Pat Nevin: "There are still qualification issues to be sorted"

Suddenly the Europa League has gone from very interesting to off the scale now that the Champions’ League group stages have been finalised. You would have to have been living on the moon to have missed the fact that Manchester United and Manchester City have joined us at the knockout phase and this of course has thrown the entire tournament wide open. It has huge ramifications for everyone, not least us at Channel Five, but suddenly everyone else currently fighting it out or the last places in the Europa League group stages will be even more desperate to get through in the hope of getting one of the plum ties.

Stoke are a prime example, having looked like a good bet to progress to the latter stages they must feel that two huge obstacles have suddenly been placed in the way. As for City and United, how serious will they take it? After all it is a busy old season and there are a few injuries kicking in. Well don’t be too surprised if there is a real determination to win this one from both, certainly they both have players who could do with a bit more experience of playing in the latter stages of European tournaments with their clubs.

United’s newer younger players fell short in a Champions League group that should have been a cinch, but they blew it. Tournament nous is certainly needed at Old Trafford  if they are going to go on and emulate their predecessors, so Sir Alex may want to see the likes of Young, De Gea, Wellback, Jones and Smalling strut their stuff regularly in the competition.

As for City, once again it was not due to the lack of quality players that they have found themselves in the Europa League, as they were certainly the equal of Napoli and Bayern Munich man for man. Their campaign hasn’t surprised too many of us because we suspected that it would be a year too early to make serious inroads in the ECL. More experience, not as players but as a team and a unit, is what is needed now. Once more the Europa League might just give them that.

The arrogance of some towards the Europa League (an almost purely English attitude if we are going to be brutally honest) is incredibly offensive to the standard of teams still in the competition. Are Ajax, Valencia and Porto now to be disparaged alongside United and City, not to mention Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven and the rest?  Let’s hope for a less sneering position from a country that now has only two teams left in the Champions League, neither of whom looks likely to have a great chance of winning it.

Anyway that is getting ahead of ourselves, there are still qualification issues to be sorted out this week, with Celtic, Stoke, Fulham and to a lesser extent Spurs all still unsure of their precise fate. Harry’s men have to hope that they can give Shamrock Rovers a good hiding in Ireland while PAOK beat Rubin, it is possible but a long shot in that PAOK are already through and have no need to go at it hammer and tongs.

Birmingham City have no hope really after an impressive campaign, where as Celtic have a simple enough task on paper, beat Udinese in Italy and they qualify, anything else then it is curtains for the Celts. It is a tall order as the Scottish side have had a miserable record away from home in Europe for many, many years. That will not stop them having a go and with good form domestically they certainly have goals in them. It could be down to the striking partnership of Stokes and Hooper who are two very natural scorers, but it is more likely to be down to the defence that has conceded more goals this season than the manager would appreciate.  There have been improvements at the back as well, but Udinese away are an entirely different proposition when compared to most SPL clubs.

Tony Pulis’ stoke will have their tails up again and would love to finish the group as top dogs to give them an easier chance in the next round, which they have already qualified for. A draw against Besiktas would do the trick in Istanbul and that would also see the home side through, though expect fireworks literally and metaphorically during the tie. It will be a great occasion for the Stoke lads as this is a real European night with an atmosphere to match most grounds on the continent. Some of the boys from the Brittania have waited years for just this sort of occasion, it is one to be savoured and remembered for the rest of their careers and beyond.

Fulham know that they may well need a win to be certain of qualification and once more I expect a lively night at the Cottage. It is far from being a dead rubber, but Martin Jol knows that a professional job should be enough to dispose of Odense who have faded dreadfully in the competition after a promising start. There have been a few stories seeping out at Fulham of late apparently about the dressing room and this is most unlike the club which has generally had a fabulous spirit. I suspect Jol knows what he is doing and will ensure there is enough power, pace, skill and professionalism on the park to do the job.

The problem is you don’t know which Fulham is going to turn up this season. Will it be the one who drew with Man City, beat Liverpool and smacked six past QPR or will it be the team that capitulated away to Swansea five short days after beating Liverpool? That is what makes this an exciting tie and that is why Channel Five have decided this was the one to choose for Wednesday night’s live game.

It should be exciting and it will let us know who will be in the next round of the Europa League, a competition that I can safely say has never before in its short history been so much at the forefront of the English national consciousness. That may grow more as the months progress, because who would now bet against a Premier League team being in the final in Bucharest come May 2012.