Top 10 CL stars we can’t wait to watch

We all know the qualities that the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic possess when it comes to Europe’s elite competition, but there’s a few other names too which we’re excited to watch in the Champions League this season.

10) Steven Defour (Anderlecht)

When playing for Standard Liege in 2009, Steven Defour broke his metatarsal, which led Sir Alex Ferguson, a long-term admirer of the Belgian, to send a ‘get well soon’ card with the message: ‘Dear Steven, I have just heard about your injury and, in the name of Manchester United, I would like to wish you a full and speedy recovery. I am sure at the moment you must be feeling awful and that you’ll have all kinds of questions. Steven, these are natural worries but I have to tell you that modern medicine and treatments are incredible.’ Rumours that Fergie sent a photograph of himself in a nurse’s outfit are unfounded.

Five years on from receiving cards from admiring managers, Defour, who had a rather uninspiring spell at Porto, is back in Belgium plying his trade at Anderlecht. He’s not quite on the Freddy Adu disappointment scale, but what went wrong for the one-time hot prospect? Now he’s back home, it’ll be interesting to see if he can restore his tarnished image by making Anderlecht more than just a making-up-the-numbers side.

9) Lucas Moura (PSG)

Time heals everything, apparently. It’s been just over three months since Brazil opened up the World Cup against Croatia, and the decision to omit Lucas Moura from the Selecao squad still remains completely baffling.

Having featured 53 times during Paris Saint-Germain’s successful 2013/14 campaign, it seemed a nigh-on certainty that Moura would at least be in Brazil’s squad. It was a season of real ‘what ifs’ for Moura as he almost scored one of the all-time great goals after picking the ball up in his own half, dodging past several Marseille challenges and dinking the ball over Steve Mandanda, only to have it cruelly cleared off the line by Rod Fanni. Just let it in go in, Fanni.

With a point to prove to those Brazilian selectors that doubted him, and with the image of Fanni still in his mind, expect Lucas Moura to shine in this year’s competition.

8) Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao)

After helping guide Athletic Bilbao into the Champions League, will Muniain sparkle like he did in their sensational 2011/12 Europa League campaign?

Muniain was superb in Bilbao’s 3-2 win over Manchester United in March 2012, doing nothing to dispel his ‘golden boy’ reputation. However, the following season was a bit of a struggle for the Spaniard as he failed to find his natural position in Bilbao’s forward line, and even attempted to fill the impossible void left by Fernando Llorente.

After a bit of soul-searching, Muniain is seemingly back to his irresistible best as Bilbao’s right-winger, if their 3-0 win over Levante on August 30 is anything to go by. Picking up a goal in that match, Muniain will take that momentum into their opening game against Shakhtar on Wednesday and will be keen to show that he’s settled, and at his very best.

7) Julian Draxler (Schalke)

It seemed like Schalke’s Julian Draxler was on his way to Arsenal in January, with reports suggesting that Arsene Wenger wasn’t totally against the idea of paying his £37m release clause. It turns out that even Draxler found it all a bit ridiculous: “It (the clause) stayed with me. I did not play like 20 clubs were ready to pay this sum for me last season. I have to become attractive to big clubs again.”

The German international was in huge demand last winter, with Manchester City and Bayern Munich all credited with an interest. However, he only scored two goals in the whole of last season. Having struggled to cope with the excessive weight of expectation, Draxler was hardly mentioned at all this summer.

He’s had a bit more time to relax, a bit more time to focus on his game and he’ll undoubtedly have had someone talk him through his fear of failure, which all makes Draxler something of an intriguing entity. Chelsea are the first team up for Schalke, and we’ll see whether he’s learnt to correctly channel that overwhelming expectation.

6) Xabi Alonso (Bayern Munich)

When players in their 30s leave Real Madrid, it’s usually to Bolton Wanderers.

For Xabi Alonso, he’s signed up to one of the most interesting projects in European football as Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich attempt to reclaim their Champions League crown. Alonso was a key figure in Real Madrid’s 5-0 aggregate hammering of Bayern in last season’s semi-final, but picked up a yellow card which ruled him out of their final win over Atletico Madrid.

Alonso’s disappointment of missing out on their Lisbon finale was further compounded by Toni Kroos’ switch from Bayern to the Bernabeu, meaning the Spaniard was no longer the beating heart in Madrid’s midfield. Guardiola is, of course, a fan of the technically gifted central midfielder who may not work his a*se off, but can certainly play that vital, deadly pass. Pep will be practically giddy at having the opportunity to re-sculpt Alonso, and it’ll be fascinating to see how it works out.

