With Moscow 2008 still fresh in every football fan’s mind, we are less than 24 hours away from the start of the 2008/2009 Champions League season with elite clubs from the continent of Europe preparing for a long and strenuous road to Rome next May.
As always the Champions Manchester United are the team to beat with again England’s top four sides including the Red Devils are expected to go a long way.
Let me look in depth the first four groups that would get the ball rolling on Tuesday.

Group A: 2007/2008 runners-up Chelsea would be desperate to go one step further this season having lost out to Premier League rivals Manchester United in the final at Moscow earlier this year. John Terry’s penalty miss in that fateful rain-soaked night at the Luzhniki stadium still haunts many Stamford Bridge faithful and the task to wipe out that nightmare starts in earnest for the Blues against French side Girondins Bordeaux in London. Michael Ballack would return from an injury layoff while Didier Drogba is set to be given his first start of the season after recuperating from a knee injury. Under the watchful eyes of Luiz Felipe Scolari, Chelsea has started the Premier League season with a bang and warmed up for the clash against Bordeaux with a solid come from behind win over high-spending Manchester City at Eastlands.
With this season’s final being held at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, there is an added pressure and incentive on AS Roma to go the distance which is a bit too much to expect, yet Luciano Spaletti’s men have the European pedigree to upset a few recognized rivals. Roma starts their campaign against Romanian double winners and Champions League debutants CFR Cluj-Napoca. Many expect the Romanian side to be the whipping boys of the group but one cannot underestimate the participation of any in the Champions League.

Group B: Jose Mourinho returns to his beloved Champions League football stage where he once took Porto to the pinnacle of European success by claiming the UCL title in 2004. Mourinho’s current side Inter Milan would travel to the Greek capital to face a new-look Panathinaikos side. The self-proclaimed ‘special one’ Mourinho’s priority this season is to win the Champions League but the former Chelsea boss would be well aware of the fact that the Nerazzuri are seriously slow starters when it comes to the Champions League and unlike their bitter cross town rivals AC Milan, Inter have had heartaches in this competition over the years which the former Porto boss would look forward to turn around. Werder Bremen and Cypriot champions Anorthosis Famagusta are the sides to battle in group B for that coveted second place behind Internazionale of Milan.

Group C: Spanish heavyweights Barcelona would like to keep their domestic setbacks behind by entertaining Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon at the Nou Camp and new coach Pep Guardiola knows any more slip-up could undoubtedly risk his job as the Barca boss. A weekend 1-1 draw against Racing Santander to back up an opening day loss to Numancia is hardly the ideal preparation the Catalan giants had hoped for going into the Champions League opener on Tuesday. Yet it seems Guardiola would employ an ultra attacking team to dominate and dictate the visiting Lisbon side with Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o lining up the forward line. In the group’s other match Swiss side Basel host Ukrainian underdogs Shakhtar Donetsk in what is expected to be a straightforward group with Barcelona and Sporting Lisbon being the sides tipped to progress to the next round.

Group D: In one of the tricky groups of the 2008/2009 season, Liverpool and Marseille find themselves pitted against each other for the straight year running while the presence of Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven and talented Spanish outfit Atletico Madrid is sure to make this group one of the hardest to predict. Undoubtedly, five-time European champions Liverpool will be the team to beat as they open their campaign with a visit to Marseille. Last year’s 4-0 thumping of the French side is still fresh in Rafael Benitez’s mind and a repeat of such a performance would be an absolutely dream start for the team from the Merseyside who are already flying high having beaten great rivals Manchester United 2-1 this weekend. But Eric Gerets’ side cannot be taken for granted as his young Marseille shocked Liverpool 1-0 last year at Anfield in the away leg. Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are fit to start the game although Banitez may rest Torres to have him 100% fit for the upcoming grueling season.
Eindhoven’s Philips Stadion will host Atletico Madrid and the atmosphere would be electric as Huub Stevens’ side looks to pass the test of the first hurdle by starting with a win against a dangerously pacy Madrid side.
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