The 2013-14 UEFA Champions League Tournament In A Nutshell

Four-times winners Bayern Munich have beaten domestic rivals Borussia Dortmund in the first all-German Champions League final at London’s Wembley Stadium by two goals to one. Source: CCTV.com

On Tuesday, the 2013-14 UEFA Champions League group stage began.

A season ago, Bayern Munich left footprints all across Europe while trampling the seemingly weak, puny and impotent opposition lying in its path as it won the first Bundesliga, German Cup and European Cup treble in history. German rival Borussia Dortmund was waiting at Wembley in the final. The wonderful young team gave Bayern a stiffer test than any in the tournament — but Arjen Robben’s late goal provided personal redemption, and gave Bayern its first Champions League title in a dozen years.

Bayern is once again loaded, not only did the European Champions snatch Dortmund’s best young player (a true No. 10 in Mario Gotze), Bayern’s signing of Pep Guardiola could easily deliver a longer lasting impact than Real Madrid’s record capture of Gareth Bale for $135 million. Pep is a proven commodity toting a trunkful of trophies he won while managing at Barcelona, and the charismatic Spaniard learned nearly fluent German in just four months.

Odds & Pops: Odds aren’t original, but they do reflect perception, and give me chance to say what I feel about that perception

Top 10 Teams (Opening Odds): Bayern Munich 7/2, Barcelona 9/2, Real Madrid 11/2, Chelsea 9/1, Manchester City 12/1, Manchester United 14/1, Paris St. Germain 18/1, Juventus 18/1, Borussia Dortmund 20/1 and Atletico Madrid 25/1.

Bayern may experience some growing pains as Pep installs his possession oriented system, but FC Hollywood boasts the best roster in all of Europe and is a deserving favorite. Their 7/2 return feels like a fair reflection of Bayern’s chances to become the first team to repeat since AC Milan in 1989 & 1990.

Brazil’s Neymar controls the ball during a Copa America soccer match against Venezuela in La Plata, Argentina, Sunday, July 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Neymar’s flashy, but he’s also a terrific addition to Barcelona, and many have misrepresented his playing style, personality, and even his position. I’ve been following the Brazilian wunderkind since he was 15, he is an unselfish left-winger (not a striker), he loves to play one-twos, and will flourish out wide with Iniesta and Jordi Alba. And the Camp Nou — once home to Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Patrick Kluivert, Rivaldo and Ronaldo — needed an injection of excitement and attitude.

But Barca also needed a quality central defender, and chose not to splash the requisite cash to bring one back to Catalonia, big mistake. People are having too much success with the “Barca blueprint”, parking the bus and scoring on the counter, a target man as a bench option wouldn’t hurt either.

All summer I was thinking Real Madrid would finally win La Decima by raising its tenth European Cup at next spring’s final, but the investment in Bale gives reason to wonder. Both Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo are players who like to see a lot of the ball, and Mesut Ozil is now at Arsenal. Isco was a great addition, although the 21-year-old attacker may be put in charge of satisfying his greedy wingers instead of playing his own more direct game.

jose mourinho.. credit: goal.com

Chelsea has added some new talent (Willian is wonderful), and any time a team pays Jose Mourinho to scowl upon its sideline that club becomes relevant, the Special One can never be discounted — but last year’s runners up from Dortmund field four players more capable of finding goals than any of the Blues at Stamford Bridge (Marco Reus, Robert Lewandowski with newbies Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyeng).

Manchester City added a few excellent players. Jesus Navas is pure winger who’s no longer a secret outside Spain after conquering his homesickness anxiety, and his fantastic deliveries are perfectly suited for the EPL. Fernandinho is a box-to-box Brazilian midfielder City scooped from Shakhtar. There are a lot of moving parts on The Citizens, and they likely overpaid (again), but they chose well.

United have not looked impressive thus far, and the Red Devils are the only domestic champion who have league rivals on shorter odds.

Player power … Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes welcomed Robin van Persie. Source: Jon Super / AAP

Outside of a good young keeper, RVP and Nemanja Vidic there’s no consistency from anyone besides the solid but overrated Michael Carrick. It will be interesting to see where Wayne Rooney resides position wise under his new coach (Rooney had a strong outing further forward in United’s opening UCL win). So far, David Moyes is finding Sir Alex Ferguson’s slippers feel like those of Shaquille O’Neal.

Juventus, PSG and Dortmund all looked much stronger than these EPL teams in last year’s tournament, all three clubs added quality players, and I don’t see any reason to think they’re not better suited to win.

