Dortmund’s form this season has been exceptional. In the early autumn, many people thought that perhaps they would start to fade away by now, but they’ve in fact managed to do the complete opposite. Incredibly, they now find themselves 11 points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen in second, and rather comically, 17 points ahead of the supposedly mighty Bayern Munich. Dortmund’s dominant position hasn’t been down to the poor performances of their rivals though – after all, Leverkusen have only lost twice all season – but because of their own ruthlessly consistent displays. They have dropped points in just one of their previous 14 games (a 1-1 draw with the ever-stubborn Hoffenheim), and as a result, you could be forgiven for thinking they have already wrapped the league title up. To compare them to Europe’s other leading clubs at present; they have a points-per-match average of 2.69, whilst Arsenal average 2 points and Lille average just 1.82. The only side who can actually match Dortmund in the major leagues are Barcelona, who average 2.7 points per game.

They comfortably have the best defensive and attacking records in the Bundesliga, and yet their forwards are some way off Theofanis Gekas’ tally of 12 goals. This only serves to demonstrate Dortmund’s collective strength though – Shinji Kagawa and Lucas Barrios both have 8 goals to their names, but Dortmund are not reliant or one or two exceptional sources of talent to keep them at the top of the pile. Instead, they have a young, hungry, vibrant squad who are willing to work for each other, and tackle any obstacle in their path as a single, united entity. The talent is of course there, in the form of Kagawa, Barrios, Nuri Sahin, Neven Subotic, Mario Götze and Robert Lewandowski, to name a small collection, but as Bayern and Schalke are currently proving (for all the wrong reasons), talent is nothing without the right mentality.

The Black & Yellow’s manager, Jürgen Klopp, has got the defence looking beautiful in its shape and form – a site that should have any aspiring young coach jotting down notes – particularly the way they effortlessly narrow up and switch to a back five whenever they come under any sustained pressure. Three defenders will form an unusually narrow back three, a winger and a full back become wing backs and the midfielders plug any additional holes, which makes trying to pick them apart an unenviable task. This defensive wall has provided them with the base point to play what has actually proven to be extremely entertaining counter attacking football, reminiscent of Manchester United’s counter attacking play in the 2007/08 season.

This return to form will be a massive relief to the loyal Dortmund following, who pack out the stunning Westfalenstadion through both the good and the bad times. In the past, these supporters have seen their side win six league titles, a Champions League, a Cup Winners’ Cup and an Intercontinental Cup. Perhaps they are now finally on the cusp of once again bringing some silverware home, and who knows, maybe in the not-too-distant future they will be able to replicate the one night they have never forgotten. On 28^th May 1997 – they beat Juventus 3-1 in the Champions League final. Playing at the Olympiastadion, which was then the home of their rivals, Bayern Munich, Dortmund overcame a Juve side absolutely packed full of star names; Zidane, Deschamps, Boksic, Di Livio and the emerging Del Piero. Two Karl-Heinz Riedle goals and a decisive second half Lars Ricken strike provided the underdogs with their first European Cup, and it was hoped that the success would continue. Unfortunately though, they have won just one major trophy since then (the league title in the 01-02 season) and hadn’t looked like winning any more until this season. In recent years, they have been cursed by financial difficulties, numerous coaches have come in and failed to redirect the sinking ship, but now, finally, they might just live up to their potential.

If ever this current, promising Dortmund side does need to look for encouragement, they only have to look back to this legendary night in Munich.

FC Bayern München have recruited Major League Soccer’s top star on an initial short-term deal. 26 year-old Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan leaves the shadow of Hollywood to join the club nicknamed FC Hollywood on loan until March 15th, 2009.  A longer deal has been agreed to but is dependent on the United States international’s performances.

This will be Donovan’s second spell in the Bundesliga after making seven appearances for Bayer 04 Leverkusen while under contract between 2001 and 2005. After playing only a handful of games with Leverkusen, Landon became unsettled and stated his intentions to return to MLS. He was loaned to the San Jose Earthquakes for several stints. Donovan joined the LA Galaxy in 2005 after his contract at Leverkusen expired.

Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told uefa.com:  “We have a great team and it’s no coincidence that we haven’t lost for 16 games in a row, thus we do not need any new signings. We have only loaned Landon Donovan until March 15th. If and how it will go with him after that will depend on how he develops.”

Donovan will be eligible and available for Bayern’s UEFA Champions League first knockout round ties against Sporting Clube de Portugal on February 25th and March 10th.

