The Champions League group stages have finished, and now it’s time to see which teams will face each other in the round of 16 which is coming up next. UEFA will be drawing the match-ups for the Champions League and the Europa League on December 17th, and there’s a set of guidelines which the round of 16 matches will have to comply with. Here’s the guidelines below:

• Winners and runner-ups of the groups will be drawn against each other.

• The runner-up team will play the first leg at home.

• No two teams from the same association can be drawn against each other, ex. Manchester United – Arsenal cannot be drawn because both sides are from the Premier League.

• No two teams from the same group can be drawn against each other, ex. Tottenham – Inter Milan cannot be drawn because they were in the same group.

With these guidelines, I’ve put together the matches that I want to see in the round of 16. I tried to think about match-ups which will be exciting, even, and hopefully full of goals. Here they are below:

Tottenham Hotspur – Valencia

Schalke 04 – FC Copenhagen

Manchester United – Marseille

Barcelona – Roma

Bayern Munich – Inter Milan

Chelsea – AC Milan

Real Madrid – Arsenal

Shakhtar Donetsk – Lyon

What do you think about my choices? I decided to put Bayern Munich against Inter Milan, because I think it would be exciting to see Bayern take revenge for last season’s final which they lost. I also decided to put Arsenal against Real Madrid because Arsene Wenger’s side tries to replicate Barcelona’s beautiful passing and attacking style, could they do it against Real Madrid? Tottenham against Valencia seems like an extremely exciting match-up to me, because both sides love to play an attacking and free-flowing style, and I don’t think I can predict a winner between those two. And I put Chelsea against AC Milan because of Carlo Ancelotti facing his former side, along with the possibility of seeing an Ibrahimovic-led AC Milan side try and break down Chelsea.

Make sure to share your thoughts on what match-ups you want to see in the round of 16 by commenting below! What could be the most exciting match in the next round? Comment below!

In the first eight matches of this Champions League matchday, there was plenty of excitement to go around. Some sides like Chelsea have made sure that they’re going through top of the group, while others like Arsenal have complicated their Champions League campaign terribly.

In these eight games, there were 23 goals scored, making for an average of 2.8 goals per game. But what I find very interesting is that in these eight matches, there were four players sent off with red cards! All four sending offs were in the second half of the matches, and three were in the last five minutes. I guess it’s a sign that the tension is rising as teams need to qualify for the next round of the tournament.

The most exciting match which took place today was Roma – Bayern Munich, with the Italian side triumphing at home 3-2. Bayern started the scoring with Gomez taking advantage of shaky Roma defending in the 33rd and 39th minutes, leaving Ranieri’s side in a bit of disarray going into the second half. But Roma came out to win the match in front of their home fans, and Borriello pulled one back four minutes into the second half, then in the 81^st minute De Rossi scored to make it 2-2. And in the 84^th minute, Roma were awarded a penalty, and their legendary captain Francesco Totti stepped up and scored the winner.

A fantastic match which keeps Roma in second place, three points behind Bayern Munich, and three ahead of FC Basel. FC Basel defeated CFR Cluj at home 1-0, with Alerares scoring the only goal in the 15^th minute. Cluj had Piccolo sent off with a direct red card in the 88^th minute, and the player will miss their next Champions League match against Roma. So Group E is relatively tight with Roma needing a win if they want to qualify, while Bayern look pretty solid up in first place with a goal difference of +7.

Chelsea faced Zilina at Stamford Bridge, and while they went a goal down in the first half, Ancelotti’s side scored twice in the second half in order to win 2-1. Zilina scored from a quick give-and-go passing move which Bello poked past Turnbull. It was the youngster Sturridge who equalized, and Chelsea began to press on, with Drogba almost scoring from a free kick, and  youngster van Aanholt smacking an effort against the post. It was Florent Malouda who scored the winner in the 86th minute for Chelsea, helping his side get their fifth in a row in the Champions League, qualifying them mathematically for first place.

