A surprising '08/'09 Champions League picture comes into focus (Updated 5/6)
June 5th 2008 15:35
With the 2007/2008 Champions League final just under three weeks away, teams from all over the continent are rapidly claiming spots in next season's competition. England, Germany and Italy are sending familiar names, including this year's Champions League's one and two, but other leagues will be represented by some surprise clubs.
From Spain, Villareal and Atletico Madrid will compete in the Champions League alongside giants Real Madrid and Barcelona. Though they have an illustrious history in Europe, Atletico haven't participated in the big UEFA league since 1996/1997. By finishing fourth, they've assured themselves only the chance to compete in the qualifying rounds. Villareal, on the other hand, have secured second place and an automatic berth in the group stages for just the second time ever. They'll be hoping to repeat the success of their first voyage through Champions League play when they reached the semi-finals in the 2005/2006 season.
French side AS Nancy-Lorraine are within one win of securing a Champions League place for the first time. After spending most of their existence in France's second tier, Nancy-Lorraine impressively reached the 2005/2006 UEFA Cup by winning the French League Cup and will join more familiar clubs Lyon and Bordeaux in the Champions League if they can beat Rennes next Saturday. Otherwise, former Champions League winners Marseille could, with a win in the final week, beat them to third place and a spot in the competition. It would be just the third time this decade that Marseille have reached Europe's top league.
Portugal's third club in the 2008/2009 Champions League will be Vitoria de Guimaraes. Guimaraes were locked in a struggle with Benfica for third place in the Portuguese Liga until the last day of the season. Despite maintaining a goal difference of only 4 on the season, they assured a Champions League initiation for the coming season with a dominant 4-0 win against Estrela Amadora, leaving Benfica out of the competition for the first time since 2005.
The Eredivisie will definitely be sending perennial Champions League entrants PSV Eindhoven to next year's competition, but the Dutch league's second entrant will be the winner of a two-legged play-off that finishes on 18 May. After the first leg, minnows FC Twente have a 2-1 advantage over Dutch greats Ajax. If FC Twente manage the upset, they will book a first-time trip to the Champions League qualifying rounds.
Russia's first-time champions, Zenit St. Petersburg, earned their first shot at the Champions League by winning the Russian Premier League back in November. Under the tutelage of Dick Advocaat, FC Zenit will hope to do better in the Champions League than they've done so far in the 2008/2009 Russian domestic season, though, as they currently sit third from bottom and have won just one of six of their matches so far.
Finally, Panathinaikos have earned themselves the right to accompany Greek Super League champions Olympiacos to the Champions League next season with a 3-1 playoff win against Aris Salonika on 11 May. Panathinaikos have had some past success in the Champions League, reaching the quarterfinals in 2001/2002, but this will be their first time back to the UEFA top flight since that season.
Keep an eye on these underdog clubs for some excellent Champions League surprises next season, and keep an eye here on Champions League Watch for a look later on in the week at the surprises from the smaller European leagues for 2008/2009.
Update 5/6: Between the two posts in this series covering the surprises in next season's Champions League, I covered a number of clubs from a variety of countries. However, I left out perhaps the biggest surprise of all, and I have to apologize in particular to Romanian football fans for somehow overlooking their league's success. Romania's Liga I earned its way up in UEFA standings from 10th in 2006/07 to 7th overall heading into next season. This places it ahead of powerhouse leagues like Russia and the Netherlands. It also earned Romania an automatic Champions League group stage spot.
Making this story even more amazing is the fact that the team that took the spot were first-time champions CFR Cluj, a club that had never even finished second in Romania's top league before, let alone first. CFR fought for the championship right down to the wire against perennial Romanian titans Steaua Bucharest, winning on the final matchday of the season. In doing so, they booked a trip to the Champions League group stage and became the first club from outside of Bucharest to win the Romanian championship in 17 years.
My apologies to fans of CFR Cluj and Romanian football for failing to mention your Cinderella story .
From Spain, Villareal and Atletico Madrid will compete in the Champions League alongside giants Real Madrid and Barcelona. Though they have an illustrious history in Europe, Atletico haven't participated in the big UEFA league since 1996/1997. By finishing fourth, they've assured themselves only the chance to compete in the qualifying rounds. Villareal, on the other hand, have secured second place and an automatic berth in the group stages for just the second time ever. They'll be hoping to repeat the success of their first voyage through Champions League play when they reached the semi-finals in the 2005/2006 season.
French side AS Nancy-Lorraine are within one win of securing a Champions League place for the first time. After spending most of their existence in France's second tier, Nancy-Lorraine impressively reached the 2005/2006 UEFA Cup by winning the French League Cup and will join more familiar clubs Lyon and Bordeaux in the Champions League if they can beat Rennes next Saturday. Otherwise, former Champions League winners Marseille could, with a win in the final week, beat them to third place and a spot in the competition. It would be just the third time this decade that Marseille have reached Europe's top league.
Portugal's third club in the 2008/2009 Champions League will be Vitoria de Guimaraes. Guimaraes were locked in a struggle with Benfica for third place in the Portuguese Liga until the last day of the season. Despite maintaining a goal difference of only 4 on the season, they assured a Champions League initiation for the coming season with a dominant 4-0 win against Estrela Amadora, leaving Benfica out of the competition for the first time since 2005.
The Eredivisie will definitely be sending perennial Champions League entrants PSV Eindhoven to next year's competition, but the Dutch league's second entrant will be the winner of a two-legged play-off that finishes on 18 May. After the first leg, minnows FC Twente have a 2-1 advantage over Dutch greats Ajax. If FC Twente manage the upset, they will book a first-time trip to the Champions League qualifying rounds.
Russia's first-time champions, Zenit St. Petersburg, earned their first shot at the Champions League by winning the Russian Premier League back in November. Under the tutelage of Dick Advocaat, FC Zenit will hope to do better in the Champions League than they've done so far in the 2008/2009 Russian domestic season, though, as they currently sit third from bottom and have won just one of six of their matches so far.
Finally, Panathinaikos have earned themselves the right to accompany Greek Super League champions Olympiacos to the Champions League next season with a 3-1 playoff win against Aris Salonika on 11 May. Panathinaikos have had some past success in the Champions League, reaching the quarterfinals in 2001/2002, but this will be their first time back to the UEFA top flight since that season.
Keep an eye on these underdog clubs for some excellent Champions League surprises next season, and keep an eye here on Champions League Watch for a look later on in the week at the surprises from the smaller European leagues for 2008/2009.
Update 5/6: Between the two posts in this series covering the surprises in next season's Champions League, I covered a number of clubs from a variety of countries. However, I left out perhaps the biggest surprise of all, and I have to apologize in particular to Romanian football fans for somehow overlooking their league's success. Romania's Liga I earned its way up in UEFA standings from 10th in 2006/07 to 7th overall heading into next season. This places it ahead of powerhouse leagues like Russia and the Netherlands. It also earned Romania an automatic Champions League group stage spot.
Making this story even more amazing is the fact that the team that took the spot were first-time champions CFR Cluj, a club that had never even finished second in Romania's top league before, let alone first. CFR fought for the championship right down to the wire against perennial Romanian titans Steaua Bucharest, winning on the final matchday of the season. In doing so, they booked a trip to the Champions League group stage and became the first club from outside of Bucharest to win the Romanian championship in 17 years.
My apologies to fans of CFR Cluj and Romanian football for failing to mention your Cinderella story .
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