As intriguing as the current edition of the Champions League may be, there’s a chance the 2009-2010 tournament could be one of the strangest, parity-rich events in football history. Seems someone has taken the snow globe that is European football, given it a good shake and the flakes aren’t landing where people expect.

The tables in Germany, Holland, Portugal and even Italy don’t resemble what we’ve come to expect as status quo, and as a result, the trickle-down to next year’s Champions League could be  fascinating.  Not only could you have some very fresh names, faces and kits in the fray, but they’ll be usurping some very established entities, including a couple of past champions.

Starting in Italy, where Inter Milan is in the lead with 24 points, you’ve got a gaggle of teams behind Mourinho’s men that includes Napoli, Udinese and Genoa, all within four points of the top, and all within at least a shot of getting into the qualifying rounds. And standing on the outside looking in would be Juventus, Roma and Fiorentina, three teams that are in the hunt in this year’s Champions League.

Not even England is immune to this phenomenon. Despite the Big Four of Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United being entrenched as the top four, Hull City had a prominent spot near the top of the table for much of the opening weeks, and they’re still within reach in sixth position with 20 points, only one shy of the top four.

The best story might be in Germany, where Hoffenheim has been at the tippity-top of the Bundesliga alone until this weekend. Hoffenheim may be in there for the duration; it’s won five in a row and now shares the lead with Bayer Leverkeusen. Bayern Munich is charging hard and it will be tremendous to watch if Hoffenheim can find a way to hang on.

Az Alkamaar, meanwhile, took over the lead in the Dutch Eredivisie and has the lone automatic Champions League group stage spot right now. Behind AZ? Well, sure, Ajax is there, but so is NAC Breda and Groningen. Breda and Ajax are tied on points with Az, and Groningen two points out.

In Portugal, if things ended today, F.C. Porto and Sporting would be OUT altogether. OUT. Sporting, which has already earned a spot in the knockout round, is five points out, and Porto’s miserable start has it even further back. Leixoes is in the lead. Who? Leixoes. Nacional da Madeira is three out and Maritimo five back. Benfica is the lone giant in the top three. And Benfica is somewhat woeful as far as big clubs go.

It’s early, but it’s fun to look ahead and acknowledge what these minnows are doing. The longer it goes like this, the more fun it becomes. And perhaps next August, you just might seeing a Champions League draw with clubs such as Hoffenheim, Az Alkamaar and Leixoes joining Inter, Chelsea and Barcelona in Pot 1. Now how much fun would that be?

With the final upon us, I decided to name an all-star XI from this season’s UEFA Cup competition. I will name a Champions League all-star XI on the eve of that final. So, here are my picks:

GK – Sébastien Frey (Fiorentina)
D – Leandro Grimi (Sporting Lisbon)
D – Manuel Friedrich (Bayer Leverkusen)
D – Carlos Cuéllar (Rangers)
D – Tomas Ujfalusi (Fiorentina)
MF – Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
MF – Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (FC Zenit)
MF – Timmy Simons (PSV Eindhoven)
MF – Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen)
ST – Pavel Pogrebnyak (FC Zenit)
ST – Luca Toni (Bayern Munich)

Subs: GK – Vyacheslav Malafeev (FC Zenit), FW – Andrei Arshavin (FC Zenit), FW – Adrian Mutu, MF – Pablo Hernández Domínguez (Getafe), MF – D – Cosmin Contra (Getafe), D – Carlos Salcido (PSV Eindhoven)

Feel free to leave a comment on who you would have included or left off this list.

Luca Toni continued to justify his massive transfer fee as his brace in extra-time rescued FC Bayern München’s UEFA Cup campaign from being derailed by Spanish club Getafe on Thursday. His 120th minute header allowed Bayern to steal the tie on away goals after an action packed 3-3 second leg draw.

Getafe have to feel hard done by, having gone down to 10 men from the sixth minute when Rubén De la Red normally a midfielder but deployed at centre-back because of injuries, was sent off for a foul on Miroslav Klose just outside the Getafe penalty area. Not willing to capitulate, Getafe took a 1-0 lead just before halftime on a solo effort from midfielder Cosmin Contra. Visiting Bayern fans reacted violently to the goal by tearing up seats at one end of the stadium before they were quelled by the police.

Getafe clung to that lead and should have extended it midway through the second half when substitute Braulio sprinted clear and rounded Oliver Kahn only to slip over on the wet turf as he lined up his shot. The roller-coaster ride began two minutes from the end of normal time when Bayern equalised on a strike from midfielder Franck Ribery. Heading into extra time, one would have thought that Bayern should be the stronger side but they quickly found themselves down 3-1 as Getafe potted two quick goals goals from midfielder Francisco Casquero and Braulio within three minutes of the start of extra time.