Behind Chelsea which has fifteen points, Olympique Marseille are second with nine, with Spartak Moscow following the french side with six points. Marseille defeated the Russian team comfortably 3-0 in Russia, with Valbuena, Remy, and Brandao scoring the goals while Welliton was sent off for Spartak. While it is mathematically possible for Spartak Moscow to steal Marseille’s second place and qualify for the next round, Marseille have a goal difference of +8, while Spartak’s is -4, so it’s very likely that Chelsea and Olympique Marseille will move on to the next round from Group F.

While Chelsea have qualified to the next round, Arsenal have made their qualification a little more difficult after their away loss to Sporting Braga. It was a 2-0 win for the Portuguese side with Matheus Nascimento scoring both very well taken goals. What will bother Arsenal fans the most is probably the fact that their side conceeded the goals in the 83^rd and 90^th minutes, and that they’ll probably have to win next Champions League matchday in order to qualify.

This is because Sporting Braga are tied with Arsenal with nine points, with the English side ahead by goal difference. Ahead of both of the sides is Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk which defeated Partizan 3-0, which puts them first with 12 points. Watching all the action from the very bottom of the table is the Serbian side Partizan, the team has only scored one goal, and has zero points, and their chances of picking up some points next matchday are slim, considering that they’ll be facing Arsenal which will be fighting for qualification.

Jose Mourinho will be glad that his team, Real Madrid, conquered first place in the group with a 4-0 away win over Ajax, but he won’t be too glad about the two players which received red cards in the final minutes of the match. Everything was going perfectly all the way until the last five minutes of the match, the Spanish side were 4-0 up with Benzema and Arbeloa on the scoresheet along with Ronaldo who scored twice, of which one of the goals was a penalty.

But in the 87^th minute Xabi Alonso gets a second yellow card for time wasting (his first was for throwing the ball away during a stoppage of play), and therefore a red card, and just minutes later Sergio Ramos replicates his teammate and gets sent off for wasting time as well! But Jose Mourinho won’t care too much, especially considering that this win mathematically qualifies his side in first place.

AC Milan have also mathematically qualified for the knockout round in second place after their 2-0 win away from home against Auxerre. And it was Ibrahimovic who scored a fantastic goal, a truly unstoppable rocket which shows that the Swede has been playing wonderfully and scoring plenty of goals to help his side, whether it be in the Champions League, or the Serie A. Ronaldinho got the other goal in the 90^th minute, a sly dribbling move finished by a curled left foot shot onto the far post.

What are your thoughts regarding these matches? Will Arsenal qualify? What about Roma? Can they catch Bayern? Share your comments below!

After a truly fantastic matchday of Champions League action, there are so many things to review, especially after so many goals were scored. There were 53 goals scored in all 16 matches of the Champions League this midweek, that’s an average of 3.31 goals per game! Not bad at all.

Real Madrid travelled to Milan to play the rossoneri, and while Jose Mourinho added a little spice to the crowd by waving with three fingers (which indicates the treble he won last season with Inter Milan), the match was full of excitement. The first goal came at the 45 minute mark when Higuain took advantage of a slightly disorganized Milan backline, received a simple pass with his back to goal, and turned around to slot it into the back of the net.

Then in the second half, Allegri put on Inzaghi for Ronaldinho, and the Italian striker was phenomenal for AC Milan. He scored two goals to give the home side the lead, and surpass Gerd Muller’s all time scoring record in the competition by scoring his 70th goal in the tournament.

But Mourinho is a sly and lucky man, and in the 94th minute of the game, substitute Karim Benzema picked out another substitute Pedro Leon with a defence-splitting through pass, and Leon finished through Abbiati’s legs for an epic equalizer. With this point, Real Madrid have qualified for the knockout stages, but AC Milan will have to do will in their upcoming two matches against Auxerre and Ajax to make sure they qualify as well.

There was another story of revenge in this Champions League midweek, with Eduardo’s side Shakhtar Donetsk defeating his former club Arsenal. Things looked a little worrying for Shakhtar when Samir Nasri clipped the outside of the Ukrainian goal in the beginning of the match. After that, just ten minutes into the match Theo Walcott scored a wonderful goal from a deadly counter-attack finished by a sublime low curling shot. Arsenal needed a win to cinch qualification, and things were looking good for the gunners early on.

