Tag: Europa League

Team Melli players in European Club competitions

The European Clubs championships will start in earnest this evening with matches in the UEFA Champions League UCL on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by the Europa League which is traditionally played on Thursdays.

6 Team Melli players will be involved in the European club competitions this season. Mehdi Taremi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Sadegh Moharrami, Sardar Azamoun, Ehsan Hajsafi and Milad Mohammadi. We will look at the individual players’ performances in the early season, their effectiveness for their clubs, chances of playing, and chances of their club qualification to the next round. The three competitions they are involved in are the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League.

Mehdi Taremi (FC Porto): presently he is without a doubt the most prominent amongst the Team Melli legionnaires possessing the highest value for his club. Being a key player with Porto and a title defender, there are a lot of expectations from Taremi. Despite some off-the-field distractions, that might have affected him, he returned back to what he does best by scoring the winning goal away to Estrela da Amadora last weekend. This season, Taremi started 4 out of 5 club matches.

FC Porto is in Group H which has the mighty Barcelona as the favorite, but also the Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk and Belgian Royal Antwerp. It is a tough group but Porto remains in contention for one of the two qualifying places.

Playing Status: Starter
Effectiveness: 8.5 out of 10
Chances of qualifying: 70%

Alireza Jahanbaksh (Feyenoord): The Team Melli Captain is not experiencing the best of times. His form has dipped considerably and he is now glued to the bench in the Eredivisie with Feyenoord. He played in two out of 5 league matches with only one starting and one as a substitute. Jahanbaksh neither scored nor provided any assists this season.

Feyenoord is in Group E of the UEFA Champions League along with favorites Atletico Madrid, Celtic, and Lazio, It is an even group but hardly an easy pass for Feyenoord, which will start with a match against the Scottish Champions Celtic on Tuesday 19th September.

Playing Status: Substitute
Effectiveness: 3.5 out of 10
Chances of qualifying: 68%

Sadegh Moharrami (Dinamo Zagreb): The Team Melli right-back has been having a good season with the Croatian champions. His rating has been amongst the best and also provided one assist in the 5 matches he has already played for the club.

In the Europa Conference League, Dinamo Zagreb is in Group C along with; Balkani (Kosovo), FC Astana (Kazakhstan), and Viktoria Plzen (Czechia). The former is the closest rival to Dinamo Zagreb. The first match is on Thursday 21st September.

Playing Status: Starter
Effectiveness: 7.5 out of 10
Chances of qualifying: 80%

Sardar Azmoun (Roma): After a shaky season with Bayer Leverkusen marred by long-term injuries, Azmoun is now on loan with AS Roma coached by Mourinho. Team Melli striker will not enjoy the UEFA Champions League this term as Roma is playing in the Europa League. Azmoun made his debut last Sunday as a late substitute for Romelo Lukaku in a 7-0 thrashing of bottom Club Empoli

Azmoun had a slow season start so far in Rome mainly due to injuries he carried from Leverkusen plus some personal issues. AS Roma is in Group G with FC Sheriff, Servette, and Slavia Prague and will begin the campaign with the Modovan Champions FC Sheriff on Thursday 21st September.

Playing Status: Substitute
Effectiveness: 4.5 out of 10
Chances of qualifying: 75%

Ehsan Hajsafi (AEK Athens): Team Melli Captain and most capped player has had a mixed season with the club. He has started 1 out of 3 league matches although he was also a starter in the UCL Qualifiers which AEK Athens lost narrowly to Antwerp.

AEK Athens is in a strong group that includes, The Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion, Ajax Amsterdam, and Marseille. It is arguably the strongest group in the Conference League and the Greek club needs to be at its best to have a chance of qualifying. The mission starts on Thursday with a match away to Brighton.

Playing Status: Substitute
Effectiveness: 6 out of 10
Chances of qualifying: 35%

Milad Mohammadi (AEK Athens): started 2 of the 3 matches in the Greek league and played the full 90 minutes each time as a left-back. He seems to be growing in confidence this season after a mixed season in 2022/2023.

Playing Status: Starter
Effectiveness: 6.5 out of 10
Chances of qualifying: 35%

Beiravand in defiant mood

Team Melli and Antwerp’s goalkeeper was in a defiant mood when interviewed by a Dutch website. Here is the excerpt.

And then the sky cleared. He conceded seven goals in his first three matches, but in the past ten days, he collected three clean sheets. Alireza Beiranvand (28) is currently doing so well at Antwerp – last night he was Man of the Match against Eupen – that even an extra goalkeeper is no longer so urgent. ‘All the Iranian people are praying for me,’ he claims.

‘It was so difficult’ we could not describe the first months of Beiranvand near Antwerp any better. Months after his arrival was first announced, he still arrives at the Bosuil behind schedule. At a time when goalkeeper Jean Butez has been training for weeks with the team. Result: Beiranvand is warming the bench. ‘But the fact that I wasn’t playing meant that I had to train twice as hard. Leave? Didn’t think about it for a second. Never. I wanted to do my best to convince the coach.’  ‘You are two months behind,’ the coach told me when I arrived. But it’s not that I hadn’t done anything for two months, huh … It was frustrating that I didn’t get a chance. I was really angry. Watch out, that had nothing to do with Jean. He’s my best friend off the field. But on it, he is my nemesis. ‘

 

Casillas & Kepa

Ultimately, Beiranvand got his chance. Against Tottenham in the Europa League and afterward at home against Club Brugge. That did not go smoothly. Even more: Ivan  Leko was remarkably hard on Beiranvand after the match. Something Beiranvand and his 3 million Instagram followers could only accept moderately.

‘How could he say such a thing? You do not do that. I was mentally broken by those statements. A coach is like a father, then such a statement is a major mental blow. If a coach talks about you like that, you don’t think you will get a chance anymore of course. Look at the relationship between José Mourinho and Iker Casillas at Real Madrid at the time. He also put it behind him. But those things sometimes happen. Kepa, one of the best goalkeepers in the world, is now also on the bench at Chelsea. And somehow I knew that sooner or later I would get my chance. I’ve never doubted myself. Not a moment. And haven’t regretted signing here for a second, really. Every day I enjoy working more and more in Europe. And all the Iranian people are praying for me. That inspires me even further to work harder. I did not come to Antwerp to stay here for the rest of my life. From here I will go to one of the best clubs in the world, you will see. ”