It was then time for Luca Toni to take centre stage. His first goal was created when Getafe keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri dropped a Mark van Bommel cross at his feet and the Italian striker does not often make mistakes when presented such opportunities. Still trailing 3-2 and with time running out Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn piled forward into the opposition area, disrupted the Getafe defence as he got a touch on the ball and Toni headed home to take the score to 4-4 on aggregate, sealing the German club’s place in the semi-finals.

You can’t help but feel bad for Getafe and Contra who put his disappointment aside to say that “nights like that make football special” after his team’s elimination from their first season in European competition. Getafe still have a Copa del Rey final on April 16th against Valencia CF to look forward to and I will be cheering them on in that one.

Bayern will now face FC Zenit St. Petersburg on 24 April and 1 May after Zenit hung on to dispatch Bayer Leverkusen despite losing the second leg at home 1-0. They had built up a 4-1 lead in the first leg in Germany so had little to do in order to advance on Thursday but still turned in a good showing and were a bit unlucky to lose. After weathering an initial storm by Leverkusen, the Russian side finished the match stronger than their German-based opponents and had Anatoliy Tymoschuk not missed his penalty kick, the match would have ended in a draw. Ironically, it was a Russian-born striker, Dmitri Bulykin, that scored the only goal of the game for the German side.

Perhaps the most impressive display of the day came from Fiorentina, who scored a 2-0 win over PSV Eindhoven on the strength of two goals from Romanian striker Adrian Mutu. Mutu, who also scored in the first leg, had a strong match and linked well with strike partner Giampaolo Pazzini. PSV had a few chances to get back in the match but when Sébastien Frey saved Timmy Simons’ penalty on 80 minutes, the writing was on the wall for the Dutch side.

Fiorentina will face Glasgow-based Rangers FC after they dispatched Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon with a 2-0 away. Rangers played a conservative game and twice hit Sporting on quick counter-attacks. Their first goal was a well-worked counter that led to Jean-Claude Darcheville cooly slotting home while Steven Whittaker’s brilliant solo effort in the 90th minute sealed the victory. Their 4-5-1 system, though unpopular with some of their fans, has seen them concede only two goals in their last six UEFA Cup games.

Rangers will be hungry to make the finals as they have not tasted continental success since a European Cup Winners’ Cup victory in 1972. Fiorentina have to go even further back, winning the same Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1961. It is amazing that Fiorentina are even in the UEFA Cup considering they had to overcome a 15-point penalty last season (due to their part in the Italian match-fixing scandal). Fiorentina also lost their top goal-scorer Luca Toni to Bayern Munich this past summer but they have charged forward and are currently in 4th spot in Serie A which would see them attempt to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Benfica’s struggles continued as they failed to make any impression in Spain, as Getafe progressed to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup with a 1-0 (Agg. 3-1) win thanks to Albin’s gorgeous lob. Getafe’s reward is a quarter-final matchup against my favourites to win FC Bayern Munich. Bayern had for all intents and purposes sealed their passage to the quarter-finals with a 5-0 first-leg win over RSC Anderlecht in Belgium last week. Anderlecht restored some pride by sealing a 2-1 victory in Germany but it was nowhere near enough to prevent Bayern from advancing. With key players Franck Ribéry, Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose making their mark in the first leg, many of them were rested or used sparingly in the second leg. In the last two rounds Bayern have advanced by aggregate scores of 7-3 and 6-2. Will they be able to put up the same impressive numbers against Getafe?

English clubs Everton and Tottenham were both knocked out after losing penalty shootouts. Tottenham managed to overturn a 1-0 deficit against PSV after a barrage of consistent pressure in a match that PSV played with surprisingly negative tactics. Tottenham were rewarded for their attacking mindset as Dimitar Berbatov scored with a perfectly executred volley straight into the bottom corner. With no goals in extra-time, the game went to penalties and Jenas could have won the tie, but saw his penalty saved by Gomes. Chimbonda missed Spurs’ final effort with a terrible attempt.

Everton also overturned a first leg deficit against Fiorentina with a strong performance at home. Goals from Andy Johnson and Mikael Arteta took the game to extra time. Extra time produced nothing so it was off to penalties, where Yakubu (hit the post) and Jagielka (saved) both missed, while the Viola scored all four of their spot kicks to knock Everton out. Everton had numerous chances to win the game outright in normal time were it not for the excellent work of Fiorentina keeper Sébastien Frey.