But Shakhtar fought back right away, and managed to hit the woodwork and then forced Fabianski to an excellent save. Finally Shakhtar scored, and it was the former Barcelona player Chygrynskiy who headed home from a free kick, and Fabianski couldn’t do much since there was a slight deflection as the ball flicked off of Eastmond’s head. Then, the true blow for Arsenal fans arrived, and it was their former player Eduardo who delivered it. A composed first-touch finish by Eduardo from a low pass across Arsenal’s penalty box gave the home side the winner. And while Arsenal fought back, it wasn’t meant to be as Shakhtar held on for an amazing home win.

Tottenham defeated Inter Milan 3-1 at White Hart Lane, with another outstanding performance by Gareth Bale. The Welsh international dominated the left wing and assisted two goals for Harry Redknapp’s side, and it was Samuel Eto’o who scored a lovely goal for Inter Milan.

Chelsea also got a big win, 4-1 over Spartak Moscow, and it was Bratislav Ivanovic who scored a brace! Drogba also made his Champions League season debut this match, and had the captain’s armband on for the English club as he scored as well.

Roma fought for a good 3-2 win away against Basel, a particularly inspired Menez gave the Romans the lead, and then Totti followed up with a penalty. After that Frei pulled one back for the home side, but the youngster Greco scored Roma’s third to make sure that Basel didn’t get their hopes up. Shaqiri scored the final goal of the match to make it 3-2, as Roma pull off an important win in this Champions League campaign.

Bayern Munich travelled away and pummelled CFR Cluj 4-0 with Mario Gomez scoring a hat-trick, but that wasn’t the biggest scoreline of this midweek. Marseille defeated Zilina in Slovakia, with Gignac scoring a hat-trick, and even former Real Madrid defender Heinze getting a goal.

There were plenty of amazing matches, and sadly I can’t cover them all. Please comment below about any of the matches which happened in the Champions League today, or any which will be happening in the Europa League tomorrow!

It is quite early to discuss next season’s Champions League particularly with the World Cup looming ahead but Inter’s historic treble was much more than a great achievement. It proved once again how difficult it is to repeat as a champion in Europe’s elite club competition. For the Nerazzurri winning the Champions League is the ultimate experience having waited for more than four decades to repeat as champions of Europe.

President Massimo Moratti helped fund the building of the Nerazzurri squad and brought in Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho with the specific objective of bringing European glory to Milan considering the current Serie A title holder have not won the Champions League since the 1960s. Previous boss Roberto Mancini succeeded in breaking the dominance of Juventus and Milan since the early 1990s but failed to combine domestic success with an extended run in Europe’s elite competition as he never guided the Nerazzurri to the Final.

Mourinho succeeded in winning Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Champions League yet he is racing to the exit door leaving the Nerazzurri in a delicate situation following the best season in the club’s history. Players such as Maicon and Diego Milito are now being linked with a move to Real Madrid which is Mourinho’s likely destination. It is only time before Mourinho is confirmed as the boss in Madrid unless he has a change of heart and opts to stay with the Nerazzurri. Other clubs are beginning to assess their chances of luring some of Inter’s key players to leave the peninsula as Arsenal have reportedly shown interest in goalkeeper Julio Cesar while Manchester City are looking to capture midfielder Esteban Cambiasso. These reports might not become reality but all these claims are a major distraction for a club celebrating a historic treble and with some of the star players headed to South Africa 2010.

Assuming Mourinho and some of the players jump ship, the Nerazzurri will be losing some key components while skipper Javier Zanetti is only getting older despite his consistent displays. Zanetti deserves credit for his fighting spirit and for putting in solid performances time and again despite his age. Below is a brief look at some of Inter’s main competitors for next season:

Barcelona: The former holders were ousted by Inter and will be looking to regain their lost title. Barca are one of the most talented teams in the world with Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez leading the charge. Barca have added a star name in the shape of striker David Villa while the Catalans remain in pursuit of Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas. If they do sign Fabregas then the team will likely start the next La Liga season and Champions League campaign as one of the favourites.

