There are some pivotal battles to be fought in the upcoming Matchday and while some groups look to have clear patterns emerging, others could go down to the wire. Let’s take a whirlwind tour of the current state of the groups along with my speculations on the ties on Matchday 5.

Group A
A win for Chelsea over Bordeaux will take them through, regardless of the result between second place AS Roma and bottom club CFR 1907 Cluj. Roma and Bordeaux are currently tied on points with Roma holding the edge on goal differential. Chelsea hammered Bordeaux 4-0 on Matchday 1 but I don’t think we’ll see a repeat of that scoreline. I still see Chelsea winning but perhaps only by a single goal. A draw would be a good result for Bordeaux and would keep their hopes alive. Top through bottom is seperated by only three points in this group so Cluj can still make things uneasy for everyone with a win over Roma at home. Roma played well against an uninspired Chelsea side on Matchday 4 and will hope to keep the momentum going. I’m going to go for a draw in this match. I think Cluj will come out with an inspired performance.

Group B
Leaders Internazionale can advance with either a victory or a draw at home to Panathinaikos. Inter could even advance if they lose should there be a draw between Anorthosis Famagusta and Werder Bremen. The suprising Anorthosis side can achieve a knockout round spot if they win and Inter do likewise. Werder Bremen must win in order to keep their hopes alive. I wouldn’t bet on Bremen to get a win in Cyprus considering their up and down form this season.

Group C:
The main business is complete: Barcelona and Sporting are both through to the last 16 after taking care of business on Matchday 4 when the Spanish side drew with FC Basel 1893 and the Portuguese team beat FC Shakhtar Donetsk. The two leaders face-off in Portugal while Basel will hope to get a result on the road in the Ukraine.

Group D:
Pacesetters Club Atlético de Madrid and Liverpool FC will extend their Champions League campaigns into the new year by winning at home to PSV Eindhoven and Olympique de Marseille respectively. Atlético can also book up for the knockout stages if they draw and Liverpool avoid defeat. A point would also be enough for Liverpool – who like Atlético have eight points – provided PSV do not prevail in Madrid.

Liverpool will be bolstered by captain Steven Gerrard, who is expected to play in Wednesday’s tie against Marseille after recovering from the groin injury which forced him to miss Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Fulham.

Group E:
With Manchester United FC and Villarreal CF sitting pretty with a six-point cushion over Celtic FC and Aalborg BK, both are likely to qualify for the next round. The two leaders are pitted against one another on Matchday 5 and I picture a draw from their match. The real game of interest in the group is between Aalborg BK and Celtic, which is a battle for the UEFA Cup spot. The Danish champions have won four and drawn four since Allan Kuhn replaced Bruce Rioch, a sequence which has seen them climb to seventh in the Danish Superligaen, progress to the Danish Cup semi-finals and twice come from behind to secure a 2-2 draw at home to Villarreal CF last time out. Also working against Celtic is the fact that they are trying to secure a first away Champions League victory in their 20th attempt. Celtic are still without a number of first-team players due to injury, including Massimo Donati, Marc Crosas and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. They will be hoping to have Georgios Samaras and Aiden McGeady available after their own injury problems. I’d have to go with the home side in this one as the odds are truly stacked against Celtic. It will be a massive win for them if they can beat the Danes at home. If they do make it into the UEFA Cup spot, I could see them enjoying an extended run in that competition.

Group F:
This group looks to be all wrapped up. Olympique Lyonnais enter Matchday 5 knowing exactly what they must do to proceed: avoid defeat at Fiorentina. FC Bayern München may trail Lyon on goals scored, but they find themselves in an even more luxurious position – only the twin occurrence of Bayern losing at home to rock-bottom FC Steaua Bucuresti and Fiorentina beating Lyon will stop the German team celebrating. Fiorentina must win to keep alive their hopes of making the next round.

Group G:
Arsenal FC hold a two-point advantage over FC Porto and will qualify for the knockout stage with a  victory at home to FC Dynamo Kyiv. Arsenal have been struggling lately and have a number of injury concerns. Compounding their poor form were unhelpful comments from captain William Gallas, who questioned the bravery of his team-mates as well as the dressing room spirit. Gallas was not in the lineup against Manchester City this past weekend, a match the Gunners lost 3-0. Manager Arsene Wenger has had little choice but to reinstate Gallas to the team for the clash with Dynamo Kiev as his squad is depleted by injuries. Wenger will have to field a makeshift defence with nine first-teamers out. Wenger has selected 21-year-old Spaniard Cesc Fabregas to permanently replace Gallas as captain.

