Egypt - Africa's great mystery

For me one of Africa's great footballing mysteries involves Egypt. Not the club game, which has been home to the giants of the African game Al-Ahly, but the national team. The national team has certainly provided success down the years be it winning African titles or supplying decent players who have gone on to forge decent careers in Europe. As mentioned the domestic game has been home to multiple champions league winners Al-Ahly while their great rivals Zamalek reached this year's final losing out to Mamelodi Sundowns.

The great mystery for me is how this nation has not had more world cup appearances. To date Egypt has only two world cup qualifications (1934 and 1990) with no win registered, although they did manage to cling onto a draw with Ireland in 1990. Most nations will have lulls in fortunes with periods in the footballing doldrums but Egypt really do defy this. They have been African champions a record seven times which includes the dominant era of 2006-2010 where they won the African title three times running. Yet they failed to qualify for either of the world cups in 2006 or 2010. How can such a power consistently fail to qualify for the world's showpiece event?

I'm sure Egyptian fans won't want reminding that Togo and Angola have had more recent appearances in the world cup. It's not like Egypt have lacked the talent. The likes of Mido, Amr Zaki, Hossam Ghaly and Ahmed Hassan had been part of those failed world cup attempts.

However after failing to capitalise upon that dominance the team did plunder into the doldrums. They weren't even qualifying for the African nations cup. In fact, up until this campaign they hadn't qualified since their 2010 title victory. They make their return next month in Gabon but looking slightly ahead they are also on the right path to their third world cup.
Granted it's only two games into the final stage but Egypt lead their group containing Ghana, Congo and Uganda. The group winner qualifies for Russia and Egypt have two wins from two.
These days Egypt can call upon the sheer pace of Roma's Mohammed Salah, the industry of Hull City's El-Mohamedy and Arsenal's holder in midfield El-Neny. Koka at Braga is a decent striker to have as well. Best of all though is having a Trezeguet to call upon, always useful even if it's not David.

November's home win over Ghana has got fans believing that the world cup absences will be ended soon. The return game will be huge and being the final game in the group it's shaping up to be the biggest fixture in years for the nation, in a world cup sense.

In fact the last big world cup fixture was the tie-breaking play-off for the 2010 edition. A dramatic 2-0 win over Algeria meant both countries ended the group with identical records in points and head-to-head. The play-off in Sudan saw Algeria edge through 1-0 to condemn Egypt to more hurt, despite being the three-in-a-row continental champions.

So Russia 2018, will Egypt be there? It will be worth tuning into this to see if Africa's great mystery can be solved.

The utterly dominant TNS

In Scotland, Celtic have been the subject of "can they go the season unbeaten" questions with the title secured. The Celts are, at the time of writing, fourteen points clear with two games in hand on arch-rivals Rangers. They have won all, bar a last minute slip up in Inverness, their league games but this doesn't actually make them the most dominant team in their domestic league in Europe.

We are going to Wales, well the Welsh league but the team in question are actually based in Oswestry, England. TNS, The New Saints to give them their full name are well, well clear in the league. They are twenty-one points clear of distant second placed Connah's Quay having won EVERY league game this season. That's nineteen wins to date with no slip up at all. They stand to become the earliest league champions in Wales ever. Such is their lead, they could lose seven on the bounce and still be top, thanks to the healthy goal difference built up.

TNS will be lifting their sixth successive league title in the new year giving them another shot at the champions league qualifiers. Their last defeat in all competitions was away at APOEL Nicosia back in July. They are chasing a European record held by Ajax which is twenty-six consecutive league wins. TNS have twenty-five ahead of their game against Cefn Druids on St Stephen's day.

The dominance has bought the 'how can it be good for the league' questions. In truth it can't. There is dominance then there is this where no one is even taking points off TNS. Some of this can be down to the fact that TNS are the only full-time professional club in the league. Training full-time does make a massive difference. However TNS are also getting players in that the rest simply can't afford.
Their 3-0 win over third-tier Scottish side Livingston showed how far they have come in recent years. Their annual champions league campaigns bring in fortunes that dwarf what the Welsh Europa league entrants get. So you have TNS maintaining a dominance that won't be broken unless they go down the road of the previous dominant force in Wales, Barry Town, which was financial implosion chasing progress in Europe.

On a European scale no team has gone a league season with a 100% win record. Can they do it?. No matter how dominant it would be some feat, no question. I've jinked them now with this post, haven't I.

On the subject of records, they also stand to break the largest league winning margin. Already standing at twenty-one points clear the record, which I blogged about earlier this year, is the twenty-nine point margin Celtic won by in the SPL in 2013-14.

Club world cup thoughts

Last Sunday morning (December 18th) the club world cup final was held in Yokohama, Japan. Real Madrid faced Japanese champions Kashima Antlers and while it ended in an all too predictable outcome the J-league side made the Spanish giants work for the trophy.

However this competition should be in theory at least the biggest club game in the world. The chance to be called world champions. The viewpoint of this competition is varied to say the least. It's viewed as an inconvenience in Europe while in South America it's the ultimate prize. For Africa, Asia, North America and most of all Oceania its a reward to be in the same tournament as their more illustrious European and South American opponents.

