Okay, While there are two or three really exciting groups, the English clubs should feel pretty comfortable as they mostly avoided the big names. Chelsea and Liverpool both face tricky groups, but neither are faced with a Real Madrid or Juve.

Full draw, reaction and predictions after the jump:

Group A

So lets start at the start. Group A sees Bayern Munich drawn against Juventus, Bordeaux and Maccabi Haifa. Should be an absolutely fascinating group. Bordeaux won’t be pushovers by any stretch of the imagination, Juve look rejuvinated and ready to challenege again, and while Bayern have struggled in Germany so far this season, I expect them to get it together in Europe.
Prediction: Juve to win the group, Bayern second, Bordeaux to be stuck in the UEFA Cup spot.

Group B
Man United got drawn with CSKA Moscow, Besiktas and Wolfsburg. It is a group that last years finalists should get through comfortably, but Wolfsburg will be a threat, and Besiktas and CSKA are always tricky teams to play away against.
Prediction: Man United to win it, from Wolfsburg and then a close battle for third, which Besiktas will nick.

Group C
This is a big big group. 17 European Cups between them. 7 Time winners Milan, drawn with 9 times winners Real Madrid and One time winner Marseille. Poor Zurich will be the whipping boys. OM might well be the best of the French sides this year, and while Real look great on paper, its might take time for them to gel. Milan were predicted to look poor this season sans-Kaka’ but have started ok in Serie A.
Prediction: Real to win it from Milan and Marseille in third. Zurich might not get any points at all.

Group D
An interestingly balanced group this – Chelsea drawn against Porto, Atlético Madrid and APOEL of Cyprus. While the latter is an unknown quality, we know plenty about the other three. Porto have won the competition this decade, while Chelsea are deseperate to, and Atleti have an amazing front line.
Prediction: Chelsea to take the group, from Atlético with Porto consigned to the UEFA Cup.

Group E
Another really fascinating group. Liverpool, who always perform in Europe regardless of domestic form, Lyon – who have lost a couple of big names over the summer – and Fiorentina all drawn together with Debrecren making up the numbers.
Prediction: This is one of the toughest groups to call, and caused a bit of an argument on the liveblog.
Liverpool’s European experience should see them through despite their current form, which leaves Lyon and Fiorentina to battle it out as last year. I’ll back Fiorentina to make it this time. Lyon for the UEFA Cup.

Group F
Another huge group, with Champions Barcelona drawn with Inter. The two swapped Eto’o and Ibrahimovic (along with a boatload of money) over the summer, so that’s interesting enough to spice to it up. Dynamo Kiev and Kazan provide the other two sides – and two tricky trips east for the group favourites.
Prediction: Tough to see past Barca, then Inter, and then one of the other two for the UEFA Cup. Will say Dynamo Kiev.

Group G
Sevilla were the seeded team here, joined by Rangers, Stuttgart and Unirea. Pretty balanced, its a group they’ll all feel they might get out of.
Prediction: Another really tough one to call. I’m gonna go nuts and predict Stuttgart and Rangers to advance.

Group H
This one Arsenal should be rather happy with. The Gunners are drawn with AZ of Holland, Olympiacos of Greece and Standard Liege of Belgium.
Prediction: Arsenal to waltz through, and then Olympiacos second.

So here is your print out and then cut out and keep and then lose guide to the draw tomorrow. Who’s seeded (not Real Madrid) who’s going to get a tough group, and so on.

Basically teams from the same pot, and same nation can’t be drawn together. So everyone from pot 1 will be drawn out into a group of their own, then will be joined from a team each from pot 2, and three and so on. Except for “excitement” they’ll probably start with Pot 4.

Ok the teams in each pot.

Pot 1 – Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Milan, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Sevilla

Pot 2 – Lyon, Inter, Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow, FC Porto, AZ, Juventus, and Rangers

Pot 3 – Olympiacos, Marseille, Dynamo Kiev, Stuttgart, Fiorentina, Atlético Madrid, Bordeaux and Besiktas,

Pot 4 – Wolfsburg, Standard, Maccabi Haifa, Zurich, Rubin Kazan, Unirea Urzicini, APOEL and Debrecen

So obviously each group will get one team from each pot, which leaves open plenty of opportunity for groups of death. Certainly pots 2 and 3 have some teams that the big boys will really want to avoid. I’m excited. Which leaves me with one thing. Here’s the Liveblog. See you tomorrow.