BA tror Paul Pogba kan bidra til poeng for Juventus – og penger til oddstipperne. Foto: Reuters

Juventus lost no one, and saw Paul Pogba validate his stardom by leading France to the U-20 World Cup title this summer (where he was named best player). Chilean Arturo Vidal is also an emerging star, with Juve adding Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente for free, and their clinic at the hands of Bayern in last year’s quarters looked understandable after the German goliath demolished Barcelona.

PSG outplayed Barcelona over two legs in last year’s quarters, then fended off Barca’s pursuit of Thiago Silva, the world’s top center back. PSG also added one of the game’s best forwards — what city in the world has a more imposing pair up front than Edinson Cavani and Zlatan Ibrahimovich in Paris?

And finally, in ninth, last year’s finalist being treated like a fluke; Dortmund’s odds are almost the same as Atletico Madrid, ridiculous. Dortmund’s run to the final at Wembley wasn’t an accident, BvB set records while owning Bayern and the Bundesliga in 2011 & 2012, and Klopp’s kids were clearly closest to Bayern’s level a season ago.

Sticking point: Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp is in no rush to sell (Picture: Reuters)

Dortmund also refused to sell the best striker from the 2012-13 UCL (Lewandowski) to their rivals in Munich, took the $48 million from Bayern’s buy of Gotze and turned it into two fantastic young players (Mkhitaryan and the blazing fast Aubameyeng). BvB’s home field advantage is unparalleled among big clubs — and Jurgen Klopp is the best futbol coach on planet earth.

All three of these returning quarterfinalists embrace a vibrant approach to the game of soccer, particularly Dortmund.

Next Dozen: Arsenal 33/1, Napoli 40/1, AC Milan 50/1, FC Porto 80/1, Benfica 100/1, Bayer Leverkusen 100/1, Shakhtar Donetsk 100/1, Real Sociedad 100/1, Zenit 100/1, Galatasaray 125/1, Schalke 04 150/1, CSKA Moscow 200/1.

It’s strange to see an improved Milan club so lightly regarded, especially with Mario Balotelli ready to take off (or explode spectacularly). Many like Leverkusen and Sociedad, Shakhtar always seems to be a factor. Arsenal has Ozil, but not much bite, and Napoli has a chance to advance if it gets out its tough group.

Bottom 10: Ajax, Marseille, Olympiacos, Anderlecht, Basel, Celtic, Plzen, Steaua Bucharest, FC Copenhagen and Austria Vienna.

No comment.

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Tuesday Recap: Opening day provided no real surprises outside Juve’s 1-1 draw at Copenhagen (whose keeper made 10 saves). Madrid destroyed Galatasaray in Turkey, 6-1, behind Ronaldo’s hat trick (Iker Casillas hurt his ribs).  United’s 4-2 victory over Leverkusen was less than perfect, Cavani scored in PSG’s 4-1 victory over Olympiakos, Man City won 3-0 over Plzen and the reigning champions beat CSKA Moscow 3-0 in Munich, with Robben scoring the final goal.

Three Games To Watch Wednesday : This year’s Group of Death produces two quality games; the first is an immediate must-win for Arsene Wenger in France, with Arsenal at Marseille, lest the perennial fourth-place finishers fall back in this rough group.

The other game in Group F is Week 1’s best match. As last year’s UCL runners up from Dortmund will visit Napoli, last year’s Serie A runners up. Napoli lost Cavani but added Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon from Real Madrid. (Dortmund dominated last year’s Group of Death that included Madrid, Man City and Ajax).

leo messi 2

The national TV game in the U.S. will be Barcelona hosting Ajax, which shouldn’t provide a great deal of competition, but will provide an opportunity to watch the world’s best player, inspect Barca’s shape up top, and ogle the first Champions League game of Neymar’s career.

Three Guesses: 1) Bayern Munich will falter before reaching the final at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon. 2) If Real Madrid raises the trophy it will be because of Isco’s playmaking brilliance, not superhuman performances by Ronaldo or Bale. 3) These three teams from Germany, France and Italy will return to the quarterfinals: Dortmund, PSG and Juventus. And one will reach the final.

We’ve skipped plenty, but do know the Champions League will be watched by more people than any annual sporting event on earth and in every country on the globe, with the final held next May in Portugal, this tournament will likely set the tone for next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.

Enjoy the beautiful game, and remember, soccer is not a sport…  futbol is art.

Champions League Trophy