Real Madrid: The record winners of the Champions League will welcome with open arms Mourinho who has made it clear he will only leave the Nerazzurri for Madrid. In Madrid he will have greater individual talent to work with yet less of a cohesive unit and a weaker team spirit. Mourinho will be motivated to turn this team of stars into a strong and unified squad. Los Galacticos already have former Milan idol Kaka and world record signing Cristiano Ronaldo in their ranks but it would not be a surprise if Mourinho asked for Maicon and Diego Milito to be signed from Inter. If they do, then Los Galacticos will be considered as a firm favourite considering they only missed on La Liga title by three points and many forget it does take time for news players to gel together.

Chelsea: Ironically Mourinho was shown the doors at Stamford Bridge because he failed to bring European glory to the London club but he did punish his former employers by eliminating them in the knockout stages of the Champions League by beating them twice home and away. Chelsea hired former Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti and the Italian succeeded in leading the Blues to a historic double by winning the Premier League and FA Cup in his first season in charge. Ancelotti made it clear his main objective for next season is to repeat the domestic double and to win in Europe. While Chelsea have a strong squad with experience and talent, the players as individuals are below the talent level of Spanish giants Real and Barca.

Bayern Munich: Bayern proved they are a solid team after a slow start to the season and the final in Madrid was perhaps a small representation of their season as they only began to show their potential after conceding the first goal to Inter’s hero Milito. The Bavarians will have Arjen Robben (despite rumours linking him with Juventus;  just unlikely to happen for a number of reasons) and French star Franck Ribery will apparently return after missing the Champions League final due to suspension. The Germans are a solid group but like Chelsea they are not on par with Real and Barca if individuals are compared on a position by position basis.

Manchester United: Manchester have one of the best managers in Sir Alex Ferguson but he can certainly be stubborn leading him to make the odd mistake here and there, particularly when it comes to offloading certain players or refusing to bring in the appropriate players to replace outgoing stars. The Red Devils did not replace Cristiano Ronaldo and their challenge for Chelsea in the Premiership and before that in the Champions League tie against Bayern  faltered once it became clear Wayne Rooney is carrying injury. If Manchester do not sign a couple of solid players, in particular one goal scorer to complement Rooney, then they will likely fall short in the early knockout stages with perhaps a quarter-final spot at best.

There are other less likely contenders but the strongest ones would be Italian duo Roma and Milan yet the two sides have a number of limitations such as their restricted budget for bringing in players and in the case of the Rossoneri an aging squad. Milan will need Brazilian stars Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato to stay and will hope a capable coach will take charge at Milanello to promote a few promising players from the youth sector and sign a number of quality players to reinforce the team. As for Roma they have do not have a deep bench and their first team is often riddled with injuries due to the age of some key players such as Francesco Totti. It is unlikely either squad will win the Champions League but they can play the role of a spoiler if their stars remain healthy and fit.

It is quite hard to repeat in the Champions League as shown by the famous Milan side in the 1990s which dismantled Barca 4-0 in an epic encounter only to loss the next year in the final to Ajax Amsterdam who in turn were defeated the following year by Juventus. The Bianconeri would go on to play in two more consecutive finals yet the curse of repeating would also prove to be their downfall despite having the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero (at his peak).

This weekend witnessed the conclusion of all of Europe’s major football action and there was a unique outcome considering three clubs were able to combine the league and cup trophies together. Bayern Munich won the domestic double in Germany while Chelsea added the FA Cup on Saturday after their triumph in the Premier League the previous weekend. In Italy, Inter were able to retain their Serie A title to add it to the Coppa Italia trophy won against Roma.

All three clubs have had great seasons and have achieved a historic feat despite Bayern having done the double before and the fact Arsenal and Manchester United have done the double in England in recent years. Still this was Chelsea’s first domestic double and manager Carlo Ancelotti deserves lots of credit after taking charge this summer and finally putting to rest the ghost of Jose Mourinho who returned to haunt the London club in the Champions League this year. Since Mourinho’s departure Chelsea have failed to win the Premiership yet have now won the league and the FA Cup double in Ancelotti’s first season in charge, an achievement even the outspoken Portuguese was not able to complete during his successful spell at Stamford Bridge.

