As season draws to a close Spanish ace is looking forward to Swans' European adventure
After enjoying a dream first season in the Premier League, Michu could be forgiven if he was dreaming of putting his feet up on an Iberian beach somewhere, reflecting on his plundery of defences up and down our little island. It seems that's far from the case, and as anyone who witnessed the ferocity of his celebration at WBA will be able to confirm, Michu is a fierce competitor, and one who is, it seems, already thinking about who the Swans may face in next year's competition. Speaking to the club's official website, Michu had this to say;
“The Champions League and Europa League have been very exciting this season, and I can’t wait to play in Europe next season.
“We could be going to some big stadiums and play against some big teams, but obviously we have to get to the group stages to be featuring regularly in the competition.
“The Europa League is a great competition – you can see from this season’s Europa League that it is filled with very exciting matches and top teams.
“It is what we want to be a part of. It will be great for this club to be playing in European competition.” Michu
A quick look through Europe's top leagues, and there are some big clubs who could be featuring in next year's Europa League. In Holland it looks likely at least one of Feyenoord or PSV will feature, while in France Marseille & Lyon could both end up qualifying. In Spain it's up in the air but Valencia & Atletico could both still end up in the competition, and in Italy, amazingly, any one of Inter, Lazio, Roma or Fiorentina could realistically make the cut. As a fan who missed out on the "glory years" last time around, and never saw the Swans qualify for Europe via the Welsh Cup, the prospect of seeing Swansea City line up against teams of this calibre really serves to underline how far the team have come.
With teams entering from the Champions League at a later stage, there are other big names who may yet enter the fray, but until then Michu, like me, will simply have to bide his time until we find out who our first European opponent will be.
Barry Town away, anyone?