On to the Champions League Group Stage we go

By: Bob | August 29th, 2007

Entering this week there were 16 teams that already had their tickets punched to take part in the big money, big fun Champions League group stage. Now we know the names of 15 teams that will join them in the Reindeer Games. All that is left is the postponed match between Sevilla and AEK Athens, which will be played on Monday, September 3. The third round of the big tournament saw some expected favorites go through, a pair on Ukrainian teams advance, a team from the Czech Republic reach the big stage for the first time and some contests that were tighter than a pair of pants after a holiday meal.

To virtually no one’s surprise, Arsenal and Liverpool made it to the round of 32. They are mainstays there. Benfica, Valencia, Steaua Bucharest and Werder Bremen are also returnees from last year. In fact, 21 of the 32 teams from last year have qualified. That means fans of underdogs will have to search hard for a team to latch on to. Slava Prague might be that team. After failing to advance to the group stage on five previous occasions, the Czech side finally broke through by knocking off Ajax 3-1 on aggregate. For a club that has faced financial difficulties in recent years simply making it to the group stage is a massive accomplishment. You can hardly blame their fans for bursting onto the pitch after the final whistle and helping their players lift their coach in celebration. It also is a massive disappointment for Ajax, who will have to watch rivals PSV Eindhoven carry the torch for the Netherlands.

The tightest tilt of the round was between Celtic and Spartak Moscow. After playing to a 1-1 draw on the synthetic turf in Russia in the first leg, the teams played a cracker of a game with both sides missing a penalty and seemingly intent on gifting a win to their opponent. They finished level at 1-1 and the Champions League spot and its gobs of gold came down to the pressure of penalties. Celtic came through 4-3 and advance to the round of 32 where they will be joined by Old Firm foe Ranger. The game featured Spartak’s Santos Batista Mozart, who has the best name of any player I’ve come across this week.

A pair of Ukrainian teams - Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk - also took care of business to reach the group stage for the second straight year. Shakhtar are an interesting story. They are owned by the billionaire Rinat Akhmetov and have spent more than 60 million euros on signings this summer. That kind of money shows they are serious about not only qualifying for Europe but competing with the big boys. They still have some ways to go.

Turkey is also representin’ this year with both Besitkas and Fenerbahce advancing. It is always fun to see the Turkish teams involved if not for their style of play than for the insanity of their fans.

The group stage draw will take place on Thursday. Here are the teams that whose names will be drawn from the pot. The eight seeded teams - four of which are from England - are guaranteed to not meet one another in group play.

Qualifying teams
Lazio, Rangers, Liverpool, Dynamo Kiev, Shakhtar Donestsk, Besitkas, Steaua Bucharest, Sevilla/AEK Athens, Arsenal, Werder Bremen, Fenerbahce, Slavia Prague, Benfica, Valencia, Rosenborg, Celtic

Automatic Qualifiers
AC Milan, Inter Milan, AS Roma, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique de Marseille, PSV Eindhoven, FC Porto, Sporting Lisbon, FC Schalke 04, Vfb Stuttgart, Olympiacos, CSKA Moscow

Seeded teams
AC Milan, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal

Country breakdown
England – 4
Spain – 4*
Italy – 4
Germany - 3
Portugal - 3
France – 2
Scotland - 2
Ukraine - 2
Turkey – 2
Russia - 1
Romania - 1
Czech Republic - 1
Netherlands – 1
Greece – 1*
Norway - 1

* Assuming Sevilla holds on to knock out AEK Athens.