The Round of 32 produced a few dramatic results including a thrilling two-leg sweep of Roma by Panathinaikos. The Greek club won both legs by identical 3-2 scores and should be full of confidence for their matches against Standard Liège.

A quick look ahead to the Round of 16. Depsite their domestic foibles, I do expect Liverpool’s overall depth to show against Lille. Lille have performed well this season and I think they will keep the tie close but ultimately the Reds will move on.

A potential upset in the making sees Fulham take on Italian giants Juventus. Juve have struggled for form this season and I look for master tactician Roy Hodgson to engineer a win.

PREDICTIONS:
Hamburger SV v RSC Anderlecht
FC Rubin Kazan v VfL Wolfsburg
Club Atlético de Madrid v Sporting Clube de Portugal
SL Benfica v Olympique de Marseille
Panathinaikos FC v Royal Standard de Liège
LOSC Lille Métropole v Liverpool FC
Juventus v Fulham FC
Valencia CF v Werder Bremen

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.

Part of the changes to qualification this year sees the champions of smaller domestic leagues gaining the chance to reach the group stage of the Champions League.

In the Champions Path, the feature match-up should be between FC Zurich and FK Ventspils. Latvian titleholders Ventspils edged past last season’s group stage participant FC BATE Borisov on away goals despite losing 2-1 away in the second leg of their Third Qualifying Round tie. Ventspils have a balanced attack but their main goal threat is Andrejs Butriks, who had a trial with Blackpool in England during the January 2008 transfer window. Butriks has remained in Latvia and been a consistent threat.

Swiss champions FC Zurich have a couple of players to keep an eye on. Johan Vonlanthen, despite being only 23, has already gained extensive experience in his career in stints with PSV Eindhoven, Brescia and Red Bull Salzburg. Up front, the pair of Swiss youngster Almen Abdi and French import Eric Hassli combined for 36 goals in 36 Swiss league games.

The glamour matchup in the Non-Champions Path sees Arsenal take on Celtic but the game that may produce a shock result is the Panathinaikos – Atlético Madrid tie. Panathinaikos scored a massive 3-0 win to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the second leg of their Third Qualifying Round tie with AC Sparta Praha. With experienced players like Gilberto and Giorgos Karagounis complemented by the pace and skill of Sebastián Leto and Djibril Cissé, Atletico could have a tough scrap on their hands.

The full playoff round match-ups (games to be played on August 18 and 26) are as follows:

Non-champions Path
Arsenal FC (England) v Celtic FC (Scotland)
Olympique Lyonnais (France) v RSC Anderlecht (Belgium)
Sporting Clube de Portugal (Portugal) v ACF Fiorentina (Italy)
Panathinaikos FC (Greece) v Club Atlético de Madrid (Spain)
VfB Stuttgart (Germany) v FC Timisoara (Romania)

Champions Path
Olympiacos CFP (Greece) v FC Sheriff (Moldova)
FC København (Denmark) v APOEL FC (Cyprus)
PFC Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) v Debreceni VSC (Hungary)
Maccabi Haifa FC (Israel) v FC Salzburg (Austria)
FC Zürich (Switzerland) v FK Ventspils (Latvia)

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.

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.

Although the Champions League Second Qualifying Round is still underway, the draw for the Third Round took place today and it has presented us with some very interesting matchups. The marquee matchup has to be FC Schalke 04 against Club Atletico de Madrid but the Arsenal – FC Twente fixture will garner much attention from the UK-based media. The Arsenal – FC Twente fixture will see former England manager Steve McClaren coaching in England for the first time since he was sacked from his national team duties. It’ll be interesting to see what sort of reception he receives in London.

Taking a look at the other highlight matchup, Schalke reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season but face a massive challenge in the re-tooled Atletico. Atletico will be seeking a return to the full competition for the first time since reaching the last eight in 1996-97.

Schalke general manager Andreas Müller was quoted by uefa.com as saying “This is the kind of fixture you would see in the last 16 or the quarter-finals.” I agree with that sentiment. These are two talented clubs and it will be a major disappointment to see one of these clubs eliminated so early on. However, that’s the nature of the competition and is just another reason why, in my estimation, the Champions League has become _the_ top competition in the soccer world.

The full listing of fixtures is posted below. I am going to wait until the second round is over before making predictions. Once the third round fixtures are clear, I will post an update along with my predictions on who will advance to the Group Stage.

2008/09 UEFA Champions League
Third Qualifying Round Fixtures
First leg: 12/13 August
Second leg: 26/27 August

Anorthosis/Rapid Vienna v Olympiakos
Vitoria Guimaraes v Gothenburg/Basel
Shakhtar Donetsk v Domzale/Dinamo Zagreb
Schalke 04 v Atletico Madrid
Aalborg/Modrica v Rangers/Kaunas
Barcelona v Beitar Jerusalem/Wisla Krakow
Levski Sofia v Anderlecht/BATE
Standard Liege v Liverpool
Inter Baku/Partizan v Fenerbahce/MTK Hungaria
Twente Enschede v Arsenal
Spartak Moscow v Drogheda/Dinamo Kiev
Juventus v Tampere/Artmedia
Brann/Ventspils v Marseille
Fiorentina v Slavia Prague
Galatasaray v Steaua Bucharest
Panathinaikos/Dinamo Tbilisi v Sheriff Tiraspol/Sparta Prague