A look into Europe

Though I'm most excited about the next (and final) set of World Cup qualifiers, I'm also fairly pumped for the start of the club competitions. While one of England's domestic cups starts for the Premiership clubs later this month (City take on League One club Doncaster in Round Two of the Carling Cup on the 21st - I don't claim to know how they work out the schedules for these things), the whole of Europe if not the world will have their eye on the two European cups, the UEFA Cup and, in particular, the Champions League.

The qualifiers having been played back in July and August, the six matches for each club will be played between now and December. I don't think we need to break down every single team's chances, but let's take a look at the groups really quick, with particular emphasis on the international powers in each of them.

Group A: With both Bayern Munich and Juventus, this group is probably the most straightforward to determine the top two teams that will advance to the knockout stages. Bayern won the Bundesliga last year and have opened 2005-2006 with four wins in four matches to go top of the table; Juve are defending Serie A champs and also top the early season table in Italy. It's hard to imagine either Rapid Vienna or Club Brugge taking much of anything from either team; I favor Bayern to win the group because of their edge in the goalkeeping department with Oliver Kahn in net. Juve have not conceded a goal in two Serie A games but are starting a replacement keeper due to injury. Be sure to mark off October 18 and November 2, when the powers meet.

Group B: This may be the weakest group. Arsenal are looking weak in early season play, with two Premiership wins but also two losses, including a 2-1 defeat this weekend that was their first to Middlesbrough in Premiership play. Worse still, Thierry Henry is out for an undetermined period of time that will include this Wednesday's first match. Ajax have more anonymous talent but will be looking to capitalize on any Arsenal slips. It would be quite an upset if those two clubs don't advance, however, with Sparta Prague and FC Thun playing the minnow roles; the latter in particular will likely just be happy to be there.

Group C: This may be an underrated group. Barcelona will be expected to go through, but don't count out Werder Bremen, who won the Bundesliga two seasons ago, or Udinese, making their CL group debut but much improved in the past several years. For that matter, Panathinaikos have some European history and a successful Italian coach. Barca most likely will advance one way or another, but beyond that nothing would surprise me.

Group D: Unquestionably Manchester United's group to lose. While none of Villareal, Benfica, and Lille are pushovers, Man U should have superior talent to them all. Villareal have already dispatched one English club (Everton) in qualifying, but Man U are much stronger and Villareal have started their domestic season sluggishly. Lille, who have started fairly strong (2-3-1) in Ligue Un, could be a surprise second if they play well.

Group E: Another fairly strong group top to bottom - AC Milan and PSV Eindhoven met last year in the CL semifinals, though PSV have lost several key players since then. German club Schalke 04 finished second in the Bundesliga last year, while Fenerbahce were Turkish champions. Milan should be favored to win and probably will, but anyone could finish second.

Group F: Real Madrid and their surplus of talent will be expected to win; after failing to bring home any hardware since their last league win in 2002-03, fan patience may be running short with such an expensive squad. Not to be overlooked, however, are French champions Lyon (quarterfinalists last season) and Olympiakos, the Greek champions who narrowly missed a spot in the knockout rounds last year to eventual champs Liverpool. Bringing up the rear are Rosenborg, the perennial Norwegian champs and equally perennial exit from the CL group stages, but at least they're seasoned. It'll be a real dogfight for the top two spots.

Group G: As if making a point about failing to qualify via one's league rules, UEFA managed to slot Liverpool into the same group as Chelsea, a break with the usual rule that no two teams from the same league shall play in the same group. The chance at a dual rematch to remove last season's semifinal embarrassment must be incredibly tempting and inspiring for Chelsea; playing possibly even better football than last year, they're already top of the Premiership with 15 points in five games. (Liverpool lag in tenth with five from three.) Barring another Reds-related stumble, it's hard to see Chelsea, an immensely talented side on all fronts, failing to win the group; second place is the real trick. Liverpool look to be in the driver's seat on this count, unless all the football they've played catches up to them. Real Betis' injuries should short out their bid, however, and Anderlecht don't look to be in the same class, finishing a mere second in the little-regarded Belgian league. In any event, keep a close eye on the Blues-Reds matches, on September 28 at Anfield and December 6 at Stamford Bridge.

Group H: Inter Milan should be favorites here. Rangers and Porto will battle for second place (they meet Tuesday at Ibrox in what should be an early sign of which will finish behind Inter); Artmedia Bratislava will most likely bring up the rear. Porto did win the CL two years ago behind current Chelsea head man Jose Mourinho, giving them some edge in experience over Rangers. Inter's having to play home matches behind closed doors due to the fan violence in their match with city rivals AC Milan in last year's quarterfinals may affect them, though how much remains to be seen.

So that's the Champions League. Ought to be awesome. ESPN2 is actually showing some of the games, starting with Liverpool's match against Real Betis on Tuesday. Now a quick mention of the UEFA Cup, which features a few Premiership clubs and starts its next round on Thursday.

Everton, having been bounced from the CL qualifying stages, take on Dinamo Bucharest; Middlesbrough get Greek side FC Xanthi; Bolton host Lokomotiv Plovdiv of Bulgaria. Everton, the only English side who must play away in the first leg of this round, have struggled in the early season, with three losses in four Premiership games and just one goal scored in those four. The Toffees aren't much for scoring, having a -1 goal differential even while finishing fourth last year, and must rely on their defense if they hope to advance in the Cup. Bolton, 2-2-1 in their first five league games, have a better hope, though their last game at the Reebok Stadium finished 0-0 against Blackburn on Sunday. Boro may be the best odds to move on, coasting on their strong 2-1 win over Arsenal on Saturday, though they have two losses already as well.

It's tempting to pick all the English sides to move on because the other teams are also-rans from weaker domestic leagues, but one never knows. Still, Boro and Newcastle both played quite late into the Cup last year before they were both felled by eventual runners-up Sporting Lisbon in consecutive rounds, so all three should move on, at least at this stage. With some of the scoring issues, though, I'd keep an eye on it.

I gave up trying to avoid the Manchester derby results because it was driving me crazy; I'm happy with the draw, needless to say, and hoping for a win in the rematch. I saw the condensed highlights on the review show; it looked pretty much like this. "Man U shot, oh! Man U shot, oh! Man U shot, oh! Man U shot, oh! Man U shot, goal! Man City shot, oh! Man U shot, oh! Man U shot, oh! Man U shot, oh! Man U shot, oh! Man City shot, goal! Man U shot, oh! Game over." So yeah, United appear to have dominated the run of play for most of the game, but City's defense was strong enough to hold for the draw, and you can't be unhappy with that. (Even if Andy Cole nearly put in a winner late.) I'll probably still watch the full game after it plays on FSC on Tuesday and hand in a report.