And with teams like Arsenal, Fiorentina, Sporting Lisbon, Atletico Madrid we were going to get some decent stuff to look forward to. The full draw is after the jump.

UEFA Champions League play-off round
Non-Champions Route

Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) v RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
Celtic FC (SCO) v Arsenal FC (ENG)
FC Timişoara (ROU) v VfB Stuttgart (GER)
Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR) v ACF Fiorentina (ITA)
Panathinaikos FC (GRE) v Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP)

UEFA Champions League play-off round
Champions Route

FC Sheriff (MDA) v Olympiacos CFP (GRE)
FC Salzburg (AUT) v Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR)
FK Ventspils (LVA) v FC Zürich (SUI)
FC København (DEN) v APOEL FC (CYP)
PFC Levski Sofia (BUL) v Debreceni VSC (HUN)

Whoever wins their games gets to play in the group stages of the Champions League – which means a big learning curve for the smaller boys, and less and less of the same old matches.

The big ones for me there are Arsenal taking on Celtic in what will inevitably dubbed (probably even by me) as the “Battle of Britian” as it invariably is in these circumstances. There’s also Sporting Lisbon taking on Fiorentina, two sides who usually would sit in the group stage, and Atletico and Pana two sides who would probably be looking to get through a group stage usually.

18th and 19th of August are the first legs. Can. Not. Wait.

I believe, much like last year, we’ll see the semi final draw today as well, so this is the last Champions League draw for awhile. The last in fact before the new system which will make the CL quali draw interesting even to the big sides.

Live video is streamed here, currently playing the CL “Hymn” on repeat. Should be go within the next half hour though. Full Liveblog after the jump.

I guess the worst case scenario is Bayern/Sporting the two Spanish teams being drawn together and then all the English drawn together. That’d be dull. Having said that, if they’re all kept apart there is the numbing prospect of an all-English Semi-Final.

About ten minutes, I’m pretty excited. Hoping for at least one massive game.

Ooh its started! Eyes down all.

Clips of Bruno Conti who is doing the draw. He was special.

Villarreal first out. They have drawn Arsenal.

Man United out, the Champions. FC Porto, 2004 Champions.

Liverpool. They play Chelsea. Ooh that’ll be exciting …

And so Barca vs Bayern. That’s pretty big.

And the Semi’s – Man United or Porto Vs Villarreal or Arsenal
Barca/Bayern vs Liverpool/Chelsea

The winner of the Barca/Bayern/Liverpool/Chelsea semi plays as the home team in the final.

So no all-English semi’s, only one all-English QF, and Barca and Man United can’t play one another till the final. I guess Barca/Bayern is the big QF, if the Ro16 matches were anything to go by, there will be goals.

Cheers for reading. More reaction to follow.

All the teams involved and thier seedings are below; the proceedure is one team from each seeding group is drawn together to make up the groups. So the big sides will want to avoid Fiorentina and Athletico Madrid presumably, who are going to be drawn against the big sides.

Liveblog after the jump.

Group I

Manchester United
Chelsea
Liverpool
Barcelona
Arsenal
Lyon
Internazionale
Real Madrid

GROUP II

Bayern
PSV Eindhoven
Villarreal
Roma
Porto
Werder Bremen
Sporting CP
Juventus

GROUP III

Marseille
Zenit St. Petersburg
Steaua Bucureşti
Panathinaikos
Bordeaux
Celtic
Basel
Fenerbahçe

GROUP IV

Shakhtar Donetsk
Fiorentina
Atlético Madrid
Dynamo Kyiv
CFR Cluj
Aalborg BK
Anorthosis Famagusta
BATE

Which reminds me – how rubbish is the coeffiecent seeding nonsense? Say your making your debut in the Champions League today, your at the bottom of the ranking and your drawn against all teams with more experience and whatever than you, and the only way to climb up is to beat them, which is quite tough. I say just draw everyone against everyone.

