Champions League 2010/2011 - The Story So Far...

The Championsssssssssssssssssss

Well it Started on the 29th of June

76 Teams from 52 Associations

Some of the teams had taken their league's by storm in the previous season while others sneaked in the back door & many teams were great in their leagues to finsh in the champions league places the previous season, Lets forget about the Qualification rounds and head straight to the group stages !

 

32 Teams 8 groups, battle for places in the knockout stages !

A brief overview of the how some of the teams did in their groups

Group A:

Tottenham Hotspur

Inter Milan

FC Twente

Werder Bremen

Tottenham joined the "big boys" league when they successfuly piped Manchester City to fourth place the previous season, Harry Redknapp & his Spurs team must of been "glad" with the teams drawn in thier group, With Spurs cruising 2-0 Werder hit back as the game ended 2-2 & Spurs must of been finking what could be on the horizon in their Champions League campaign, But it didnt seem that way as Spurs thrashed FC Twente formally managed by ex England boss Steve Mclaren 4-1, Spurs were feeling confident of progressing their tails were up as they headed to the San Siro to play Inter Milan in what turned out to be an extraordinary game, at Half time spurs looked down and out! commeth the hour comeeth the boy! Gareth Bale, A Gareth Bale hattrck in the 2nd half ensured Spurs were still no pushover in the Champions league as they lost 4-3, giving Maicon nightmares! 

In the second round of group matches Gareth Bale & Co were on fire and were destined to qualify for the knockout stages, The Return of Inter Milan at White Hart Lane, No one expected it but thats football Spurs were flying as Inter were well and truly beaten 3-1 and this would be an earmark of an exciting campaign for Spurs in their Champions League debut. So it proved to be as Bremen were brushed aside 3-0 more excitment was to come in their final group game against FC Twente, In an exciting entertaining game Spurs drew 3-3 despite taking the lead 3 times! the draw ensured Spurs a point and top of thier group in their debut season as they qualifed for the knockout stages alongside Inter Milan, Spurs officaly became the "Entertainers" of European football...welcome to the "big boys" league arry!

Group B:

FC Schalke

Lyon

Benfica

Hapoel Tel Aviv

In this group Lyon were favorites to progress along side Benfica, but Schalke with their new formed strike partnership in Real Madrid legend Raul  & dutch hit man Klass Jan Huntelaar had something to say about that! Hapoel Tel Aviv came and went in the group. FC Schalke topped the group with Lyon in 2nd place while Benfica were sent to the Europa League after finishing 3rd

Group C:

Manchester United

Valencia
Rangers

Bursaspor

Manchester United came into this group as favorites to qualify for the knockout stages, but in their first game United drew with Rangers 0-0 in which Antonio Valenica sufferd a serious ankle injury which had kept him out for 5months but his namesake team Valencia smashed 4 goals past turkish outfit Bursaspor, next a vist to the Mestella where another draw was on the horizon but the ever growing "Chico" Hernandez came off the substitue bench to claim all 3 points for United against Valencia. Bursaspor came to Old Trafford looking to get hammerd but that did not happen as United only won 1-0 as they lead the group by 2 points before the next round of matches.

United ran out 3-0 winners away to Bursaspo which all but ended the turkish teams chance of qualifying for the knockout stages, United then travelled to glasgow in what would always be a tough game as United won 1-0 through a Wayne Rooney penalty. Manchester United came into the last game of the group to set a new record for not conceding a goal in the group stages but Valenica struck to end any chance of that but they got their reward to top the group when Anderson made it 1-1, United & Valencia were through to the knockout stages.

Group D:

Barcelona

FC Copenhagen
FC Rubin Kazan
Panathanikos

Barcelona as expected were favourites to progress but it wasnt easy for them after their first game when they had whooped Panathanikos 5-1 but Rubin Kazan ensured it did not happend to them as they drew 1-1  Barcelona then topped the group after beating FC Copenhagen 2-0 but in the return game a resolute Copenhagen ensured barcelona left with just only a point after a 1-1 draw, but after 2 wins from 2 the spanish champions were through.

Group E:

Bayern Munich 

Roma

Basel

Cluj

Bayern Munich entered the group stages as last season's beaten finalists and were expected to qualify from the group and they did from 5 wins out of 6, which included a 3-2 defeat against Roma who followed them through to the knockout stages in second place.