Porto will advance if they can beat Fenerbahçe SK in Turkey, unless Dynamo win at Arsenal. Fenerbahçe will welcome back last season’s goal scoring hero, Deivid, and will hope to play the spoilers for Porto while giving themselves a shot at UEFA Cup football.

Group H:
By gaining back-to-back victories against Real Madrid CF, Juventus have assured themselves a place in the knockout stage. Real Madrid will also advance if they can defeat FC BATE Borisov in Belarus and Zenit St. Petersburg fail to beat visiting Juventus. Juventus are going to be fielding plenty of their reserve/bench players so the odds are not in Real Madrid’s favour. I am hoping that the final Matchday showdown between Real and Zenit will have a knockout stage place on the line.

Real Madrid have suffered another major injury blow as striker Ruud van Nistelrooy’s season looks to be over after it was announced that he will undergo an operation to correct a problem with his right knee. The reigning Spanish champions already have Arjen Robben and Mahamadou Diarra out of action due to calf and thigh problems, while Rubén de la Red is still recovering after fainting on the pitch on 30 October. de la Red’s football future is in doubt after Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon revealed to a Spanish radio station that the Spain international could be suffering from a heart problem. de la Red will not return to action unless doctors are certain that his health is not in danger.

The 32-year-old former Manchester United and PSV Eindhoven star damaged his knee during Real’s 2-1 Champions League defeat at Juventus in October. He travelled to the United States last week and underwent exploratory surgery. He is being treated by Dr. Richard Steadman, who previously operated on van Nistelrooy in 2000 prior to his move to Manchester United FC from PSV Eindhoven. Along with damaged cartilage, a cyst on the players’ cruciate ligament was discovered, leaving club doctors in no doubt that the player required an operation.

Despite being troubled by the problem all season, van Nistelrooy made six league appearances for Madrid, scoring four times as well as firing in another three goals in four UEFA Champions League games. He is the second top-scorer in Champions League history with 60 goals.

Dr Richard Steadman will be a busy man as he will also be treating Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves. Hargreaves will not play again this season after undergoing surgery on his right knee with a further operation to follow on the left.

The Guardian details that Steadman has developed special surgical techniques which allowed several United States Ski Team members to return to competition and win Olympic medals. In 1976 he was named Chief Physician for the United States Ski Team and in 1989, his work was recognised with his election to the US National Ski Hall of Fame.

Hargreaves has not played since September 21st because of the persistent tendinitis which has restricted his opportunities at Old Trafford since his 2007 move from FC Bayern München. United are also missing Paul Scholes through a knee injury though he should return to action much sooner than his colleague.

Dynamo Kyiv’s substantial injury list has grown by one more. Defender Olexandr Romanchuk has been ruled out for at least six months with a double fracture of his left leg sustained in a Ukrainian Cup quarter-final match. Kyiv look like they will also be missing midfielder Milos Ninkovic, centre-back Taras Mikhalik and goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy ahead of their important MatchDay 5 fixture with Arsenal.

Villarreal’s leading scorer Joseba Llorente will not be available for the Spanish club’s two remaining fixtures in the Champions League as he needs approximately a month to recover from a tear in his right thigh. Llorente had been enjoying a good start to his career at Villarreal, scoring six times in eleven league games so far this season.

He joined the Yellow Submarines on a four-year contract from Real Valladolid in the summer after scoring 16 times in 39 appearances during the 2007-08 season. After coming on as a substitute, he scored a second-half hat trick against Aalborg BK in Villarreal’s memorable 6-3 win on October 21st.

Juventus defender Jonathan Zebina will miss up to three months after undergoing surgery on an inflamed tendon in his left leg.

CFR 1907 Cluj will be without striker Didi and defender Gabriel Muresan is a doubt for the visit of AS Roma next Wednesday. Didi suffered a recurrence of a problem with his left knee in a league game against FC Unirea Urziceni while Muresan is struggling with a muscle strain.

Matchday 4 should be a pivotal one as many groups may well be decided once the games are completed. Who needs a win and who can afford to slip? Let’s take a look at Tuesday’s games.