The Group One people will be drawn into each group first and then all the group 2 people if that makes sense. Its going to be interesting I think.

Sky are interviewing Scott McDonald of Celtic, who could easily be drawn against an English side, and will cue endless ‘Battle of Britian’ headlines. In fact McDonald has just used that exact phrase.

Sky are now going through all thier news things. Larsson is coming back to the UK, SWP has gone back to Man City, Something about Andy Murray. Obviously UEFA’s chitchat is quite dull if Sky don’t even want to show it.

Chelsea are the favourites for the Champions League pre-draw, which isn’t that surprising. They have made good signings, good manager etc. Man United are second, Inter Milan are third. Seems roughly fair I reckon.

Messi and C-Ron are the favourites to be top scorer, Torres next, Eto’o and Van Nisto are in the mix.

Sky think that Italian teams don’t stand a chance. Discuss.

A man from World Soccer magazine is on Sky saying that he thinks the Spanish sides are rubbish as well. Who’d think Sky would be so biased? [/sarcasm]

We’re due to start here, but you know UEFA, there will be some talking for awhile more.

Oooh the Champions League Hymn! Here we go.

A clip of Pirlo in the opening montage. AC milan of course, not going to be in this draw.

UEFA are going through the club players of the years stuff now it seems.

Goalkeeper of the season is Petr Cech? Didn’t think he was that great last year to be honest.

Bruno Conti the little legend is on to do the draw, as the final is in Rome.

Cech stood next to Conti is hilarious due to the height difference.

Are we watching closely? Its going to start soon, I promise.

They are explaining the technicalities of the draw. Everyone looks bored witless.

Pot one about to be drawn, here we go.

Chelsea are first out, and can be drawn anywhere, I think. They are drawn into A.

Inter are out now, and are drawn into Group B

Lyon are out. Are they going to be in C, No they are in F.

Arsenal are out and into Group G

Real Madrid are going to be in Group H.

Barca and Man United are out. Now a defender award while we all catch breath. Baresi is on the stage, doesn’t get any better really.

Liverpool are in Group D.

John Terry wins defender of the year. Chelsea on for an odd sweep so far.

Second seeds about to come out. Hope i can keep up.

Sporting are first out. Will they Man United again? Nope, C with Barca.

PSV out now. D With liverpool.

Villareal are in with Man United!

Oooh Juve in with Real Madrid. That’s huge history.

Roma are out in group A

Porto have Arsenal.

Lyon are stuck with Bayern, which leaves Bremen with Inter.

Frank Lampard was ok in the CL. But why are Chelsea having a sweep here? Bizzare.

Bordeaux are out first here. could get anyone but Lyon. A is where they are.

Fenerbahce. Noone wants them after last years showing. In Arsenal’s group which is interesting now.

Zenit are out now, last years UEFA Cup heroes are in the group H. With Real and Juve. Tough group.

FC Basel have got Group C, with Barca and Sporting.

B for panathinaikos with Inter.

Celtic are out now, in Man United group surprise surprise.

Marseilles are now having Liverpools group, which leaves Steaua with Lyon and Bayern.

Is Drogba gonna make this the oddest Chelsea sweep of all time?

Ronaldo gets it despite being obviously a winger. I don’t really get it.

Some minnows here, but also Athletico and of course, Fiorentina.

Aalborg first out. Man United’s group.

Fiorentina. Ooooooooh. F. F for Fiorentina. We have our Group of Death?

Group A for Cluj.

Dinamo Kiev are in G with Arsenal. Open group that one.

Anorthosis Famagusta are out now. From Cyprus to Milan, they are in with Inter.

Athletico Madrid are chucked into Group D. Return for Madrid for Torres.

BATE are in the Real/Juve group. I would be worried if I was them.
Shaktar are the last side out.

