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The highest level battles of the strongest clubs in Europe slowly return to the stadiums of the Old Continent as the biggest national championships are starting. On Tuesday, the 2006/07 season UEFA Champions League group stage tournament begins, where 32 teams will compete in eight groups for tickets to the knockout rounds and later to Athens, where the final will take place next year to determine the winner.
Last season, "Barcelona" proved their superiority against "Arsenal" in the final and won the European Champions Cup for the second time in the club's history. Despite Barcelona being among the favorites again, history shows that defending their title is much more challenging than winning it. This has not been achieved by anyone for 17 years.
Exactly 17 teams will play in the group stage tournament for the second consecutive year, with only Turin's "Juventus" missing from the regular participants. Also missing are former champions Amsterdam's "Ajax", while "Kobenhavn" and "Levski" will compete for the first time.
In the H group, "Milan" will be accompanied by success this season - initially excluded from the Champions League due to a scandal, the team regained the opportunity and qualified for the group stage. Their opponents will be the internationally experienced Anderlecht from Brussels, the unassuming "Lille," and the far-from-favorites AEK Athens. It is difficult to imagine that Milan, despite losing their leader Andriy Shevchenko, would stumble in such a group and not continue the fight for a spot in the final in Athens where they triumphed in 1994.