As for Bayern Munich they have rebounded after a poor start to the season and their 4-1 destruction of Juventus in Turin in the Champions League served as the turning point of their current campaign confirming their status as a serious threat both in Germany and Europe as well as building tremendous confidence amongst the Bavarian club’s players. Bayern won the DFB-Pokal after crushing WerderBremen 4-0 in the final with the club’s two star players Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery managing to put their name on the scoresheet. Now the Bavarians will eye a historic treble by attempting to win the Champions League next Saturday in Madrid.

Finally, Inter were successful in retaining their Serie A title yet perhaps suffered the most considering the title was in Roma till the 57th minute when Argentina striker Diego Milito succeeded in scoring the winner against Siena to secure the Scudetto to Jose Mourinho’s men. The Nerazzurri were challenged the most amongst the three teams considering Roma put up a brave fight and only conceded the title on the last day of Serie A. The Giallorossi actually let slip of the title when they could not convert their opportunities in the first-half of the match against Sampdoria when they were leading 1-0 only to throw away the match and lose 2-1 courtesy of a Giampaolo Pazzini double. The Nerazzurri also had to overcome the stubborn Giallorossi in the Coppa Italia final when another crucial Milito strike secured the trophy for the Milan side.

At this stage, the Nerazzurri will turn their attention to achieving a historic treble by beating Bayern in Madrid to lift the Champions League trophy. If they succeed in doing so then Inter will have achieved something special and Mourinho might step down after having won the most prestigious trophy in Europe. Regardless of who wins the Champions League, Bayern and Inter have had a great season and England’s Chelsea have also completed a great achievement by winning their first double. It will be interesting to see how those three clubs will do next season when the likes of Manchester United and Juventus will attempt to wrestle away the title from their grip. Bayern will likely continue to dominate in Germany unless they lose Ribery and Robben or one of them. Robben has been particularly crucial in the big games such as the clashes against Fiorentina and Manchester United in the Champions League when his club was in desperate need of goals and inspiration.

La Liga leaders Barcelona will travel to Milan to take on Inter in the highly anticipated clash between two of the best teams left in the European competitions. The current champions Barca rely heavily on midfield schemer Xavi Hernandez and superstar Lionel Messi while Inter will be attempting to reach the final in Madrid to win their third title in the top European event.

The Nerazzurri are currently second in Serie A behind Roma but the two clubs are only separated by a single point. Inter will be depending on their attacking line composed of Diego Milito and Samuel Eto’o as well as playmaker Wesley Sneijder to threaten the Barca goal. However, the key to Inter’s success in this tie will be the performance of the defensive line composed of Brazilian duo Maicon and Lucio along with Argentine Walter Samuel and the returning Romanian left-back Cristian Chivu. Lucio and Samuel in particular will be responsible for keeping in check former Inter star Zalatan Ibrahimovic and the extremely talented Messi.

Inter’s Esteban Cambiasso will be asked to help the midfield contain the talented Xavi who is one of the best at creating scoring opportunities, sending players towards goal with incisive passing and launching probing balls towards the penalty area of Barca’s opponents. Messi might get the majority of the plaudits but Xavi is the key architect behind most of Barca’s attacks as he showed time and again during El Clasico when he assisted on both goals scored by the Catalans.

Finally, Josep Guardiola will be facing Inter boss Jose Mourinho who is perhaps as crucial as the players for the Nerazzurri considering his tactics and motivational skills are highly regarded. Mourinho was credited with the two victories over former club Chelsea and was then praised for his strategy against CSKA Moscow. It remains to be seen if Mourinho can conjure something to contain the talented Messi and halt the progress of the Catalan club.

While this might be overlooked by many, it is important to note Mourinho assisted Bobby Robson when the Englishman was the coach at Barcelona. Mourinho might downplay this fact but deep inside such a connection drives the Portuguese just as witnessed during the clash between Inter and his former club Chelsea. For Mourinho to emerge victorious it will be quite difficult but it starts with containing Messi and restricting the passing options of Xavi.

