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

As was discussed here earlier, former England manager Steve McClaren was announced as the new manager of Dutch side FC Twente on Friday. McClaren, who had been out of work since November when he was sacked after England failed to qualify for Euro 2008, has agreed a two-year deal at the Eredivisie club.

McClaren takes over from Fred Rutten, who joined Bundesliga side Schalke in April after guiding Twente to a place in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League last season. Twente beat out more experienced Dutch sides Ajax and Feyenoord to the second Champions League qualification place. The Enschede-based club finished fourth in the league, but beat Ajax in a play-off to claim a spot in the third qualifying round of the 2008-09 Champions League.

McClaren had been linked with the vacant post at Blackburn in the wake of Mark Hughes’ move to Manchester City, but after several weeks of talks with the Twente president Joop Munsterman and a chat with legendary English manager Sir Bobby Robson, he decided to relaunch his career in Holland. Robson had two spells in Holland in charge of PSV Eindhoven in the early and the late 1990s. His first spell was after the 1990 World Cup when he left the England job. He went on to win the Eredivise title in 1991 and 1992.

McClaren told reporters: “Sir Bobby Robson told me that this would be a nice challenge for me. He also told me that FC Twente is a fantastic club and that I would feel at home. ”
McClaren will need to get to work straight away and have a chat with star midfielder Orlando Engelaar, who was part of the Dutch squad at Euro 2008, as he has been linked in the German press with a move to join Rutten at Schalke. He will also need to win over the fans according to the UK-based newspaper The Mirror.

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