5) William Carvalho (Sporting Lisbon)

Since the dawn of time, William Carvalho has been linked with a move to the Premier League.

Portuguese football, as we’re all aware, is pretty difficult to get on our screens in the UK. Not only do broadcasters have limited coverage, but the standard outside the top three is pretty appalling, so why would they secure full coverage rights?

But with Sporting drawn in the same group as Chelsea in this year’s Champions League, we’ll get a much better insight into Carvalho’s abilities. The combative defensive midfielder, who’s adept at both sweeping up and causing danger, will hit our screens in the next few months and we’ll get to see whether the Premier League’s interest is substantiated, or just Jorge Mendes waffle.

4) Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund)

“Shinji will be very important to us right away. He has made a good impression on the training pitch in the past few days and has shown that he still has plenty to offer,” beamed Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp last week. Things just didn’t work out for Kagawa at Manchester United and with his underwhelming spell at Old Trafford still fresh in the memory, the Japanese midfielder will be aiming to prove to his naysayers that he still has the talent to succeed.

The video of Klopp greeting Kagawa upon his return to Dortmund was just lovely, and it showed the man-management skills that have been so crucial to his and Dortmund’s recent success. Now Kagawa’s back in familiar territory with an arm round his shoulder, he’s expected to be a key player in Dortmund’s Champions League campaign. He was certainly pretty good at the weekend against Freiburg, when he was greeted like a mix between Harry Styles and Jeff Stelling.

3) Mattia Destro (Roma)

With Manchester United target Kevin Strootman out until January, it gives us the chance to swoon over Roma striker Mattia Destro.

The 23-year-old was repeatedly linked with Tottenham and Chelsea this summer, and his former Inter manager Jose Mourinho said just a few weeks ago: “Everyone knew at the club that his potential was there to be a top striker. He was unlucky because we had [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic and Adriano, then [Samuel] Eto’o, [Diego] Milito…”

He’s been slightly unfortunate once again in that Roma’s 37-year-old Francesco Totti still refuses to call it time. Destro missed out on a starting spot in their 2-0 win over Fiorentina on August 30, with manager Rudi Garcia opting to play Totti as their lone striker. But he returned for the 1-0 win at Empoli on Saturday and is likely to be given a Champions League chance in his natural centre-forward role – possibly against Manchester City on September 30, where he’ll be keen to show that he’s good enough to get past Kompany and co.

2) Mario Mandzukic (Atletico Madrid)

It’s fair to say that Atletico Madrid’s 2013/14 campaign exceeded their wildest dreams.

A place in the Champions League final while securing the La Liga title sent every football hipster into paradisiacal delirium. But at the start of the summer, it looked like Atleti’s successes were just a one-season thing following Chelsea’s decision to hold on to Thibaut Courtois while nicking off with Filipe Luis and Diego Costa too. The latter’s departure looked set to be the most painful, with Costa’s record of a goal every 72.5 minutes of Champions League football helping guide Atletico to the final in Lisbon.

But the arrival of Mario Mandzukic seems to have allayed any fears. For now. Having featured in 48 games for Bayern Munich last season, Mandzukic not only boasts the energy to replace Costa, but also a goal record to truly crow about. The Croatian’s return of 44 goals in 88 games at Bayern Munich shows that he’s capable of filling the goalscoring void left by Costa and he’s already off the mark in La Liga. Same again in the Champions League?

1) Luis Suarez (Barcelona)

Apologies. Our disclaimer said we’d avoid picking the obvious players, but this fella’s just too damned irresistible.

Suarez won’t be available for a Barcelona Champions League game until they visit his former club Ajax on November 5, but his return to Europe’s elite stage will be undeniably fascinating. Suarez, despite playing well in their 3-2 win over Man City in April, failed to score against the other members of the top-four club in the Premier League last year, and it’ll be interesting to see how he performs when his Barcelona side reach the latter stages of the tournament. It’ll also be fascinating to see how he copes with losing the ‘main man’ tag, with Lionel Messi keen to wear that label for a little longer.

By the time the knock-out stages come around, most people will have forgotten about his previous misdemeanours and with the spotlight still shining on Messi, one wonders how Suarez will perform under, arguably, less pressure than at Anfield.