The 2017 Audi Cup kicks off on Tuesday for it’s fifth year and Bayern Munich, hosts and 2015 winners, will be joined once again by some of the very best sides Europe has to offer. With the Bundesliga represented in the form of the home side, the remaining three of the top four European leagues take their place in the form of Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, and a name all too familiar to readers of calciomercato.com, SSC Napoli.

 

Atletico Madrid vs Napoli gets us underway at 16:45pm on August 1 (all times quoted are UK) with Bayern Munich taking on Liverpool at 19:45pm. For UK based Serie A enthusiasts the kick off time presents something of a challenge to those working, however it is pleasing to see that ITV4 will air the entire competition due to Liverpool’s involvement in this year's tournament. 

 

Wednesday brings us two further fixtures, with the losers of match day one facing one another in a Third place play-off before Tuesday's winners meet in the final. The quality of the sides on show, along with the quick fire nature of the tournament should hopefully mean a glut of goals for fans in attendance with names such as Ribery, Vidal, Griezmann, Coutinho, Sturridge, Hamsik, Insigne, and Mertens all on show. 

 

The tournament will also give supporters of three of the four clubs the chance to see new faces in action, with Real Madrid’s on-loan Columbian international, James Rodriguez the pick of the bunch for home fans. Liverpool will field former AS Roma winger Mohamed Salah, and while Napoli have spent more of their resources on retaining existing stars than securing new ones, the Partenopei have bolstered their squad with the additions of Adam Ounas and Mario Rui, while Polish international striker Arek Milik will feel like a new signing for Maurizio Sarri after his return from a serious knee injury.

 

Let’s take a closer look at each side:

 

 

The hosts and reigning 5-in-a-row Bundesliga champions will be favourites to win their own tournament, especially with the addition of James Rodriguez from Real Madrid. Bayern pack a wealth of German and European talent with the likes of Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels, and Robert Lewandowski and Premier League fans will be all too familiar with former Chelsea man Arjen Robben. 

 

Bayern won the Bundesliga league title by 15 points from the seasons surprise package, Red Bull Leipzig, and the Audi Cup will be viewed as ideal preparation by Ancelotti as he prepares his side for the DFL Supercup final against Borussia Dortmund just three days later. 

 

Robert Lewandowki will undoubtedly be the danger man, the Polish striker and good friend of Napoli’s Arek Milik, netted 30 times in the Bundesliga last season, 17 more than his closest competition, Arjen Robben who managed 13 league goals; still a very reasonable return from midfield.

 

 

The 2013/14 La Liga champions have emerged as Spain’s third force in recent years, and Diego Simeone’s side have become something of a European specialist too, reaching the Champions League final in both 2014 and 2016 before losing to bitter city rivals Real Madrid in both. While Europe’s top prize has cruelly eluded them, Atletico have enjoyed European success in 2010 and 2012, lifting both the Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup.
 

In French frontman, Antoine Griezmann, Atletico have one of the most sought after players in Europe and a move to Manchester United was heavily rumoured before Atletico’s transfer embargo was enforced, a move which saw Griezmann sign a new contract and commit his future to Atletico; for now.

 

For Liverpool supporters there will be a familiar face in the form of former striker, Fernando Torres, although the reception he receives may depend on whether that infamous £50m move to Chelsea remains a bitter pill to swallow. 

 

Unlike Bayern, Atletico spread the responsibility of goals around the team, and while Griezmann was their top scorer in La Liga with 16 goals, he was closely followed by Kevin Gameiro on 12, Yannick Carrasco on 10, and Fernando Torres on 8. 

 

Atletico are a side built very much in the image of their manager; aggressive and in your face, always looking to attack and with plenty of pace to hit on the counter. Simeone’s men will be no pushovers.

 

 

The likeable Liverpool boss will face off against a familiar adversary on Tuesday evening when he faces Bayern Munich. And while old foe Pep Guardiola is no longer at the helm, I’m sure Klopp would love nothing better than to get one over Bayern, regardless of the competition.

 

During his time in Germany, Klopp has to deal with the omnipresent shadow of Bayern as the champions plundered Dortmund for their very best; namely Robert Lewandowski and Mario Goetze, although the man who scored Germany’s World Cup winning goal in 2014 has since returned to Dortmund and continues his recovery from a metabolism disorder.

 

Notable additions this summer include Hull City’s Scotland international full-back, Andy Robertson, and Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah from Serie A side AS Roma. And while Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has singled out Robertson as the man who could one day be the clubs first choice left back, it’s the addition of Salah which should have the Anfield faithful excited the most. 

 

Eyebrows were raised when Salah moved back to England, many of his detractors being people who most likely don’t watch Serie A, but I can assure readers that Liverpool are getting a far superior player than the one who departed for Italy from Chelsea.

 

Liverpool paid Roma almost three times what Roma paid Chelsea to secure his services, but in todays game where transfer fees are spiralling out of control, the £35m paid will, in my opinion, be viewed as a bargain come the end of the new campaign.

 

Salah possesses blistering pace, an attribute he always had, however he’s now learned to utilise it far better. He's less erratic, far more direct, and can create or score goals in equal measure; 19 goals and 11 assists for Roma last season attest to that.

 

 

The fact that Napoli have been invited to this tournament speaks volumes for me. A name that would have previously never been mentioned as potential attendees at this kind of pre-season event, the football played by Maurizio Sarri’s men and the plaudits it has gained have led to Napoli finally being given the recognition they deserve.

 

Napoli have few new faces to show, other than Bordeaux winger Adam Ounas and AS Roma full-back Mario Rui, but after a Serie A run-in which saw the Partenopei go unbeaten after being knocked out of the Champions League by eventual winners Real Madrid, there has been a switch in mentality at the club.

Aurelio De Laurentiis, the Napoli President, has vowed to keep this squad together for at least one more year and the players have responded in kind, with talk of a Scudetto ‘pact’; a belief amongst a tight knit group that they had something special that would finally wrestle the title from the clutches of fierce rivals, Juventus. This in turn has led to star players such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Lorenzo Insigne, and Dries Mertens signing new long term deals to ward off attention from the Premier League.

 

Renowned for free flowing, one/two touch passing moves and lightning quick counter attacks, Napoli play arguably the finest football in Europe; words not just from me but from respected pundits and sports writers across the world. 

 

In the Belgian international, Dries Mertens, they have a winger-turned-centre forward who netted 28 Serie A goals and 34 in all competitions, flanked by Italian international Lorenzo Insigne and Spanish international Jose Callejon, who between them scored 37 goals; 20 and 17 respectfully. 

 

All this attacking power is backed up by a midfield that includes Slovakia’s Marek Hamsik, who also contributed with 15 goals from midfield last season as he chases Diego Maradona’s goal tally for Napoli.

 

Across all four sides there is a wealth of attacking players on display which should hopefully lead to some much needed pre-season entertainment as we all wait impatiently for our favourite domestic championships to return.


James McGhie