Five surprise teams aim to finish stunning seasons by securing Champions League spot
GENEVA (AP) — There could be a surprising team from each of Europe’s “big five” leagues when the new-look Champions League debuts next season.
Aston Villa, Bologna, Brest, Girona and Stuttgart are all, remarkably, on course to qualify for Europe’s elite competition going into the final few rounds of their national league.
Bologna, Stuttgart and Girona have perhaps the best chance of earning a place in the 36-team Champions League lineup when the lucrative tournament switches to a new format next season.
For Spain’s Girona and French club Brest, it would be a particularly remarkable achievement — neither has ever played in any European competition.
But this kind of challenge was not expected from any of the provincial teams, which have had little or no recent success — even if Aston Villa was the European Cup champion in 1982 — and mostly have coaches who are in their first full season.
Related articles
2 killed in U.S. Colorado campus shooting
(Xinhua) 10:38, February 18, 2024LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Two were killed in a shooting at t2024-04-27JPMorgan Chase CEO warns about inflation, political polarization, wars
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s most influential banker, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, told investors2024-04-27Book Review: Hampton Sides revisits Captain James Cook, a divisive figure in the South Pacific
Captain James Cook’s voyages in the South Pacific in the late 1700s exemplify the law of unintended2024-04-27A Moroccan town protests water management plans
RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Regional and local leaders in eastern Morocco met this week with residents and2024-04-27Chinese state councilor stresses meticulous preparations for Hangzhou Asian Games
(Xinhua) 08:33, May 18, 2023SHANGHAI, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Shen Yiqin has call2024-04-27The O.J. Simpson case forced domestic violence into the spotlight, boosting a movement
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Thirty years ago, as women’s rights advocates worked to pass the 1994 Violence A2024-04-27
atest comment