PSV will now meet Fiorentina in the quarter-finals and I expect a very close match but at this stage I am giving the edge to PSV as they get to play at home in the second leg. There is very little to choose as both sides are evenly matched and it could go either way.

The other English club to make the round of 16, Bolton Wanderers, were also eliminated after losing 1-0 away to Sporting Lisbon. Bolton had come out and attacked strongly despite missing a number of experienced players but Bruno Pereirinha’s goal five minutes from time ended Bolton’s momentum and secured a 2-1 aggregate triumph.

Sporting now will face Rangers FC after they escaped with a single-goal defeat away to Werder Bremen. Having won 2-0 at home in the first leg, Rangers advanced on aggregate score. Bremen dominated both halves of the second leg but the heroics of Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor kept the German side off the scoresheet until the 58th minute when Brazilian playmaker Diego flicked the ball over one opponent and, as other Rangers defenders converged on him, fired a low shot beyond McGregor. At that stage it looked like Bremen would rally to tie the fixture but Walter Smith’s men weathered the storm and advanced. I expect Rangers to play a similar set of tactics against Sporting and I think their squad is just a bit stronger at the moment so I am picking Rangers to advance.

Bayer Leverkusen just edged into the quarter-finals on the away goals rule despite losing 3-2 in their second leg matchup at Bundesliga rivals Hamburger SV. They are matched up against FC Zenit St. Petersburg who overturned a 3-1 loss in Marseille with a 2-0 win at home to advance on the away goals rule. Zenit was powered by two goals from Pavel Pogrebnyak, who is the currently the top scorer in the UEFA Cup with 7 goals.

I am taking Zenit to win this matchup. Zenit won the 2007 Russian Premier League, which means they will compete in the group stage of the Champions League 2008-09. Zenit have been coached by “The Little General”, Dick Advocaat, since 2006 and he was the first foreign coach to guide a club to the Russian championship. While big summer signing Pogrebnyak has been key to the team during their UEFA Cup run, the main man for this side is midfielder Andrey Arshavin. Arshavin was the only member of the squad to start all 30 leagues matches, and he posted 10 goals and 11 assists. Quick, skillful, and equally deadly with his passing and finishing, the 26-year-old may draw attention from other European clubs this summer.

Another key member of the Zenit squad is another big-money summer signing Anatoliy Tymoschuk. Tymoschuk moved to Zenit from Shaktar Donetsk a fee rumoured to be about €15 million. He usually plays as a holding midfielder and provides strength, stamina and tackling to the Zenit midfield.

Here are the quarter-final matchups (my picks to advance are bolded)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen v FC Zenit St. Petersburg
Rangers FC v Sporting Clube de Portugal
FC Bayern Munich v Getafe CF
ACF Fiorentina v PSV Eindhoven

The semi-finals would then setup like this:
Bayer 04 Leverkusen/FC Zenit St. Petersburg v FC Bayern Munich/Getafe CF
Rangers FC/Sporting Clube de Portugal v ACF Fiorentina/PSV Eindhoven

As I mentioned last week, we’re going to take a look at the UEFA Cup, this companion competition to the Champions League. The UEFA Cup evolved from the old Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was founded in 1955, two weeks after the founding of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup.

The original tournament lasted three years, with matches timed to coincide with trade fairs and involved teams from Barcelona, Basle, Birmingham, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Lausanne, Leipzig, London, Milan and Zagreb. Barcelona, using players purely from FC Barcelona, beat a London representative side 8-2 on aggregate in the final.

In 1972 the tournament was renamed the UEFA Cup to reflect that the competition was now run by UEFA and no longer associated with the trade fairs. Tottenham Hotspur were the initial winners of the renamed competition.

The current UEFA Cup tournament is open to teams finishing in leading positions behind the champions in their domestic top flights, the winners of national cup competitions, the winners of the League Cup in certain countries, the eleven winners of the final matches in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, and three clubs from UEFA’s Fair Play League.

The tournament starts with three knockout qualifying rounds held in July and August. Participants from associations ranked 18 and lower enter the first qualifying round, and participants from associations ranked 9-18 join them in the second qualifying round. In addition, three places in the first qualifying round are reserved for the Fair Play winners, and eleven places in the second qualifying round are reserved for the UEFA Intertoto Cup winners.

