbury, was nicknamed ‘the library’ by away fans, so quiet was it.

It sometimes seems now that the watching fans have all taken a collective vow of silence.

Dortmund are the German champions and started brightly; but Arsenal grabbed a goal against the run of play before half-time and in the second-half they calmed the game.

With Arsene Wenger watching in the stands following a touchline ban, it was only a wonder strike near the end of the game that salvaged a draw for Dortmund.

What this told us was: scorer Robin van Persie and the man who provided the scoring chance with a killer pass, Theo Walcott, are Arsenal’s best players.

Alex Song was missed during his three-match Premiership suspension after the stamping incident at Newcastle on the opening day of the season.

Sensible pricing policy

And Dortmund have a very good stadium and a sensible pricing policy.

A ticket to watch Dortmund play all their home games in a season can cost under $500 (about Sh47,500).

The result is that football remains a working man’s game in Germany and stadiums are full of a good number of young and old fans.

Contrast that with Chelsea, who entertained another German side, Bayer Leverkeusen, the same night.

Chelsea looked laboured in their 2-0 victory, although the home games of the group stage of the Champions League are supposed to be easy for the bigger sides.

Fernando Torres continues to gather controversy, even when he isn’t in the starting line-up.

And Chelsea fans may finally have had enough of the blatant cashing-in mentality that seems to run through the club.

Tickets for equivalent games last season at Stamford Bridge were around $40 (about Sh3,800); this has risen to $60 (about Sh5,700).

It was not surprising to see empty seats scattered around the ground.

Also, when you did see spectators, these were mainly middle aged ones – those in the prime of their money-earning life?

Younger fans just can’t afford to watch what is expected to be an easy game with little tension; it is much cheaper to stay at home and catch the action on television.

Contrasting performances

The following night, the two Manchester sides were in action.

For both, it was a surprise to some that the performances in Europe were far removed from the swaggering goal festivals of the Premiership. But there are reasons why this was so.

United made eight changes from their win at Bolton Wanderers the previous weekend and presumably players were being rested for the Premiership tie against Chelsea.

The result was a disjointed display, rescued by a goal from Ryan Giggs that saw the Welshman again defy the passing of time.

An away-draw in what is probably the hardest game of the group rounds is not such a bad result.

If there is a concern, it is that the relative lack of depth in the squad from Old Trafford has been shown once again.

Of more concern is the performance of Manchester City.

Whilst it is 43 years since the club graced Europe’s top table, many of the players Manchester City have bought with their new-found wealth have long European experience. So the nervousness displayed was not expected.

City saved the blushes

In the end, City were saved by an equalising goal from Aleksandar Kolarov.

Even then, dropping points at home against Napoli in a group that contains two seemingly stronger sides in Bayern Munich and Villarreal doesn’t look very clever.

All four Premiership sides can strengthen their position and correct any doubts from the opening round of matches in coming Champions League fixtures.

For some, round two should be easier than the last one – Arsenal, for example are at home to Greek side Olympiakos.

For others, a tough test awaits. Manchester City must travel to European aristocrats, Bayern Munich.

After September 27 when that game is played, fans of the blue side of Manchester will know they have really returned to the big time.

When not thinking about football, Guy Maughfling (Facebook Group: “Premiership Chat”) is a director in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Advisory business in East Africa. The views expressed here are his own.