Group A
Roma need to win at home against Chelsea but that is looking to be a tall order considering the run of form that Chelsea are on right now. They absolutely walked all over Sunderland on the weekend and Roma will likely play a counter-attack game again and hope to frustrate the London club. Should there be a winner in the Cluj – Bordeaux match and Roma do not pick up at least a point, the pressure will be on the Italian side. Roma, who lost 2-0 to Juventus on the weekend, have slumped to one of their worst starts in recent seasons and remain just two points off the bottom of the Serie A table. Manager Luciano Spalletti is under pressure from the fans and media, and if results do not turn around quickly he could become the next Champions League manager to be fired.

Group B
Werder Bremen need a win. There is no other way to say it. They have been poor thus far and another draw will not help them turn things around. They looked impressive on the weekend as playmaker Diego starred in a 5-1 drubbing of Hertha Berlin but is it another false dawn? Bremen have a very talented side but have thus far been unable to get the most out of that talent. Here’s hoping we see the same Bremen side in midweek that we saw this  past weekend. Panathinaikos need a win if even UEFA Cup is to be a possibility this season but I don’t see things going there way in Bremen.Anorthosis will hope to hold Inter to a draw, anything more would be a wonder result.With a win, Inter will pretty much have this group wrapped up.

Group C
Top and bottom of the group may well be decided if Barcelona steamroll FC Basel again. The scoreline was an emphatic 5-0 last time and while I don’t expect the same number of goals, I do think the result will be the same. That leaves Sporting and Shakhtar to battle it out for 2nd place. The 1-0 win that Sporting claimed at RSC Olympiyskiy Stadium on Matchday 3 has them sitting three points clear of Shakhtar. A second win against the Ukrainian side will propel them into the last 16. Sporting currently have a perfect record against Ukrainian opposition and while they will be without defender Tonel, I think Sporting will have enough depth and enough incentive to get the result at home.

Group D
The feature matchup in this group is the return fixture between Liverpool and Atlético Madrid. A victory for either side will put them in the driver’s seat in the group. Momentum is on Atlético’s side as they won at the weekend, while Liverpool lost despite playing very well. However, it will be a tall order for Atlético to go to Anfield and take all three points. I think this one will likely end up a draw but should one of the two slip, PSV will be hoping to overcome Marseille and close the gap on second place. The Dutch side currently sit third on 3 points, 4 back of the joint leaders of the group. PSV and Marseille both won at the weekend and the last match was close despite the 2-0 scoreline. Marseille moved within a point of Ligue 1 pacesetters Olympique Lyonnais with a 3-1 victory at home against AS Saint-Etienne,while PSV defeated Willem II by a 2-0 scoreline to move within 1 point of top spot in the Eredivisie.

On the newly re-launched Third Half podcast (a roundup show for all the Talk web sites), I had a great discussions with host Jonathan Starling about the goings-on of Matchday 2. Download the episode from EPL Talk.

It was a Matchday that saw debutants BATE Borisov and CFR Cluj pull off draws (and one might say they were unlucky to not win outright) against their more experienced opponents.

Were Real Madrid, Juventus and Chelsea guilty of not coming prepared for their opponents? Real Madrid seemed to feel they could sit on their 2-1 lead after bossing the early going. Zenit had other ideas and attacked relentlessly in the 2nd half and were unlucky not to get something from the match.

Juvenuts came out flat against BATE and quickly found themselves two goals down. They struck back and levelled things before the end of the first half but seemed content to play for the draw in the 2nd.

Chelsea were fortunate in many ways to escape with a draw. Cluj played a very disciplined, organized game and did not let themselves get played off the park. Chelsea had a slight advantage in ball possession but not too the point where I felt they dominated the bulk of the match. The matches are only going to get tougher for the new teams and I don’t think anyone is going to be underestimating them anymore.

Matchday 3 should be fascinating as some of the ‘second-tier’ clubs face off against one another and we should start to see some patterns emerge from the groups.

Enjoy the podcast and I’ll be back next week with more news and analysis.

How cliche that Transylvania is the setting for today’s Champions League encounter between Cluj and Chelsea, given of course that it’s Oct. 1 and we’re about to be bludgeoned for the next 31 days with the images and sounds of Halloween. Just check out the nearest Target or Wal-Mart if you don’t believe me.

