With the latest round of Champions League fixtures about to begin, here are five who are going to be under a lot of pressure during the games.
Rio Ferdinand of Manchester United
The reason Rio Ferdinand is on this list is because he will have to hold the Manchester United defence together which has looked vulnerable in Europe over the last two seasons. Ferdinand is also under a little bit of pressure following the likely friction which has been caused between him and his manager following his refusal to wear a ‘Kick it Out’ t-shirt at the weekend.
Fernando Torres of Chelsea
Fernando Torres is the main striker that Chelsea have at their disposal and as such he is constantly under pressure at the club. They play Shakhtar Donetsk away from home this week which means Torres is likely to play as a long striker. This means he’s under pressure to not just score goals but to also hold the ball up and bring others into play, not his best attributes.
Joe Hart of Manchester City
This is an interesting one because Joe Hart has been one of the better players at Manchester City in recent weeks and in the Champions League so far. He set the bar very high with his performance against Borussia Dortmund and with Ajax likely to mount a great deal of pressure in this game, his defence are going to look to him to pull off more world class saves which will give City a greater chance of securing the three points.
Scott Brown of Celtic
Scott Brown faces possibly the biggest task out of anyone in the Champions League this week. He has to keep Celtic motivated as they prepare for a massive match against Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Brown needs to make sure everyone keeps their heads up and believes that Celtic can go and get a result. He is under enormous pressure to ensure that Celtic are not a side that seem already beaten before they have even walked out onto the pitch.
Mario Gomez of Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich are currently sitting second in a group they were expected to dominate. This is largely down to the fact that the side has only scored three goals in the Champions League so far. Gomez is often talked about as the most prolific striker in Germany and he may be asked to play up front on his own in the match against Lille. He is also under pressure to get a regular Bundesliga place in the Bayern side having not played at all this season in the league.
Are there any other players under pressure this week?
image: © El Ronzo
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