The Finished draw is below:

Group A
Chelsea
Roma
Bordeaux
Cluj

Group B
Inter
Werder Bremen
panathinaikos
Anorthosis Famagusta

Group C
Barcelona
Sporting Lisbon
FC Basel
Shaktar

Group D
Liverpool
PSV
Marseille
Athletico Madrid

Group E
Manchester United
Villareal
Celtic
Aalborg

Group F
Lyon
Bayern
Steaua
Fiorentina

Group G
Arsenal
Porto
Fenerbahce
Dinamo Kiev

Group H
Real Madrid
Juventus
Zenit St Petersburg
BATE

Thanks for going through that with me, I just about held that together I think.

Big names in the hat, including, Juventus, Arsenal, Liverpool, Barcelona, Athletico Madrid, Steaua, Fiorentina, Galatasaray, Rangers, Olympic Marsielle and many more.

11:02 – The Uefa.com site is already struggling. Not a good sign.

11:04 – ah I have it. A man is explaining the rules – no two clubs from the same country, big teams are seeded to give them a giant advantage etc.

11:05 – Athletico Madrid aren’t seeded, which is interesting. They could get a Juve or Fiorentina and could be really interesting.

11:06 – They keep cutting to the chairmen in the crowd who have no fucking idea whats happening.

11:07 – The draw is rubbish. If two teams from the same country get drawn, they are just gonna swap them with the next match. If the last two teams are from the same country, the first match will change.

11:08 – We’re about to KO, only 10 minutes late.

First Draw

Rapid Wien’s Vs Olympiacos
Vitoria Vs Goteborg/Basel
Shakthar Vs Dinamo Zagreb (who are 3-0 so are going through)
Schalke, last years QF Vs Athletico Madrid! – Massive game! Should be fun.
Aalborg or Modrica vs Rangers or Kaunus
Levski Sofia Vs Andelect
Barca! Barca are out. Barcelona Vs Beitar Jeruselam or Wisla Krakow
Standard Vs Liverpool. – Tricky tie for the English side, but away first which they’ll like.
Inter Baku or FK Partizan Vs Fenerbache or Budapest. Last years QF have a trickyish tie.
FC Twente Vs Arsenal – oh meant to be. Steve McClaren will return to the Prem.
Spartack Moscow Vs Dynamo Kiev or Drogeba – Could be Russia Vs Ukraine there.
Juventus. Juve will play Tampere United or Artmedia
FC Brann or Ventsiplis Vs Marseille. OM have a likely trip to norway.
Fiorentina Vs Slavia Prague. Big game there to, though Fiorentina should get through.
Galatasaray Vs Steaua. Big match, controversy ahoy.
Panathianikos/Dinamo Tiblisi Vs Sheriff Sparta

And thats it!

Big picks, are Steve McClaren taking on Arsenal, don’t expect a good reception for him. Fiorentina vs Slavia should be good, and of course Athletico Madrid Vs Schalke, last years QF’s. Should be really good.

Full draw after the jump.

UEFA Champions League First Qualifying Round.
Matches to be played 15th and 16th of July, and the 22nd and 23rd of July.

1 Linfield FC (NIR) v NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
2 Valetta FC (MLT) v FC Artmedia Petržalka (SVK)
3 FC Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) v NSÍ Runavík (FRO)
4 FC Santa Coloma (AND) v FBK Kaunus (LTU)
5 S.S. Murata (SMR) v IFK Göteborg (SWE)
6 Llanelli AFC (WAL) v FK Ventspils (LVA)
7 Anorthosis Famugusta (CYP) v FC Pyunik (ARM)
8 FK İnter Bakı (AZE) v FK Rabotnicki (MKD)
9 Tampere United (FIN) v FK Budućnost Podgorica (MNE)
10 F91 Dudelange (LUX) v NK Domžale (SVN)
11 KS Dinamo Tirana (ALB) v FK Modriča (BIH)
12 FK Aktobe (KAZ) v FC Sheriff (MDA)
13 Drogheda United FC (IRL) v FC Levadia Tallinn (EST)
14 FC BATE Borisov (BLR) v Valur Reykjavík (ISL)

Champions League Second Qualifying Round Draw:
Matches will be played 29/30th of July (First Leg) and the 5/6th August (Second Leg)

