10 lesser known players to watch out for in the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League is an opportunity for players who play for the relatively smaller clubs to prove that they can compete with the best. The competition has allowed many players over the past season like Mohamed Salah, Joel Campbell and Konstantinos Mitroglou to come into the limelight.Here is a look at 10 players who we think you should keep an eye on during the group stages of the Champions League.DISCLAIMER: The views expressed here are the author’s.

#1 Jose Salomon Rondon Zenit Saint Petersburg

Rondon is a Venezuelan international who plays in the Russian Premier League for Zenit St. Petersburg. The 24 year old had a two year spell with Malaga and some Barcelona fans will know him as the player who had scored once each in both the league games against the Catalans in the 2011-12 season.

Rondon’s performance earned him a move to Rubin Kazan in 2012. He played for Kazan for a year and a half before he was drafted by Zenit in January 2014. He has so far scored 11 goals in 16 league appearances for them and powered them to the top of the table with six wins in as many games.

His goals have also helped his team qualify for the group stages of this year’s Champions League. Zenit have been placed in Group C along with Benifica, Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco, in what could be the most evenly competitive group this season.

#2 Hakan Calhanoglu Bayer Leverkusen

Hakan Calhanoglu is a 20 year old Turkish midfielder who recently joined Bayer Leverkusen from Hamburger SV. He drew a lot of attention towards himself last season when he scored 11 goals in 32 appearances from midfield for his club who survived a relegation battle to stay in the Bundesliga.

Leverkusen secured his services for a nominal fee of €14.5 million on the back of his breakthrough season. He was approached by Germany, the place of his birth to represent their youth team, but like Nuri Sahin, he chose to play for Turkey, the country of his parents. Calhanoglu made his International debut as a substitute against Andorra on August 31st, 2013 and has represented Turkey five times so far.

#3 Layvin Kurzawa - AS Monaco

Yet another player from a team placed in Group C. Although Monaco acquired the services of many top players by spending a lot of money last season, Kurzawa came through the academy and made his debut for the team back in 2010.

He is only 21 years old and has a big future ahead of him. An attacking left back, he has represented France at the U-19, U-20 and U-21 levels. With Patrice Evra nearing the end of his career and Gael Clichy seemingly out of the French national team setup, Kurzawa has a very good chance of making it at the top level sooner or later.

#4 Aleksandar Mitrovic Anderlecht

Mitrovic is a Serbian international who plays for Belgian champions Anderlecht. Mitrovic came through the academy of Serbian side Partizan Belgrade, who most recently have produced stars like Stevan Jovetic, Lazar Markovic and Milos Jojic. The 19 year old striker joined the Belgian outfit in 2013 and went on to score 21 goals in 39 league appearances for his club.

At the age of 18 he was named among the Top U-19 talents in Europe in a selection by UEFA. He played for Anderlecht in the Champions League last season but failed to score in any of the six group stage matches. Interestingly, he once replaced goalkeeper Silvio Proto in goal but failed to save the penalty, when Proto was sent off in the last round of the Champions league group stage last season.

Mitrovic has represented Serbia six times and scored once against Croatia in a World Cup qualifier. Anderlecht are in Group D with Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Galatasaray and will surely be banking on his goals to help them try and qualify.

#5 Alan Dzagoev CSKA Moscow

Dzagoev is a relatively more known player compared to the other players mentioned in the list, but is still a part of the selection here as he plays in a smaller league. He made his name back in 2012, when he was the joint top scorer at Euro 2012 with three goals. He has been a key figure for the CSKA side since 2008 and has so far racked 47 goals and 67 assists for his team from midfield.

He is just 24 and has represented his national team 34 times already. His skill-set will be put to test when he plays Champions League football this season as CSKA Moscow have been placed in this year’s group of death which comprises of Bayern Munich, the German Champions, Manchester City, the English Champions and Serie A runners up, AS Roma.

#6 Viktor Fischer AFC Ajax

Another scintillating product from the Ajax academy, Fischer is just 20 years old and made his international debut at the age of 18. Fischer’s grandfather Poul Pedersen was also a famous footballer. Just like his grandfather, Fischer also plays on the wings.

During the 2012-13 season, he won the AFC Ajax Talent of the year award for as outstanding debut year. He managed to score 12 goals then, which was a significant return for an 18-year-old winger. His goal tally reduced to 7 last season, but nevertheless at such a young age, he is certainly a player to watch out for.

If he can impress for Ajax in their group which consists of Barcelona and PSG, he will certainly catch the eye of many big clubs across Europe.

#7 Max Meyer Schalke 04

Max Meyer is a product of Schalke’s famed youth academy that has produced some very good footballers, including World Cup winners Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil, Julian Draxler and Benedikt Howedes. Meyer is just 18 years old and has already represented Germany at the international level.

This is quite an achievement considering the wealth of talent Germany have at their disposal especially in midfield where Meyer plays. He was included in the 30 man provisional list for Germany, but failed to make the final cut. He made 41 appearances for Schalke last season in all competitions and scored 7 goals.

Schalke are grouped with Chelsea, Sporting and Maribor, and it will be interesting to see if Meyer is able to extend his influence on proceedings.

#8 Leon Goretzka Schalke 04

Although Goretzka is only 19, and plays for Schalke, he didn’t come through their academy. He moved to the Bundesliga giants from VfL Bochum in the summer of 2013.

Like his compatriot and teammate Max Meyer, Goretzka has also represented Germany once and was also included in the preliminary squad for the 2014 World Cup, but didn’t make the final cut. He plays deeper in midfield in comparison to Meyer, but still managed to score 5 goals in 32 matches across all competitions last season.

He is known to be a great passer of the ball, and possesses a good shot on goal. Add to that his physique, and he is the perfect package as a midfielder, and could go onto become a very pivotal player for both club and country in the future.

#9 Douglas Costa Shakhtar Donetsk

Costa is one of many Brazilians who have made their name with Shakhtar in the Ukrainian league. Fernandinho of Manchester City and Willian of Chelsea are some notable examples of players who rose to fame with the Ukrainian outfit and eventually moved on to bigger challenges.

Costa joined Shakhtar from Brazilian side Gremio in January 2010 for just 6 million euros. He has never been capped at full International level for Brazil. Manchester United were reported to have an interest in him a couple of years back and he was linked to Arsenal this summer, but a move never happened.

Costa plays as an attacking midfielder and has a handsome return of 33 goals from 170 matches in all competitions for Shakhtar. He will play for Shakhtar in a group consisting of FC Porto, Athletic Bilbao and BATE Borisov where Shakhtar will look to him to provide incisive wing play.

#10 Aritz Aduriz Athletic Bilbao

Aritz Aduriz stands out from all the other players on this list as all the others are either teenagers or in their early twenties. But Aduriz is 33 years old, and in the twilight of his career. He is Basque born and hence there is no surprise in him playing for Bilbao.

He has represented Spain just once in his career, but that doesn’t come as a surprise due to the competition from the likes of David Villa, Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente, Roberto Soldado and Alvaro Negredo. This is Aduriz’s third spell with the Basque club and was previously at Valencia before returning to Bilbao. His form has been outstanding for his club after coming in as a replacement for Fernando Llorente.

Most recently he played a crucial part in helping Bilbao reach the group stages of this year’s Champions League, when he scored 2 goals in 9 minutes in the second leg of the playoff match against Napoli to put his team ahead on aggregate.