Summer sales spoil the party for surprise Champions League qualifiers

There is not much room for pure, unadulterated joy in football these days. Every achievement, every trophy, every cause for celebration has to be undermined by asterisks and caveats.

Liverpool claim their first league title in 30 years – Covid season, doesn't count. Manchester City win the Premier League six times in seven seasons but let's wait for the verdict on those 115 charges, eh? 

Arsenal are transformed from flaky also-rans into the footballing equivalent of a red-and-white brick wall but they're still trophyless bottle-jobs. 

And Manchester United upset the odds to beat rivals City in the FA Cup final – well done, that's kept Erik ten Hag in the job for another few months.

Fans of traditional powerhouses should be used to taunts from by envious rivals but it is frustrating to see smaller clubs' success stories cut short after a couple of exciting chapters.

Among the teams in Champions League action this week were Girona, who finished third behind Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga last season, Bologna, fifth in Serie A, and Bundesliga runners-up Stuttgart, who ended the 2023-24 campaign one point clear of Bayern Munich.

However, even before the draw for the new-look Champions League was made, supporters of those clubs knew that last season was probably as good as it would get.

Bologna's Italy international defender Riccardo Calafiori and top scorer Joshua Zirkzee, who turned 22 and 23 in May, joined Arsenal and Manchester United while impressive coach Thiago Motta moved to Juventus in June.

Only champions Bayer Leverkusen had a better defensive record than Stuttgart in last season's Bundesliga so, naturally, centre-backs Hiroki Ito and Waldemar Anton were snapped up by Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.

Only Harry Kane outscored Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy, whose 28 goals came from just 25 starts, and – you guessed it – he's gone to Dortmund too.

Girona's Artem Dovbyk, La Liga's Golden Boot winner last term, was sold to Roma and key midfielder Aleix Garcia caught the eye of Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso.

Winger Savinho, who contributed nine goals and ten assists during their 2023-24 league campaign, returned to his parent club Troyes before swiftly signing for Manchester City. All three clubs are part of the City Football Group but that's a subject for another column.

Despite the summer exodus, Stuttgart were on course for a draw at European champions Real Madrid on Tuesday before conceding two late goals.

Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga's woeful 90th-minute own goal cost them a point away to Paris St-Germain and 10-11 shots Bologna drew 0-0 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk, who missed a penalty.   

The trio averaged 2.02 points per game in their domestic leagues last season but this term, after a combined 12 fixtures, that rate has dropped to 1.17.

Stuttgart have conceded seven goals in three Bundesliga matches, Bologna are on a five-match winless streak and Girona have been thumped 3-0 by Atletico Madrid and 4-1 by Barcelona. 

It has never been easy to keep an overachieving squad together. When Porto won the Champions League in 2004, they immediately lost manager Jose Mourinho and defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Fereira to Chelsea and playmaker Deco departed for Barcelona. 

This summer, Chelsea swooped for Leicester's Championship-winning manager Enzo Maresca and player of the season Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, hampering the Foxes' hopes of establishing themselves back in the top flight.

The financial chasm between the haves and have-nots, coupled with the ruthless recruitment systems in place at top clubs, means any unexpectedly successful team is likely to be scattered across the continent by the start of the following season. 

Hopefully fans of Girona, Bologna and Stuttgart enjoyed their first sips of celebratory champagne because it hasn't taken long for the hangover to kick in.

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