The ironic thing is that Chelsea likely has that uneasy queasy feeling in the pit of its collective stomach heading into its Group A match–and it’s got nothing to do with being a few kilometers from Vlad the Impaler’s shack. No, it’s more likely due to the fact that underdog Cluj, fifth in the Romanian table, likely isn’t sweating this match. Cluj are the darlings of this tournament having conquerered Roma on Matchday One, winning 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.

Coming home against the 2007-08 Champions League runners-up should be a breeze.

Right?

Well, on any other day, maybe not. Today? Maybe so.
Chelsea is minus four key performers coming into this match, namely Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Joe Cole and of course Michael Essien– all hamstrung with injuries; Essien for the season. That’s a lot of expensive meat on the bench for the Blues so far from home. Expect Didier Drogba back in the Chelsea starting eleven today and his running partner up front will be Salomon Kalou. Jon Obi Mikel will get the call in midfield likely alongside Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard.

Surely Chelsea has enough to stave off the upset; unless of course it falls victim to the same complacency that did in Arsenal against Hull over the weekend. To its credit, Arsenal rebounded in a huge way yesterday, slamming F.C. Porto in London, 4-0.

Manager Luiz Filipe Scolari is saying the right things about his opponent, but understands that semantics don’t suit up on the pitch.

“We will treat [Cluj] with total respect. Any team that can win 2-1 at Roma will be dangerous in this competition,” he said.

And speaking of saying all the right things, Cluj striker Yousef Kone says Chelsea is four times stronger than Roma right now, making the home team’s job–well–four times more difficult.

“Chelsea are a football machine. In the end it’s 11 against 11 and the pressure will be on Chelsea, not on us. If they beat us, it would be normal. If we beat them, it would be something fantastic,” he said.

So will we see something fantastic? It will be a dramatic, hostile setting for Chelsea against a confident team playing in front of a crowd that is dreaming of an upset. This is Scolari’s first test of his managerial mettle at Chelsea–yes even more so than the game against United. He has to move the chess pieces tactically and confidently and the players must execute. Otherwise, Cluj will be in command of the group and Chelsea and Roma will be hammering on each other for second place in the group.

Champions League debutants CFR 1907 Cluj came from behind to beat Roma and record a stunning 2-1 victory at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Beyond the absence of Totti, Roma had a strong squad out on the field and will be disappointed with their performance. There has been a bit of turmoil off the field recently with the death of club president Franco Sensi and the decision of American billionaire George Soros to back away from buying the club, apparently after seeing the depths of Roma’s debts (reported to exceed 500m US).

That is not to take anything away from Cluj who made the most of their debut and produced one of the biggest upsets in recent Champions League history. Argentinian midfielder Juan Culio was the hero for Cluj scoring both goals, the second a lovely volley. On the basis of that performance, Romania plans to give Culio citizenship so that he can play for their national side. There is truly a feel good story about Culio, who worked as a bricklayer in Argentina to support his family for six years from the age of 13. He started out playing at senior club level for Independiente Buenos Aires in 2005-2006. The 24-year old player came to Cluj after a brief stay with Deportes La Serena of Chile in 2007.

Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari took the Cluj upset as a warning shot and despite his team winning 4-0 over Bordeaux, Scolari was critical of the performance. In his post-game press conference he told reporters:

“We made many mistakes in the second half. We did not control the game enough, we let them have too much of the ball. We did not play very well. We could be punished by other teams who get in front of goal faster and with quality. That is dangerous for us. When you are winning 2-0 at half-time you need to work the ball and control the game. You don’t need to win 5-0.” He then added: “You see that Cluj beat Roma. That is a warning for us for the next game.”

Chelsea got goals from Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka but Scolari hinted that his players did not perform as he wanted and were not following his tactical plan. It’s probably a warning to the players ahead of their massive English Premier League match against Manchester United this weekend.

In Group B, Jose Mourinho enjoyed a successful CL debut with Inter Milan as goals from Mancini and Adriano (both courtesy of brilliant setup work by Zlatan Ibrahimovic) gave them a 2-0 win over Panathinaikos. The Greek side did have a number of chances to score and I thought that they might have snuck a draw if their luck had run a bit better. In the group’s other game, Champions League debutants Anorthosis Famagusta secured a surprise point away at German side Werder Bremen in a 0-0 draw. Bremen failed to convert time and time again as Claudio Pizarro, Hugo Almeida and others missed many clear chances to score. Bremen put an amazing 14 shots wide of goal, while on 5 shots were on target. That will need to improve if they are to get their season up and running.