With Inter challenging on three fronts this tie might demand and exhaust the squad’s energy resulting in the loss of Serie A and Coppa Italia. As for Barca, the Catalans are a more talented team and if they can achieve a beneficial result in Milan such as a win, a draw or even a narrow defeat other than by the score of 1-0 for Inter, then they have a great opportunity of sealing the tie at the Camp Nou.

The Champions League will feature a hotly contested tie between Italian champions Inter and English club Chelsea. There are many story-lines beyond Jose Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge as the winner of this Round of 16 clash should have safe passage to the semi-finals where European champions Barcelona will likely be waiting. Below are some of the intriguing features offered by this much anticipated clash:

- England vs Italy: With a number of Italian Coaches managing English clubs (R. Mancini at Manchester City, C. Ancelotti at Chelsea, and G. Zola at West Ham United) and Fabio Capello in charge of England the comparison between the English Premier League and the Italian Serie A has taken another twist. Critics point to the fact the Premiership is attracting more viewership worldwide and are backed by the financial muscle of some of the  English clubs (Chelsea and Man. City) but they should not overlook the tight race for European places in Italy as well as the superior technical approach of the weaker Italian clubs (compared to the weaker English sides). Milan and Liverpool went head-to-head twice in the final and it is all square despite the fact the Liverpool win was a miraculous one.

-Ancelotti vs Mourinho: Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho are not exactly on the best of terms. While in Italy, Ancelotti was in charge of Milan and had a tense public relationship with Inter’s Mourinho. The rivalry between the two only gets worse considering Ancelotti is now at the helm in Stamford Bridge which deep inside must surely irritate Mourinho who really did not want to leave Chelsea.

- Abramovich vs Moratti: Both club presidents are desperate for European success with Massimo Morattisupposedly letting go of Roberto Mancini for failing to bring the prestigious trophy to Milan while hiring Mourinho for the sake of winning the Champions League. Interestingly, Roman Abramovich fired Mourinho due to a number of factors but mainly used the inability of the Portuguese Coach to win in Europe as his reason. Abramovich wants to bring the European trophy to Stamford Bridge for the first time while Moratti wants to win the Champions League after a dry spell of more than four decades.

-Drobga vs Eto’o: Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba and Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o are considered two of the most dangerous and lethal attackers in the world. Both hail from the African continent and they will be aiming to show who is the best goal scorer from Africa. Eto’o currently has the edge in terms of honours having won the Champions League on two occasions with Barcelona while Drogba has yet to win in Europe. Drogba has been in stunning form for his club scoring 17 goals in 20 league appearances while Eto’o has 8 goals in 17 matches in Serie A.

Both clubs are leading their respective league table and have plenty of talent with players such as Frank Lampard and Drogba on Chelsea’s squad compared to Inter’s Wesley  Sneijder and Eto’o. Will Mourinho’s desire to put one over his old club drive the Nerazzurri players to overcome Chelsea or will Abramovich prove his decision to fire Mourinho is vindicated on route to winning in Europe?

It’s only days away from the opening of the transfer window — a time when much cash will be splashed and many sides will be re-shaped and benches re-inforced. Because there can be some major impact signings, I am waiting to analyze the match-ups in the Champions League Round of 16 and the Europa League Round of 32 until after the transfer window closes. Those competitions do not kick off again until February 16th. Here are a few articles I’ve been checking out the past few days in anticipation of the spending spree.

Real Madrid’s Surplus Goods List
Fulham are also doing some house cleaning

Depending who you want to believe, Valencia sniper David Villa is going to Manchester United, Chelsea, or Real Madrid. It looks like Villa will move either in January or the summer transfer window as Valencia will likely have to sell two from Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata in a bid to cut down their £450m in debt.

Chelsea may be more interested in a striker from another debt-laden Spanish club, Atletico Madrid’s Kun Aguero.

Luca Toni will be another name featuring in many headlines with a return to Italy looming. Will he land at Internazionale?

