Polish Football Online
Articles / Analysis

Polish Players in the 2010/11 Champions League

by Chris Kwiatkowski
2010-09-14 15:02 CET  |  PFO

Seven Polish players will be available for the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League, which starts this Tuesday. In the list are three goalkeepers, but the players with the best chances of making appearances are all outfield players: Sebastian Boenisch, Ireneusz Jeleń, and Rafał Murawski.

Sebastian Boenisch will play in the Champions League for the first time as a Pole. The Werder Bremen left-back recently obtained his Polish citizenship and has already played two matches for the national team. He will be fighting for playing time at Werder with fellow left-back Petri Pasanen. His team is in Group A and will play against title holders FC Internazionale Milano, fourth-placed EPL side Tottenham Hotspur FC, and Dutch champions FC Twente.

Ireneusz Jeleń is also expected to lead AJ Auxerre in this Champions League season. Thanks to the talismanic striker's performance last season, Auxerre were able to finish 3rd in Ligue 1 and were awarded a Champions League qualifying tie against Russian side FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. Jeleń did not fail to impress as he took Auxerre into the Champions League with a scissor-kick winning goal in the second leg.

Jeleń's teammate, Dariusz Dudka might be hard pressed to make an appearance in the Champions League – the versatile Dudka has not yet been given any playing time for Auxerre this season. The French club, based out of the smallest city of all 32 Champions League participants, has been placed in the widely touted "Group of Death" along with Real Madrid CF, AC Milan, and AFC Ajax. These three clubs have won the trophy 20 times between them.

Rafał Murawski will be playing in his second Champions League campaign. Murawski made his debut with FC Rubin Kazan last year and made 3 appearances. The Russian champions will play against Spanish champions FC Barcelona, Danish champions F.C. Copenhagen, and Greek champions Panathinaikos FC.

Tomasz Kuszczak will again appear in the Champions League for Manchester United FC as a backup to Edwin van der Sar. Kuszczak has made 2 appearances for Manchester United in each of the last three years (all group stage matches). However, this season, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to start Kuszczak in most of the group stage matches to save his first choice keeper for the knockout stage. The Red Devils are placed in Group C alongside third place La Liga club Valencia CF, Scottish champions Rangers FC, and Turkish champions Buraspor.

Łukasz Fabiański's situation does not look any better than that of previous years. Barring an injury to first choice keeper Manuel Almunia, the Polish keeper is unlikely to start in any games for his club. Fabiański has already made 5 appearances in the Champions League in past years, but in his last two matches (both losses) Fabiański did not impress and was particularly poor against FC Porto in the first game of last season's knockout stage. After those uninspired performances, it is surprising that Fabiański is still with Arsenal. However, coach Arsène Wenger still sees potential in the young keeper.

Fellow Polish keeper Wojciech Szczęsny has not been included in Arsenal's Champions League squad. The Gunners are placed in Group H with Ukrainian champions FC Shakhtar Donetsk, 2nd placed Portugese side SC Braga, and Serbian champions FK Partizan.

Jerzy Dudek will once again be in this year's Champions League. Dudek leads all Poles with 46 appearances in the tournament. However, he has made only one appearance since moving to Real Madrid CF in 2006. He is most known for his brilliant performance in goal for Liverpool FC in the 2004–05 Champions League final against AC Milan, where the English club won on penalty kicks. With Iker Casillas being the unquestionable top keeper at Madrid, Dudek may make a symbolic appearance in the last group stage match.

Notable absentees

Michał Żewłakow - After making appearances in 6 out of the last 7 tournaments with RSC Anderlecht and Olympiacos FC, the veteran centre-back will be absent from this season's Champions League. Żewłakow, now with MKE Ankaragücü in Turkey, will most likely not return to this tournament as his career is nearing its end.

Artur Boruc - King Artur, as he was known in Glasgow, made a name for himself by taking the Hoops to the knockout rounds in 2006/07 and 2007/08 with amazing performances. Celtic FC qualified for the following tournament but bowed out in the group stage. During these three years, Boruc played in every game (22) for Celtic. He has now moved to ACF Fiorentina but has to play second fiddle to Sébastien Frey for the time being. Boruc has stated that if he will not be playing on a regular basis, he will leave the club. Fiorentina has the potential to qualify for the Champions League next season, but whether Boruc will stay for that long is another question.

Mariusz Lewandowski - The veteran defensive midfielder has played in 16 Champions League games for Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. However, after receiving only limited playing time recently, Lewandowski moved to Ukrainian minnows PFC Sevastopol in the summer. Along with Michał Żewłakow, he has made the most appearances among Polish outfield players in recent years.

------------------------------

• Polish player appearances in the UEFA Champions League

posted by Chris Kwiatkowski top

Read More:
POLES ABROAD
Poland vs. Portugal

Latest News

» archive