The tournament used to be a straight knockout competition but the format was changed in 2004/05, however, when for the first time a group stage was introduced. Winners of the qualifying rounds join teams from the associations ranked 1-13 in the first knockout round. In addition, losers in the third qualifying round of the Champions League also enter this round, and another place is reserved for the UEFA Cup title-holders. There are 80 teams total in this round.

After the first knockout round, the 40 survivors enter a group phase, with the clubs being drawn into eight groups of five each. Unlike the Champions League group phase, the UEFA Cup group phase is played in a single round-robin format, with each club playing two home and two away games. The top three teams in each group advance, where they are joined by the eight third-place teams in the Champions League group phase. The winners, runners-up and third-placed teams from each section advance to the last 32 where they are joined by the eight third-placed clubs from the UEFA Champions League group stage. Here, the traditional two-match knockout format resumes, until the final.

After the group stage there is a winter break. From this point, knockout play resumes, with two-legged ties leading to the one-off final, which is held at a neutral ground meeting UEFA’s criteria for a four star stadium. This season The City of Manchester Stadium, which seats 47,000 fans, will stage the 2007/08 UEFA Cup final on May 14th 2008.

Here are the matchups for the first knockout round which will be played over two legs on September 20th and October 4th 2007. I think there are some dynamite match-ups that were tough to pick a winner for, especially the Lens – Copenhagen fixture. In the end, I think Copenhagen’s European experience will come through. In what would be an upset I think that Crvena Zvezda could get knocked out by Polish side Groclin Dyskobolia. The Serbs have been in turmoil so far this season and went so far as to fire coach Boško Djurovski and replace him with Milorad Kosanovic. The goals have been in short supply for the Serbian side but they are hoping that recently signed striker Nenad Jestrovic, who scored 55 goals in 79 appearances for Anderlecht during a four-year spell with the Belgian side, will bolster a forward line that has been poor in the finishing department.

Ajax have been handed a tricky tie against Dinamo Zagreb but I expect them to come through. The FC Twente – Getafe tie also looks promising but I think the Spanish side is just a bit stronger at the moment. All of the English clubs involved (Tottenham, Everton, Bolton, Blackburn) have received favourable ties and should advance to the group stage.

(My picks to advance are highlighted)
FC Midtjylland (Denmark) v Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)
FC Groningen (Netherlands) v Fiorentina (Italy)
Rabotnicki Kometal (Macedonia) v Bolton (England)
AEK Athens (Greece) v SV Red Bull (Austria)
Nurnberg (Germany) v Rapid Bucaresti (Romania)
Everton (England) v FC Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine)
Zenit St Petersburg (Russia) v Standard Liege (Belgium)
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) v Uniao Leiria (Portugal)
Villarreal (Spain) v BATE (Belarus)
FC Sion (Switzerland) v Galatasaray (Turkey)
Atletico Madrid (Spain) v Kayseri Erciye (Turkey)
Bordeaux (France) v Tampere United (Finland)
Panathinaikos (Greece) v Artmedia Bratisl (Slovakia)
Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) v Odense BK (Denmark)
FC Zurich (Switzerland) v Empoli (Italy)
Sochaux (France) v Panionios (Greece)
Rapid Vienna (Austria) v Anderlecht (Belgium)
Pacos Ferreira (Portugal) v AZ (Netherlands)
Sampdoria (Italy) v AaB Alborg (Denmark)
Spartak Moscow (Russia) v BK Hacken (Sweden)
Hammarby (Sweden) v Braga (Portugal)
Larissa (Greece) v Blackburn (England)
Mlada Boleslav (Czech Republic) v Palermo (Italy)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) v Ajax (Netherlands)
Rennes (France) v Lokomotiv Sofia (Bulgaria)
SK Brann (Norway) v Club Brugge (Belgium)
Bayern Munich (Germany) v Belenenses (Portugal)
Aberdeen (Scotland) v Dnipro (Ukraine)
Heerenveen (Netherlands) v Helsingborgs IF (Sweden)
Toulouse (France) v CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria)
Hamburg (Germany) v Litex Lovech (Bulgaria)
FK Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) v Basle (Switzerland)
FK Austria Magna (Austria) v Valerenga (Norway)
AIK Solna (Sweden) v Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel)
Aris Salonika (Greece) v Real Zaragoza (Spain)
Dinamo Bucuresti (Romania) v IF Elfsborg (Sweden)
Tottenham Hotspur (England) v Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus)
Lens (France) v FC Copenhagen (Denmark)
Getafe (Spain) v FC Twente (Netherlands)
Groclin Dyskobolia (Poland) v Crvena Zvezda (Serbia)