Zenit St Petersburg are said to be considering a move for Fiorentina’s striker Adrian Mutu
after declining on a purchase option on PSG forward Mateja Kežman.

Special Note: Be sure to check out Major League Soccer Talk as they will have the most in-depth coverage of the Landon Donovan loan spell with Everton.

For over half a century, the UEFA Champions League is the championship that European teams aspire to win. Although the modern competition has been competed for since 1992, the competition in its previous format has been played for each year since 1955. It has become known worldwide as one of the most prestigious trophy competitions in world football.

The three knockout stages begin in mid July. These knockout stages yield sixteen teams who then go through to join sixteen seeded teams in group stages consisting of eight groups of four teams. Eight group winners and eight runners up compete in the knockout stages until the final is played in May. Twenty one different clubs have won the competition. Of these, twelve have won the Champions League more than once. Real Madrid hold the record for the most wins. Milan follow with seven wins. Liverpool are the most successful British club with five wins.

The first season of the competition saw Real Madrid beat Stade de Reims 4-3 in Paris. Real Madrid dominated the competition in the first five seasons culminating in the 1960 final in Glasgow against Eintracht Frankfurt which Real Madrid won 7-3, and despite the scoreline, Eintracht played their part in a memorable game.

The first British success came in 1967 when Celtic beat Internazionale 2-1 in Lisbon. This was followed in the following year by a famous victory at Wembley by Manchester United over Benfica. United won 4-1 ten years after the tragic Munich air disaster which cruelly deprived Manchester United of some young talented players. Dutch football teams dominated the competition for the next five years followed by the emergence of a great Bayern Munich side which claimed the cup over the next three seasons. English teams followed the Bayern lead and took control of the competition for the next five years with Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa all taking the trophy. Since the mid 1980s, no country has managed to put together a run of wins, but the big names of European football have all been represented on the winners rostrum; AC Milan, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid again. Manchester United had already won the Premiership title in England, but seemed to be losing their final in Barcelona in 1999 when two inspired substitutions by Sir Alex Ferguson saw United turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win with almost the last kick of the game. Recent competitions again have failed to throw up a dominant country.

This year Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool have all made their way to the knockout stages of the competition and have mirrored recent European success for English teams. The final will be played in Rome on 27th May 2009, and although English teams would hope to feature in the final, there can be no guarantees as the European Champions League provides surprises and great football. For more European Champions League news go to Hotels near Chelsea.

A strange turn of events at Chelsea where Luiz Felipe Scolari has been sacked and Avram Grant, the man Scolari replaced, has emerged as one of the candidates on Chelsea’s shortlist to replace the former World Cup-winning manager. Whether Grant gets the job is purely speculation but it’s just another sign of how funny football can be.

Scolari joined the Premier League club this past summer and was expected to lead the club to titles at home and in Europe, but after a poor run of form has seen Chelsea slip to fourth in the Premier League table, seven points behind leaders Manchester United who have game in hand all-but ending the club’s title ambitions. The team has looked toothless in attack on several recent outings, which is a surprise as they started the season quite brightly.

Other names being linked with the job are the usual suspects such as Guus Hiddink but that is also unlikely as Roman Abramovich would not make too many friends in Russia if he were to steal a valuable asset away from the national team.

Could the dream team be Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke ? The duo have worked wonders at West Ham this season, turning the club into a solid top 10 team after many were wondering if they would stay up with their financial troubles. Many doubted Zola’s ability to succeed and while it is far to early to call this season a success, there is no doubting that West Ham are in better shape than they were before Zola and Clarke took control. Clarke has brought a steely focus to the defensive side of the team. On the other side of the ball, they attack in a Zola-esque manner of smart passes and flicks.

Beyond that Zola is a legendary figure in the club’s history and would bring a renewed optimism to the fans. Clarke is also a long-time Blue, having spent 20 years at Stamford Bridge as both a player and coach before moving to West Ham United in September.

There is plenty of discussion going on at our sister site EPLTalk.com, so be sure to check out their coverage of this story as well.

What do you think? Who should be the next boss at the Bridge?