In Group C, Barcelona finally recorded a win this season defeating Sporting Lisbon 3-1 at the Nou Camp. Goals from Rafael Marquez, Samuel Eto’o and Xavi secured the win for the 2006 Champions League winners. Shakhtar Donetsk joined Barca at the top of the group on three points with a 2-1 victory in Switzerland against Basel.

Atletico are the early leaders in Group D after an impressive 3-0 victory away against Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven. Sergio Aguero was the star of the match with two goals while a player I think is not rated highly enough by many, Maniche, scored the third after he and Luis Garcia combined to carve apart the PSV defence. They had done so early in the first half to set up Aguero’s first goal and paired again in the 54th minute to put the game beyond doubt.

Though the stats will show that PSV had the bulk of possession, Atletico controlled the game and were rarely troubled. The Atletico midfield passed the ball at will and the scoreline could have been much higher. All was not rosy as Aguero’s striker partner and former Golden Boot winner, Diego Forlan, limped off through injury.

I’d named Atletico as one of the teams to watch in the CL this season and their performance on Tuesday certainly made me look good. I don’t know if they will match the performance of my “dark horse” pick from last season but I do think they’ve got the depth and talent to make it to the knockout stages. I’m looking forward to seeing them matched up with Liverpool on Matchday 3.

Speaking of Liverpool, they continued their strong start to the season with a 2-1 win over Marseille. Steven Gerrard scored both goals for Liverpool, who were coming off a massive 2-1 win English Premier League victory over last season’s champions Manchester United. Liverpool are finding ways to win games early in the year, which is something they struggled with in past seasons. If they can keep this going and retain their late season form of the last couple of years, they should be fighting for honors on several fronts.

The group stage kicks off in about two weeks so until then I will be doing previews of the group stage in alphabetical order. I wanted to wait until after the transfer window had closed so that I would be able to judge the rosters fairly. There were some last minute moves that could have a huge impact on certain teams (e.g. Berbatov to Manchester United) and other moves that were rumoured to be happening that did not (e.g. Robinho to Chelsea FC) which could also affect club’s fortunes. Enough preamble, on to the analysis!

CFR 1907 Cluj

How They Got Here: 2007-08 Liga 1 Champions — automatic berth to group stage

Star Performer: MF Eugen Trica — though he is 32, he is ranked as one of the very best players in the Romanian League. He has vast experience which includes some UEFA Cup experience with CSKA Sofia.

Key To Success: Like most underdog teams, Cluj will need to make the most of their home matches and try not to be blown out in away games.

Transfer Ins: FW Yssouf Koné (Rosenborg)

Transfer Outs: FW Antonio Semedo (Steaua Bucharesti), LB Mikael Dorsin (Rosenborg)

Talking Points: There has been a change of manager already — never a good sign. Maurizio Trombetta, a former Romanian international defender, has replaced Ioan Andone as the club look to improve on a poor start to their Romanian Liga 1 campaign. The loss of Portuguese forward Antonio Semedo will not help matters as he contributed several timely goals to their winning campaign last season. Argentinians Sebastián Dubarbier, Sixto Peralta and Diego Ruiz, brought in during the January 2008 transfer window, will be expected to make up the loss of offence from Semedo’s transfer.

Cluj were the first team in the history of Liga 1 to field a starting XI without a single Romanian player. There are some Romanian players on the squad but the majory of the squad are from Portugal, Africa and South America. The club has developed a talent development partnership with Portuguese giants Benfica.

Predicted Finish: Last place — they might nick a couple of points but I don’t see them having enough to edge out the other clubs in this group.

Chelsea FC

How They Got Here: 2nd place in English Premier League — automatic berth to group stage

Star Performer: Michael Essien. The engine of the team. This guy can and does play everywhere and does well no matter role he’s asked to play. Often overlooked on this star-studded squad but I feel he’s their MVP.