Group F:

Chelsea
Marsille

Spartak Moscow
MSK Zilina

Chelsea made it to the knockout stages despite losing to Marseille in the final group game who finsished in second place which ensured Spartak Moscow finshed 3rd to join the Euro flops in the Europa League and MSK Zilina sent packing !

Group G:Real Madrid
AC Milan
Ajax
Auxerre

This group was everyone's "Group of Death" as nine times European winners Madrid were pitted against Italian masters AC Milan, Dutch giants Ajax and french outfit Auxerre. As it was expected Mourinho's Madrid went through alongside AC Milan, Real Madrid were unbeaten in this group and also a thrilling 2-2 draw against AC Milan at the San Siro was on of the highlights in the group

Group H:

Shaktar Donetsk
Aresnal
Braga
Partizan

In the final group Shaktar Ensured they topped the group ahead of Aresnal despite Aresnal begining their campigan off to a flyer with a 6-0 win against Braga and also thrashing Shaktar at the Emirates 5 - 1 but the wheels came off for Aresnal after back to back defeats to Shaktar and Braga, Aresnal old boy Eduardo scored the winner against Aresenal  which put Shaktar top of the table follwed by Arsenal, & Braga ended up to in the Europa league while Partizan misreable European Campaign was put to an end as they finshed bottom.

Last 16 Knockout Stage

From 32 we were left with 16 to battle for a place in the Quarter Finals

The last 16 proved to have some exciting games* & 1 or 2 shocks

AC Milan V Spurs
Valencia V Schalke

Roma V Shaktar Donetsk

Aresnal V Barcelona

FC Copenhagen V Chelsea

Lyon V Real Madrid
Marseille V Manchester United
Inter Milan V Bayern Munich 

* Teams in bold went through 

Spurs caused a shock as they went to the San Siro and won 1-0 not many teams do that, there was even a scuffle between "Italian Hardman" and Spurs assistant coach Joe Jordon, But at the Lane in the 2nd leg Spurs held on with a resolute defensive display and were through to the Quarter Finals with a memorable result.

Schalke upset the odds when they had beaten Valencia

Shaktar Donetsk caused a shock when they had knocked out Roma, beating them in Rome and hammering them in Ukraine

Arsenal were pitted against Barcelona in what would eventually be were Arsenal's season had hit the distruction button but not before a superb Aresnal perfomance in the first leg at the Emirates ensured Aresnal were still in the tie but the second leg Barcelona went about their business like they always do. Arsenal even had a record to hold despite being knocked out - they were the first team in Champions League history to not have any shots in a match, Aresnal were trully outclassed and outplayed by Barcelona

FC Copenhagen came into this match against Chelsea unbeaten at home but Chelsea changed that after beating them 2-0 but the 2nd leg proved diffrerent a subdued Chelsea performance ensured it stayed 2-0 on aggrerate as Copenhagen were knocked out

Lyon V Madrid is always a good game but no for Madrid. In recent seasons Madrid were knocked out by Lyon and hadnt reached the Quarter Finals for the first time since 2004, but that was all about to change as Lyon old boy Karim Benzema scored in both legs including the 3-0 win at Bernabau which ensured Madrid a Quarter Final place.

Manchester United travelled to France looking for an away goal but it wasnt meant to be as United's defence stood strong and ensured the 2nd leg at Old Trafford was alive for both teams, United edged it an good nervy performance.

A repeat for last seasons champions league final, Inter Milan V Bayern Munich was an exciting clash in the first leg Bayern scored the away goal but the 2nd leg Inter Milan shocked Bayern by scoring 3 times to send the german's packing!

So its now down to the last eight and the Champions League Quarter Final draw brought out some mouthwatering games... Mourinho V Harry, A battle of Clash of the titans.. Its gonna be BIG!

Quarter Final: 1st leg (5/6 April) 2nd leg (12/13 April)
Real Madrid V Spurs
Chelsea V Manchester United
Barcelona V Shaktar Donetsk
Inter Milan V Schalke

Semi Final: 1st leg (26/27 April) 2nd leg (3/4 May)
Inter/Schalke v Chelsea /Manchester United
Madrid/Tottenham v Barcelona/Shakhtar




and then there were 8.....