Serie A Returns – European Football Preview with Liberty Shield VPN

Welcome back Serie A! European football leagues are also awakening from their summer slumber with Serie A and the Greek Super League the only major leagues not back in action just yet.

We now have a full compliment of the top five leagues in European football being back to business with a new season stretching out in front of us that promises so much in the post pandemic world. Delta variant be damned, fans are back in the stands and that should make everyone happy.  Fun Fact: European Football VPN is one of the most searched terms on Google.

We’ve already put together our Premier League preview, which you can read here, but if you preview a European adventure this weekend we’ve picked out the standout games from Germany, Spain, Italy and France for your viewing pleasure.

Our European Football VPN articles are brought to you in partnership with EPL Index, and Dave Hendrick – host of the Two Footed Podcast, offering FREE podcasts to football fans.

 

UK TV and video streaming rights for 2021/22 season (excludes unofficial IPTV streaming services who will show footage from other broadcasters):

• Premier League – Sky Sports, BT Sport & Amazon Prime
• Bundesliga – Sky Sports
• Ligue 1 – BT Sport
• Serie A – BT Sport
• La Liga – Amazon Prime & La Liga TV
• SPFL – Sky Sports & BT Sport

⚽ Bayer Leverkusen vs Borussia Monchengladbach
🇩🇪 Bundesliga
📅 Saturday 21 August 2021
⏰ 1730 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ Sky Sports Live Streaming

Two sides that underperformed last season but are packed with exciting talented players capable of more than they showed in the 20/21 season will meet on Saturday, with both under new management. Adi Hutter left Eintracht Frankfurt for Gladbach, while Leverkusen went outside the Bundesliga to recruit Gerardo Seoane from Swiss side Young Boys of Bern. Both managers are know for their exciting styles of football, and Seoane had actually replaced Hutter at Young Boys, chosen because of the similarities in their styles of play and their ability to develop young players and mould teams using the pieces available to them.

Seoane faces a big job at Leverkusen but does have some incredible talent at his disposal, including the outstanding young defensive duo of Odilon Kossounou and Edmond Tapsoba, who should form the base of the team once Tapsoba returns from injury. The real jewel in the Leverkusen crown though, is Florian Wirtz. The 18 year old midfielder, who plays like a 28 year old. Wirtz has taken the field against top class players and, on multiple occasions, looked like the best player on the pitch. The maturity of his game is what stands out most. The most intelligent player on the pitch, the one making all the right decisions and always being in the right position. He might not be an eyecatching dribbler like a Jadon Sancho, or a huge goalscorer like Kai Havertz, but Wirtz is every bit their equal as a world class prospect. Every game he plays is worth watching.

Gladbach made a promising start to their Bundesliga campaign last week with a 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich. Had it not been for some incredibly wasteful finishing, they could have been three or four goals to the good before Bayern realised the game had started. Even after Bayern equalised, it was Gladbach who looked the more likely team to grab a winner but were thwarted in their efforts by Manuel Neuer who frequently expressed his displeasure with what was going on in front of him. Gladbach haven’t been able to recruit as they would have liked this summer, and could still lose star forward Marcus Thuram to Inter but that might actually help them as Sporting Director Max Eberl could potentially spin the money from Thuram into two or even three new recruits that could help Hutter more than the French forward would over the course of the season.

Both sides will want to get their first win of the season after 1-1 draws last week and with Seoane and Hutter being cut from the same cloth, this game should be very entertaining.

⚽ Athletic Club vs Barcelona
🇪🇸 La Liga
📅 Saturday 21 August 2021
⏰ 2100 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ La Liga TV

Whenever you have the chance to wait Athletic Club de Bilbao, you should make it your business to do so. If ever there was a club who embody what it is to be a local club for local fans, it’s Athletic Club. Their policy regarding player recruitment is to be hugely admired, even if it does put limits on what the club can achieve. Their embodiment of the Basque spirit is something to behold and a packed San Mames is a sight and sound like few others in the world. Bilbao fans want you to know that the club is theirs and that the players are just like them. The connection between fans and players is incredible in Bilbao with god like status placed on players like Iker Munian and Inaki Williams who have served the club for well over a decade.

Barcelona are still trying to figure out what they can be in the post-Messi era. They began life after Leo with an impressive victory over Real Sociedad, playing with a freedom that possibly wasn’t possible when the team was built around the best player of his generation. With Memphis Depay seemingly set to be the focal point of the attack and more emphasis put on the movement of the likes of Antoine Griezmann, and eventually Ansu Fati, there does seem to be a blueprint for the future. Midfielders Pedri and Frenkie DeJong will likely be the two biggest benefactors of the added responsibility for tempo and creativity that will be placed on the midfield.

Ronald Koeman was nobodies choice to manage Barcelona, either last summer or this. The board have tried and failed to find a replacement but with a financial situation that makes Enron look like a well run organisation, they are stuck with the Dutch coach and that might turn out to be the best possible thing for them. Koeman might not be the best manager in the world but he has experience at taking over historic institutions who have hit rock bottom and rebuilding them. His Dutch team was flourishing by the time he left, they had been a mess when he arrived. Even with Messi, Barca were a mess. Without him, perhaps they can wind back the clock and remember what made them the club everyone admired, before they spent their way into near oblivion.