Key To Success: Staying focused and not taking any of these squads lightly. The other key will be to keep their

Transfer Ins: MF Deco (Barcelona), Jose Bosingwa (FC Porto)

Transfer Outs: MF Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen), Steve Sidwell (Aston Villa), Claude Makelele (Paris St Germain), Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart), Tal Ben Haim (Manchester City), Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan)

Talking Points: What does it mean for Chelsea to have been outbid in the transfer market by the newfound wealth of Manchester City? New manager Luiz Felipe Scolari had to have been looking forward to the club acquiring Robinho but City, backed by the deep pockets of the Abu Dhabi United Group, splashed a British record transfer fee of about £32m to acquire the Brazilian forward.

Chelsea only have Nicolas Anelka, the oft-injured Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou as experienced strikers. I say only somewhat hesitantly as that is a decent stash of talent for any squad. I can see where Chelsea would have wanted another player around to cover injuries/suspensions. There are a lot of fixtures and it will be interesting to see how Chelsea fare as the season wears on. I suspect they will lean heavily on their star-studded and over-packed midfield. They may even need to adopt a system similar to what Manchester United and AS Roma have played in the past, which resembles a 4-6-0 at times.

Predicted Finish: First in group, advancing to the knockout phase. A favourable draw considering their circumstances. It will allow Chelsea a chance to load up another striker come January.

FC Girondins de Bordeaux

How They Got Here: 2nd place in Ligue Une — automatic berth to group stage.

Star Performer: I may be indulging in some hyperbole here but Bordeaux’s new loan signing Yoann Gourcuff is going to be a fantastic player for the squad. He has already demonstrated his skill and leadership in a 2-1 French league win over Caen. The 22-year-old Gourcuff, scored once and generally controlled the midfield with his pace, vision and technical ability. The hope is that Gourcuff and Argentine striker Fernando Cavenaghi can form a lethal 1-2 punch.

Key To Success: Like Cluj, Bordeaux will need to make the most of their home matches and tighten up a bit defensively both at home and in away matches. The back four has been fairly sound in domestic action but will be tested to a higher degree by Chelsea and Roma’s attacking power. That said, they must remain positive in their approach and not simply sit back in a defensive shell that will let the ‘bigger’ clubs overrun them.

Transfer Ins: MF Yoann Gourcuff (on loan from A.C. Milan), LB Placente (San Lorenzo)

Transfer Outs: Johan Micoud (out of contract), Jemmali (Grenoble), Alonso (Monaco), Bregerie (Metz), Manga (Angers), FW Youssef Sekour (Sedan), Ecuele Manga (Angers), DF Paul Baysse (Sedan)

Talking Points: Will relative rookie boss Laurent Blanc be able to keep up with the master tacticians he’s going to encounter in this group? Both Scolari and Spalletti have deeper sides so Blanc will have to get his game plans spot on in order to try and finish higher than third.

Predicted Finish: 3rd Place, UEFA Cup berth

AS Roma

How They Got Here: 2nd place in Serie A — automatic berth to group stage

Star Performer: When it came to Champions League nights, Mirko Vucinic was a key figure as he was often asked to play in a variety of roles. He was used as a winger in Roma’s 4-2-3-1 system. Totti often plays as the lead forward but in a unique fashion. He is used as a playmaker and relies on the 3 to make intelligent runs in order to create channels for Totti to distribute to. Vucinic can also play as the lone forward if called upon. His versatility and goal-scoring (4 goals in 8 CL appearances) will be vital to Roma’s success this season.

Key To Success: Moving away from their over-reliance on talisman and captain Francesco Totti. When Totti is healthy, he is still capable of scoring plenty of goals for this squad. However, when he’s not in the lineup, no one seems prepared to step up and take the team by the collar and lead them forward. Totti should return soon from his ACL injury that required him to have surgery in the off-season.

Transfer Ins: DF John Arne Riise (Liverpool), MF/FW Julio Baptista (Real Madrid), MF Jeremy Menez (Monaco)

Transfer Outs: MF Mancini (Internazionale), MF Ludovic Giuly (Paris St Germain), DF Matteo Ferrari (out of contract),

Talking Points: With Mancini gone, can new signing Jeremy Menez step up and fill the playmaker role? Menez is the youngest ever scorer of a hat trick in Ligue 1, the youngest ever winner of Ligue 1′s Player of the Month award and like most other young talented French footballers has had the albatross hung around his neck — he has been compared to Zinedine Zidane.

Cicinho recently had a training ground row with Luciano Spalletti…will team chemistry be an issue?

Predicted Finish: 2nd in group, advancing to the knockout phase