Rangers FC (SCO) v Winners Match 4
SK Brann (NOR) v Winners Match 6
Winners Match 8 v FK Partizan (SRB)
Winners Match 9 v Winners Match 2
Winners Match 7 v SK Rapid Wien (AUT)
Winners Match 10 v Winners Match 1
Panathinaikos FC (GRE) v Winners Match 3
Winners Match 5 v FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
Winners Match 12 v AC Sparta Praha (CZE)
Winners Match 13 v FC Dinamo Kyiv (UKR)
RSC Anderlecht (BEL) v Winners Match 14
Beitar Jerusalem FC (ISR) v Wisla Kraków (POL)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) v MTK Budapest (HUN)
Aalborg BK (DEN) v Winners Match 11

So only two weeks till club football kicks off again. Time to pick a minnow and hope they make it to the Group stage. Come on Llanelli!

So Here’s a run down of which teams are in which qualifying section, who could be playing against who, and who has made the group stages already.

The Following Teams will compete in the First Qualifying Round (Draw tomorrow, matches two weeks after)

Artmedia Petrzalka
Kaunas
BATE Borisov
Llanelli
Dinamo Zagreb
Tampere United
Dinamo Tirana
NSI Runavik
Anorthosis Famagusta
Sherriff Tiraspol
Levada Tallinn
Dudelange
IFK Goteborg
Drogheda United
Pyunik Yerevan
Vallettea
Domzale
Dimao Tiblisi
Inter Baku
Santa Coloma
FC Modrica
Rabotnicki
Aktobe
Murata
Ventsplis
Valur
Linfield
Buducnost

None of these teams really stand a chance of making it to the group stage, they have to win three tricky matches to get there. Next year however, the rules are going to be completely changed, so qualifying is going to be a different, fairer beast.

Anyway, this year if those teams win, they’ll get drawn against these:
The Teams who will play in the Second Qualifying Round of the Champions League

Rangers
Fenerbahce
Beitar Jerusalem
Rapid Vienna
Dynamo Kiev
Panathinaikos
Partizan
Wisla Krakow
Anderlecht
FC Basel
Aaloborg
MTK Budapest
Sparta Prague
Brann

Some decent teams in there, that we have seen in the Champions League before, which could be interesting. Those that win, will be then drawn against teh following:
The teams that will compete in the Third Qualifying Round:

Barcelona
Fiorentina
Twente
Slavia Prague
Athletico Madrid
Marseille
Spartak Moscow
Galatasaray
Arsenal
Schalke 04
Shaktar Donetsk
Olympiacos
Liverpool
Vitoria Guimaraes
Standard
Levski Sofia
Juventus
Steaua

Whoever gets through that lot, and there are a fair few good sides in that section; will come up against the following:
The Teams Who Have Made It To The Group Stage:

Real Madrid
Inter Milan
Bayern Munich
CFR Cluj
Villarreal
AS Roma
Werder Bremen
PSV
Manchester United
Lyon
FC Porto (Controversially, as they were kicked out and let back in, along with Steaua)
Zenit St. Petersberg
Chelsea
Bordeaux
Sporting Lisbon
Celtic (who get into the group stage as Man United won the title)

And there you have it. Its gonna be one hell of a ride, from here till that match in Rome. Who will win, who will shock-qualify, who will be going home already? Thoughts?

Mourinho shown the door. After a 1-1 draw with Rosenborg, The Special One is guided through the door marked ‘EXIT’ at Stamford Bridge. The rest of the season would be spent with him doing nothing except being ‘On Setanta Sports’

Ronaldo doesn’t celebrate against his old club. He’s often accused of a lack of class, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s refusal to celebrate his goal againt Sporting Lisbon was to be admired.

Deivid’s strike against Inter. Fenerbahce were this years surprise team, and they got off to a flyer with a beautiful strike from Deivid. It wouldn’t be thier last beautiful goal

Dida madness. After the smallest touch from a ’supporter’ Dida goes down and has to be taken off. Its pretty much the end of his Milan carrer.

Valbuena upsets Liverpool. A beautiful strike for the Marseilles man, made it look very difficult for Liverpool. Just one point after two games.