Barca and Athletic Club have always maintained a Catalan vs Basque rivalry but they were always united in the collective fight against Madrid rule. As Barca became a Real Madrid clone in recent years, spending their way to success, the Basque folk began to view them as another of the enemy. Now it’s time for this rivalry to get back to how it was, and for the bonds of friendship to be reformed.

⚽ AS Roma vs Fiorentina
🇮🇹 Serie A
📅 Sunday 22 August 2021
⏰ 1945 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ BT Sport Live Streaming

While we will have to wait for the beginning of the Messi era in Paris, the Italian capital of Rome will have no such wait as the new star name in town will make his touchline debut this Sunday. Jose Mourinho is back in Serie A, 11 years after he left Inter Milan to take charge of Real Madrid. Mourinho brought legitimacy to Serie A in his first spell, arriving as Italian football struggled to rebuild itself after the Calciopolli scandal. He arrived as a conquering hero, and departed as a Champions League winner. His time at Inter went perfectly. A league title in his first season, a treble in his second. With nothing else to prove, and nothing left to achieve he headed off to Madrid.

The Mourinho who returns 11 years later is not held in the same acclaim as the one who departed. Disastrous ends to spells at Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United took the shine off his accomplishments and successes at each club, and his time at Spurs can only be seen as a failure. This time he’s not coming to redeem the league, he’s coming to redeem himself. He wants to re-establish himself as an elite manager, and he’s chosen one of the toughest possible jobs. Roma have a long way to go before they can be considered title contenders but Mourinho has been able to bring Tammy Abraham, Rui Patricio, Eldor Shomurodov and Matias Vina into the mix, joining exciting talents like Lorenzo Pellegrini, Nicolo Zaniolo, Marash Kumbulla and Roger Ibanez at the club. Mourinho inherits a strong group of central defenders which should at least allow him to quickly make them a solid defensive unit.

Fiorentina are just an easy club to like. From their iconic kits to the memories of their great teams of the 90s with Batistuta and Rui Costa, to the beautiful city they call home. La Viola are just one of those clubs that deserve your appreciation. They’ve always played an attractive brand of football, anything less would be unacceptable in the city of Florence. This summer they’ve added the outstanding Argentine Nico Gonzales to their ranks and will hope that star striker Dusan Vlahovic remains with the club amid interest from Spurs and Atletico Madrid. They’ve already had enough chaos this summer with Reno Gattuso’s shenanigans without having to star searching for a new striker this summer. New manager Vicenzo Italiano arrives from Spezia with a reputation for playing a breathtaking brand of football that allows his team to score a lot of goals, while employing comedic defending at all times.

⚽ Nice vs Marseille
🇫🇷 Ligue 1
📅 Sunday 22 August 2021
⏰ 1945 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ BT Sport Live Streaming

If Serie A and the Mourinho experience isn’t your bag, there’s a cracking game in Ligue 1 for you to watch out for. Nice are a club on the up. Owned by Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man, they set forward an ambitious plan to bring the Ligue 1 title to the French Riviera in the not to distant future. Central to that plan is Christophe Galtier who was lured to the south coast club during the summer after leading Lille to their own shock title success last season. Galtier inherits a team in transition, needing a lot of rebuilding as well as time to develop for the young stars on their books such as Amine Gouiri, Khephren Thuram and new signing Jean-Clar Todibo. Galtier is not just a short term appointment though, he’s joining for the long haul and determined to recreate the magic he conjured with Lille.

Their opponents, Marseille, are another club in transition but with aggressive plans to re-establish themselves as a major European power once again. Club President Pablo Longoria is one of the brightest minds in football and manager Jorge Sampaoli, the ultimate Marcelo Bielsa disciple, will be given plenty of support as he sets about trying to overcome the financial issues that have plagued the club and the uncertainty of the ownership situation at the 1993 European Cup winners. Sampaoli won’t get the same sort of time frame as Galtier because Marseille is a more demanding club and he has had big time backing this summer. Pol Lirola is set to arrive from Fiorentina as the fifth purchase of the summer, and the eighth signing including loans. With a net spend in the region of £55mil Marseille are pushing their chips to the centre of the table and going all in for a spot in the Champions League for the 22/23 season.

This should be a good game of football as both sides are well coached and aim to play uptempo styles. The contrasts in their views of the game should make for a good spectacle.

With these and plenty of other games taking place around Europe this weekend, there’s no shortage of football available if you decide you’d rather not watch Premier League games outside those of your own club, or indeed at all. For alternative ways to watch them online, Liberty Shield can help you. Click here and find out how.

How to watch every European Football match from anywhere…

How can I watch BT Sport 2021/22 season matches live?

As well as the FA Cup VPN, BT Sport has the rights to just over 50 Premier League fixtures during the 2020/21 campaign, and will also carry coverage of the UEFA Champions’ League and Europa League until 2024. Subscribers can watch BT Sport on their computers as well as their various apps on connected devices. They do offer a Monthly Pass with no contract, which will give customers access to the BT Sport mobile app. BT Sport Box Office will no longer show the matches via the now scrapped pay-per-view offering, but is it too late and have customers already moved towards illegal streams and IPTV providers?

Remember that BT Sport also features coverage from the Ligue 1, and holds rights to Moto GP, UFC and WWE coverage as well.  After a long delay the BT Sport app is now available on several models of Smart TV as well as Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices.