After strong showings in the first leg of the playoff round, both Lyon and Arsenal are in a comfortable position to enter the group stage. Lyon can claim a tenth consecutive group-stage appearance unless they completely fall apart. The French club overwhelmed RSC Anderlecht 5-1 last week, while a 2-0 deficit would appear insurmountable for Celtic FC as they travel to London to take on Arsenal.

Celtic have to overcome a Gunners side in top form if they are to progress – they must win away in Europe for only the second time in 24 matches. Celtic have fought back from a home defeat once already in this season’s qualifiers, beating Dinamo Moscow 2-0 in Moscow on goals from Scott McDonald and Georgios Samaras to make overturn a 1-0 first-leg loss in Glasgow. It was Celtic’s first away win in Europe in 23 matches. A win for Arsenal will mean a 12th successive appearance in the UEFA Champions League. On current form, I simply cannot see Arsenal losing 3-0 at home to Celtic

Despite their gutsy performance, Panathinaikos find themselves needing to make history on two fronts to book a place in the group stage of the Champions League. Beyond needing to win on Spanish soil for the first time in their history, they must also mount a first successful comeback from an opening home loss in Europe competition. On the five previous occasions Panathinaikos have entered a return fixture after a defeat in Athens, they have go on to lose the tie. Atletico are sitting in a good spot having scored 3 away goals in the opening leg with strikes from Maxi Rodríguez, Diego Forlán and Sergio Agüero.

I think there is simply too much stacked against the Greek side and that we’ll see Atletico celebrating a return to the group stage. Henk ten Cate, the Panathinaikos manager, admitted to uefa.com that he felt some of his players would be affected psychologically by the fires in Athens. The club doctors told the team to refrain from training because the smoke in the air could have been hazardous for the players. I certainly feel for the players and their families and I hope the wildfires are brought under control.

It’s not all doom and gloom for the losers in this playoff round as they will continue their European campaigns in the UEFA Europa League group stage.

(photo courtesy of uefa.com)

Wow. There are some really great match-ups that have emerged from today’s draw at UEFA headquarters. I’m going to give a quick rundown and early predictions though I reserve the right to change my mind before kick-off of the this round!

The tie that will likely generate the most press is the Inter Milan – Manchester United clash. It is a return to English soil for former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. Mourinho and Alex Ferguson have always been cordial but there have been tense moments between the two. One was brought on by Mourinho’s celebratory run down the touchline at Old Trafford in March 2004. Jose celebrated Francisco Costinha’s last-minute equaliser as if he had scored it himself. That goal knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League and Porto went on to victory in the final, which elevated Mourinho to the status of being one of the eilte managers in the game.

In another interesting twist, Chelsea will welcome back another one of their former bosses as Claudio Ranieri’s Juventus have been paired with Chelsea. Completing the Anglo-Italian showdown is the clash of two attack-minded sides as Arsenal take on AS Roma.

A thought for poor Lyon who were matched up against the current form team in Europe, Barcelona. It’s going to be a tall mountain to climb for the French champs but it is not impossible.

I will do a more thorough breakdown in the weeks leading up to the next round but for now, here are my early predictions based on current form:

Chelsea v Juventus
Villarreal v Panathinaikos
Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v FC Porto
Lyon v Barcelona
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Arsenal v Roma
Inter Milan v Manchester United

Who do you think will advance? Which match-up are you most anticipating?

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.

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.

In what has to be considered a poor decision, the UEFA Appeals Body has reduced the initial three-match stadium closure to a two-match behind closed doors sentence, with one match deferred for two years. Consequently, Atlético must play their next home fixture in the Champions League, against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday  November 26th, without any spectators in attendance. The initial fine of 150,000 Euros still stands.

Atlético were punished after crowd problems marred their Champions League home match with Olympique Marseille on Oct 1, when UEFA said failures in the club’s organisation of the event led to confrontations between visiting fans and Spanish police. Racist chants were reportedly aimed at the French club’s players, while the Marseille team bus was attacked after the match. Atlético were originally ordered to play their next two European fixtures at least 300km outside Madrid.

“Atletico will fight for their innocence until the very end. There has been a reduction (in the punishment) but we don’t agree with the manner in which the process has been conducted,” director Clemente Villaverde told the club’s website .

The ban for Atlético coach Javier Aguirre was not reversed, and he will be banned from the sidelines for the games against Liverpool FC away on Tuesday and the visit of PSV three weeks later. Aguirre was sent off in the match against Marseille and was told that he will have to sit in the stands for the two matches, but he will travel to UEFA headquarters to appeal the decision.

According to Aguirre he did not insult either the referee or any player and said that the referee did not include anything in his report about his actions. “They cannot punish me for telling a player not to do something. There was no insult on my part and no physical or verbal aggression,” he told Spanish newspaper AS.

Videos of the incidents between Marseille supporters and the police in the stadium can be seen via these YouTube links:

Video 1
Video 2

I think the reduction of this ban sends a very bad message to the UEFA community. Racism and violence in the stands is tolerated by the organizing body. How else can these continued weak sanctions be viewed ? I’m disappointed in the decision and I don’t think UEFA is truly interested in ridding the sport of this disgusting element once and for all. As important as standing up for the smaller federations might be, I hope Michel Platini turns some attention to racism and violence that continues to mar the beautiful game. These sorts of incidents have gone on for far too long.

It’s a pretty safe bet Madrid’s Vincente Calderon Stadium will be at capacity today when Liverpool visits for its Champions League Group D match against Atletico Madrid. Shame.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and UEFA will never get a second chance to make its first major stance against racism in Champions League football.

By now the chain of events leading up to today’s match is well chronicled: At Atletico’s last Champions League match against Marseille, police inside Calderon were accused of being “heavy-handed” with Marseille supporters in the stands; it was said the club failed to adequately secure the grounds, Marseille’s journey to the stadium or the press area. In the meantime, Atletico supporters are accused of levying monkey chants against toward the field, Marseille supporters and two black journalists.

Initially, Atletico was facing a two-match Champions League ban at its ground and a requirement to play those matches at least 300 kilometers from Madrid, but UEFA wasn’t punishing them for the racism charges. No, it was for the lax security and general unruliness at the ground and outside. Ultimately, UEFA conceded to pressure from Atletico and Liverpool and only fined Atletico. UEFA said it wouldn’t be fair to the Liverpool supporters who had made travel arrangements to Madrid to reschedule their itineraries.
UEFA cleverly tried to disguise the fine (punishment?) as a statement against racism, but don’t kid yourself. It’s kinda like the American Congress when it stuffs unrelated budget cuts, taxes and mandates into major laws as concessions to the other party in order to get the bigger initiative through the legislative process. It’s a joke, and accepted with a wink and a nod. UEFA punished Atletico, but it said nothing against racism here, even in the statement on its decision. It’s kinda like putting a rapist in jail on a parking violation, and justifying it by saying “Well, at least he’s off the street!”

What happens if today the monkey chants start again in force? Spain and England don’t have the best football relationship; for example, England won’t play an international friendly at the Barnebeau. What if the Spanish hooligans–an no we’re not indicting the whole population of Spanish fans; we understand it’s the actions of a few that sully the whole–use the spotlight of a major international competition and a worldwide TV audience to really spread their poison?
Well UEFA has an answer! It’s put it all on referee Claus Bo Larsen who has been told he can put a stop to the match if the racial taunts begin. Sad. Imagine a testy atmosphere, and the referee sends everyone home before the show is over? The consequences might be too horrid to imagine.

There is no right answer here, well not today any way. UEFA missed its opportunity two weeks ago to enforce the stadium ban, or at a minimum, play it in front of an empty house–granted that doesn’t look good on television.
One thing in favor of things being tranquil today is the heavy Spanish flavor to the Liverpool team, from manager Rafa Benitez to Fernando Torres, who unfortunately for him won’t play today due to injury. That could keep things in check. And hopefully, the club responds with heavy security and heavy marketing to fans, stressing that it’s a good idea they behave today.

Sad. We haven’t said a word yet about how interesting a matchup this is. Not only is there the Spanish connection at Liverpool, but Atletico has been a dangerous side so far. It started the LaLiga campaign strongly and is 2-0 in the Champions League with convincing wins over Marseille and PSV Eindhoven.
Sad. Football continues to be a political platform. Football has also become a stage for hate. Football is under seige, and when powerful organizations such as UEFA tacitly captitulate as it has in this case, problems are far from resolved.

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.

I’ll have more analysis and comments later but for now just a quick update on the results of today’s drawing. Some of the groupings, as in past seasons, was almost a bit too predictable but there are some interesting matchups ahead (Real Madrid – Juventus springs to mind as does Manchester United – Celtic and Arsenal – Fenerbahce).

I think that Barcelona and Manchester United look to have received the best groupings of the top seeds while Arsenal and Bayern Munich are going to be in a very tough groups. Liverpool are also in a tough group but should be able to advance as should Atletico Madrid.

The groupings are as follows:

After leading 1-0 from the first leg, Schalke had to have had some confidence going into Madrid for the second leg. A strong performance from Atletico saw them thump the German team 4-0 to advance to the group stage for the first time since 1996-97. I had picked Atletico as my ‘dark-horse’ team in the Champions League this season and I have to admit that my faith wavered a bit after their sub-par display in the first leg.

Sergio Aguero, just back from winning gold at the Olympics with Argentina, stepped up to get things rolling for Atletico scoring on 22 minutes and leveling the tie on aggregate. Second-half goals from Diego Forlan, Luis Garcia and Maxi Rodriguez pushed the Rojiblancos through on a 4-1 aggregate.

Atletico took their foot off the accelerator after Forlan scored and Schalke did have chances to grab an away goal but failed to do so. Atletico were content to hit Schalke on counter-attacks and Garcia’s goal on 82 minutes put the game to rest. Christian Pander was sent off late for a professional foul on Simao. Maxi Rodriguez stepped up to fire home the ensuing penalty kick to make the final 4-0. A little deceiving but an all-around strong performance for the Rojiblancos that should give them confidence going into the domestic season. They face off against Málaga in the season opener at home this weekend.

The club announced the loan signing of Ever Banega from Valencia. The 20-year-old midfielder was a teammate of Aguero’s at the Beijing Olympics where Argentina won the gold. Banega will reportedly cost the Madrid outfit £1 million which could increase depending on appearances.

As for Schalke, their boss Fred Rutten conceded that his side simply did not play well enough to win. He told reporters: “We had more of the ball in the second half and even had one or to opportunities.  But we were punished and it all happened so quickly. We began the game well, but then had a period where we made too many errors.”

One of the best stories this season is that three teams are making their Champions League group stage debut after surviving the qualifying rounds. Danish champions Aalborg, Cypriots Anorthosis Famagusta and Belarus surprise package BATE Borisov will add some new flavour to the fixtures this season.

Elsewhere, after struggling to get going in the first match, Arsenal romped to a 6-0 overall rout of Dutch side Twente Enschede, coached by former England manager Steve McClaren. Goals from Samir Nasri, William Gallas, Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner pushed the fixture beyond any doubt. Twente were always going to be hard-pressed to progress against a side of such quality but had probably hoped to keep the scoreline a tad more respectable.

One of Arsenal’s domestic league rivals, Liverpool, barely eeked into the group stage after surviving a difficult tie with Standard Liege. The Reds needed extra time and a goal from Dirk Kuyt, who marked his 100th appearance for the club, to see off the Belgian champs. Standard Liege will now enter the UEFA Cup first round.

The draw for the group stage will take place later today and I will update you on the results as soon as I have a chance to post.

The complete list of scorelines from the third round is listed below:
Fiorentina 2-0 Slavia
Sparta 1-3 Panathinaikos
Juventus 5-1 Artmedia
Barcelona 4-1 Wisla Krakow
Spartak Moscow 2-8 Dynamo Kyiv
Levski 1-2 BATE
Shakhtar 5-1 Dinamo Zagreb
Anorthosis 3-1 Olympiacos
AaB 4-0 Kaunas
Galatasaray 2-3 Steaua
Brann 1-3 Marseille
Schalke 1-4 Atlético
Twente 0-6 Arsenal
Partizan 3-4 Fenerbahce
Standard 0-1 Liverpool
Guimaraes 1-2 Basel

I was 10 of 15 in predictions in this round and had I picked with my head instead of being a fanboy, I would have gone 12 or 13 out of 15 instead. I was totally floored by how easily Dynamo Kyiv swept aside Spartak Moscow and I had thought that Galatasaray would advance other than that most of the fixtures ended up going the way I suspected they might.