The begining of a bad season for Valencia. They lost to Chelsea, in Avram Grants first CL match. Not the exciting football promised from Grant, but 3 points nonetheless. Valencia’s season just went from bad to worse.

Arsenal come of age. Spectacularly. Arsenal win 7-0 against Slavia Prague to cement an incredible start to thier season as Fabregas, Flamini, Walcott et al all come of age. Its a record win the Champions League (though it doesn’t last long)

Anything you can do. Liverpool, in deserpate need of a win after just a couple of points in three games win 8-0 against Besiktas setting a new Champions League record.

Rangers play anti-football. Leo Messi frowned at why a club would want to just play for a 0-0 draw. The rest of Europe would go on to boo them as they managed to 0-0 thier way through the UEFA cup.

Super Pippo! Inzaghi breaks Gerd Muller’s record of goals in European competetion. A credit to the man.

Good Old Marco Ballotta. The Lazio keeper became the oldest player to ever play in the Champions League.

Torres Wondergoal. El Nino has been a massive success at Liverpool in his first year. His solo effort against Marseilles was brilliant.

Arsenal win in the San Siro. In a battle of youth and expierence, Arsenal win in the San Siro to put them through to the Quater Finals. The joy on Cesc Fabregas face was incredible.

The Matrix sees red. Again. A couple of weak challenges on Fernando Torres meant that the man they call The Matrix was unfairly sent off against Liverpool in leg one. Inter went defensive, but eventually Liverpool came up with the goods.

Mancini Quits. Then Doesn’t. Before the Liverpool/Inter game all the talk was of Rafa’s job. After a defeat at the hands of Liverpool, Inter manager Roberto Mancini handed in his notice. And then promptly changed his mind. Inter promptly went to pieces and now Mancini has been sacked.

Fenerbahce Vs Sevilla. The whole match. Absolutely spectacular entertainment.

BojanGoals! Bojan Krkic becomes the first player born in the 1990s to score in the Champions League. Suddenly the world realises why Ronaldinho hasn’t had much luck at Camp Nou recently.

Roma win against Real. Real Madrid’s fall in Europe continued this season, as Roma performed incredibly to grab a win.

That ‘Fixed’ Champions League draw. Someone on a Liverpool forum predicts the Champions League draw proclaiming it a fix. he has 100/1 odds of being right. He’s right. for 24 hours choas ensued. UEFA shrugged. World kept turning.

Fener shock Chelsea. A beautiful strike from Deivid completed a great comeback for Fener who beat Chelsea 2-1 in ‘Hell’. Chelsea would win the second leg though.

The Liverpool/Arsenal Trilogy. Well The Last bit. Liverpool and Arsenal played each other 3 times in a week and drew the first two 1-1. The last part of the ‘Trilogy’ as the English press insisted on calling it was the game of the tournament though.

Ronaldo’s header against Roma. Roma looked the better side, but Ronaldo rose magnificently to dispatch them.

Maldini doesn’t retire yet. It looks increasingly like St Poalo will put off retirement for another year. He’s not in the CL next season though.

English dominince. For better or worse, there’s no getting away from it, England is begining to dominate the Champions League. 5 finialists in 4 years.

John Arne-Riise’s header. Cruel, but memorable.

Phil Thompson’s reaction to that header.

Drogba dives. All week Rafa called Chelsea man Didier Drogba a diver. Drogba scored the goal that would help send Liverpool on thier way before diving before Rafa. Ouch.

Lampard says goodbye in style. After his mother’s death, some questioned Frank Lampard’s descion to play against Liverpool. More eyebrows were raised when he stepped up to take a pen. Balls of steel, Lampard tucked it away and pointed to the heavens, beautiful.

Barca vs Man United. But Rubbish. Maybe not rubbish. But it wasn’t the game we hoped for.

Paul Scholes finds redemption at last. Scholes missed Man Uniteds 99 final due to an iffy yellow card in the semi final. He made up for it by scoring an absolute belter against Barca to fire his team to another final.

Russian Science Promises Me It Won’t Rain. And Then It Did.
Ryan Giggs breaks Bobby Charlton’s record. In an era where players move clubs like they change socks, its nice to see a player play with one club his entire life, and in Giggsy’s case, be a giant success.

Lampard scores. Again. Frank Lampard scored in the final, making him the first player to score in every Knockout round of the Champions League.

Drogba slaps Vidic. Not his finest hour, Didier Drogba (probably) ended his Chelsea carrer by bitchslapping Nemanja Vidic.

Nicky Anelka throws a hissy fit and costs Chelsea the Final. Anelka came on out of position, and then when was asked to take a pen went “Fuck off, you didn’t play me up front from the start!” just when he was losing his “le sulk” image too.

JT’s missed pen. Not one he’ll want to remember, but it decided the final in the end. Unlucky to have slipped.

Arsenal Vs Liverpool

Perhaps the most intriuging psychologicaly of the 4 ties, for a number of reasons. In 2003, when Benitez was Valencia manager, his side overcame Arsenal 2-0 on aggregate, and he will be hoping for a repeat result. However, since taking over at Anfield, Rafa has yet to beat Arsenal in the Premier League, and indeed they have shipped 12 goals in thier last four league games against Arsenal, struggling to deal with the Gunners free-flowing football. So for Benitez the solution is simple: he must convince his players that this is a Champions League match – sounds easy on paper, it is after all just that, but when your travelling to the Emirates memories of recent hammerings are going to come to the mind of the players. But Liverpool are undoubtedly a European side, and if they can treat this like any other European fixture, then they stand a great chance of overturning thier recent form against Arsenal.

Speaking of form, Arsenal’s form recently has been awful. They picked up a confidence boosting late win at struggling Bolton at the weekend, but theat was precceded by a failure to win since thier epic victory in the San Siro in Milan. Wenger has to remind his troops of the victory in Milan, and forget about thier iffy League form, where they have pretty much thrown the Premiership title away. Arsenal have been slightly overachieving this year untill its levelled itself out of late, but Wenger will have to remind his men that they just don’t lose against Liverpool. It looks to be a fascinating game.

AS Roma Vs Manchester United

For Roma, the main problem here is the oft-mentioned hammering they recieved at this stage in the competetion last year. If Spalletti can get his side to forget about that – as he seemed to at Old Trafford where they were unlucky to loose 1-0 earlier in the tournament – then Roma can approach the game with a fresh mind. They do have the psychological blow of being without thier Captain, Totti too. There is a real feeling with Roma that confidence is a big issue with some of thier big players. They just can’t let thier heads drop, and the big test will be if they go a goal behind, they just can’t crumble, (DDR Will be vital) and will have to get a goal at some stage. If they can remind themselves of Madrid, and not Old Trafford, then they stand every chance.

For United, they too have to put out of thier heads the big victory from last year. If they go out thinking its going to be a cakewalk then they are in real trouble. They are undoubtedly in fine form, and are the best team in England at the moment, so no doubt that if they can just think about their own good form and take that confidence into the game, instead of thinking about recent victories, then they seem unlikely to slip up.

Barcelona Vs Schalke, Chelsea Vs Fenerbahce

Both games are real David Vs Goliath battles, with the Germans getting to this stage for the first time ever, and Barca on paper having the best team left in the tournament.
Barca do go into the game missing key players (Oleguer, Messi, possibly Eto’o) and thier league form has been all over the place this season. They really are still going to have to put in a performance over the two legs, if they believe the hype that the game is done and dusted, they stand a chance of being shocked. Chelsea meanwhile are finding thier form in the league and fighting back to contention for the Prem. The win in the league against Arsenal will be a big boost, but like Barca they have to take the opposition seriously, else they will struggle.

For Schalke and Fener, they have to believe they can geniunely do it – and to prove it, they will be looking to recent times when smaller teams got a long way unexpectedly, like Schalke’s close rivals Dortmund in 1997. They may well also look to the more recent exploits of the likes of Porto. They have to believe – and geniunely believe – they are a match for big sides like Barca and Chelsea and not go as tourists, they will be punished if they do. Its time for big players like Kuranyi and Kezman to really step up to the plate.