As we wait for the Champions League final, it’s a good time to look at the leagues around Europe and see who will be part of next season’s competition. In this first report, we look at what I would call the “bigger” leagues in Europe — England, Italy, Spain and Germany. In part two, we’ll look at the other leagues such as France, Holland, Portugal, Austria, etc.

We start in Spain where Real Madrid claimed their 31st La Liga title with a 2-1 win over Osasuna. Fabio Cannavaro did his best to make it tough for his team to clinch as he was sent-off early in the second half after he was booked for a second poor tackle. Punal put Osasuna up a goal after converting from the penalty spot on 83 minutes but Real pulled out some late magic with goals from Arjen Robben and Higuain.

It was a case of too little, too late for Barcelona as they responded to their defeat at Old Trafford by hammering Valencia 6-0. Barca took a three-goal lead in the first fifteen minutes thanks to goals from Messi, Xavi and Thierry Henry. In the second-half Henry scored his second of the game while Bojan added the fifth and sixth. They are still behind Villareal after the Yellow Submarines defeated Getafe 2-0. Turkish striker Nihat grabbed both goals in the first half. Barca are four points adrift of second-placed Villarreal with three games left to play and still have work to do to avoid playing a qualifier to make Europe’s elite club competition.

To add to their woes, Barcelona will have to ignore the taunts and celebrations going on around them when they visit newly crowned champions Real Madrid on Wednesday, seeking to secure automatic Champions League qualification in the latest version of El Classico. Frank Rijkaard’s side will be required to applaud their arch-rivals on to the pitch at the Bernabeu to acknowledge Real’s title win.

Atletico Madrid continue to lead the race for fourth spot and the last Champions League qualification place but are closely trailed by Racing Santander and Sevilla.

In Germany, Bayern ensured their 21st Bundesliga title with a dull scoreless draw with Wolfsburg. There seemed to be a little bit of a letdown in the side after their shock drubbing at the hands of Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup earlier in the week. However, not all is doom and gloom for FC Hollywood, this is the third time in four years that Bayern have won the German domestic double and once again will have Champions League football next season.

Werder Bremen, who saw their faint title hopes finally snuffed out on the weekend, must now focus on not letting second place slip from their grasp when they travel to face rivals Hamburger SV on Wednesday. Schalke face a derby match away to Bochum today and can temporarily vault past Werder with a win. VfB Stuttgart, the deposed champions, are in fifth place behind Hamburg on goal difference. Stuttgart are away at Borussia Dortmund today in a match they must win if they are to cling on to their hopes of getting back into the Champions League.

In Italy, Internazionale must wait another week to try to wrap up the title after AC Milan deservedly won one of the most important Milan derbies for years and moved themselves ahead of Fiorentina and into the final Champions League qualifying spot.

Perhaps in response to the rumours that Ronaldinho was being courted by the club, Kaka had one of his finest games of the season, setting up the first goal with cross to Filippo Inzaghi early in the second half and then scoring a nice goal of his own to extend Milan’s lead. Kaka’s goal was the result of some dreadful Inter defending and they simply did not deserve to win on the day. It will take a stronger perfomance to clinch the title. AS Roma are now only 3 point back after they beat Sampdoria 3-0 on goals from Christian Panucci, David Pizarro and Cicinho.

Juventus will have to settle for the Champions League qualifiers after a 1-0 defeat to Siena ended their hopes of catching Roma. Cagliari defeated Fiorentina 2-1, which took them another big step towards safety and knocked Fiorentina out of the Champions League places. Jeda put the Sardinians ahead with a header from a corner after 20 minutes and Daniele Conti tapped in to make it two early in the second period. Fiorentina, beaten on penalties by Rangers in the UEFA Cup semi-final, had Adrian Mutu sent off late on after he received two quick bookings for a foul and dissent.

In England, the title race is still on as both Manchester United and Chelsea won their weekend matches but the Champions League spots are all decided. The status quo is in place again this season as the “Big Four” of English football — Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal will once again be part of next season’s Champions League. Liverpool and Arsenal will go through qualifiers while Manchester United and Chelsea will automatically be in the group stage regardless of who wins the title this weekend.