Personally I do like the idea this tournament tries to portray however it is not entirely fair that the European and South American teams get byes to the semi finals. And yes I know they are the two biggest footballing continents.

Only Europe and South America have ever won this tournament which when you look at it more isn't that surprising. They are the two biggest footballing continents and the two with the biggest tradition. Prior to the expansion of this tournament in 2005, (there was a trial in 2000) it was only ever a single match between the champions of the two big continents so to include the four other champions has been a welcome change.

The big problem for this tournament is trying to change the views from Europe. The final last Sunday wasn't even that well advertised and the game not on tv.
The viewpoint of the tournament is that it's too predictable. Europe will almost always win because they have the concentration of all the best players in the world leaving the rest well behind. The South American sides would be more competitive if their continental winning sides weren't broken up after the success. This year Atletico National had lost a chunk of their Libertadores winning side, River Plate before that and so on. A potential improvement from Asian sides could help this tournament. Given the cash Chinese sides are splashing maybe they will be more competitive. Although it remains to be seen as last year Guangzhou Evergrande were comprehensively beaten by Barcelona. That after splashing a pretty decent sum already.

Another aspect that needs changing is the host country. It seems like its always been Japan, (even the one off games before expansion were in Japan) but only Morocco and the UAE have only hosted it as well. Spread it around more. Brazil, Australia, Mexico etc open it up.

I will also tackle new FIFA president Gianni Infantino's proposal to expand this tournament even further. I've read articles suggesting thirty-two teams in the summer, another including Europa league and copa Sudamericana winners and well, I don't necessarily agree with expanding this any further. If expansion is insisted upon I'd go with maybe including the defending champions to bring it up to a nice figure of eight teams and go open draw from there.  I like the way this tournament brings together the six continental champions plus a host country champion and go for the title.

The timing of this tournament I understand is hindered by the fact that the different champions leagues end at different stages in the year but it's current slot doesn't do it much good, just before the Christmas break. Although if it was better received it would be as gooda time with no clashes with current season champions league games.

Basement battle

Saturday November 19th was the first football game I attended since the decision to up root and leave Ireland. Being Edinburgh based the game was a no brainer, it was Edinburgh City v Cowdenbeath. Sure why wouldn't you?.

A few months ago I blogged about my first ever game in Scotland while on a short trip which was seeing Hibernian dismantle Greenock Morton 4-0 at Easter Road. For this I decided to give the other club a shot. Edinburgh City are newly promoted to the Scottish football league this season having seen off East Stirling in a play-off match last May. The step up has so far proven to be a challenge but in the past few weeks City have seemingly turned a corner and had some decent results. One such result was putting League 2 leaders Forfar Athletic out of the cup which set up a tie with East Fife this coming weekend.

Their opponents in this game were Cowdenbeath a side in a free-fall. They went into this game two places above City at the bottom of League Two and to give an idea of their free-falling nature, they were in the championship two seasons ago. Two successive relegations and an awful start to this season have them residing well off any promotion picture and it all set up a fixture that few would've thought could happen not so long ago. While Cowdenbeath were in the championship, getting thumped 10-0 by another Edinburgh team in Hearts, city were winning the Lowland league (part of the 5th tier) with ease. Quite a turn around in two seasons.

City play their home games at the Meadowbank stadium down the road from Hibernian's Easter road. It does feature a pet hate of mine with a running track but the main and well only stand adds an element of charm.

Conditions wise it was bitter. A 3pm Saturday kick-off with a low sun soon gave way to a bitterly cold and crisp evening. Cowdenbeath bought a sizeable number of the 352 total attendance and were in good spirits surprisingly. They didn't have far to travel being based north of the forth.
The visitors started disastrously giving up two glorious chances for City. Had City a striker in form then they would've been two or three up in the first half. Cowdenbeath's keeper, David McGum keeping his side in the game. Cowdenbeath got back into the game with some bursts forward, one of which was foiled by the impressive Joe Mbu, whose sliding challenge on one of the attacks was as brilliant a challenge as you will see. Just before half-time Cowdenbeath struck with Kris Renton given the freedom of the city to nod home.

Half-time cups of tea were needed to brace the bitterness and the second half began with Cowdenbeath asserting some control on the game, hitting the bar later in the half before a sitter was spurned. The challenges were flying in however from both sides, not much pulling out. Eventually city did rescue a point when Dougie Gair pounced on a loose ball in the box to shoot low into the net. That came after an Ouzy See header flashed narrowly wide of McGum's post. The points were shared which wasn't enough to elevate City off the bottom but does keep them within reach of the sides above them . It keeps Cowdenbeath in among the cluster of sides that reside in the lower half of the division.

Capital cities without Champions league football

Sometimes being based in the capital city can help a club to compete on a greater stage be it at home or abroad. One only has to look at Madrid for a prime example of this with both Real Madrid and Atlético competing for honours. Paris with their sole PSG becoming the dominant force in France, Lisbon with the powerhouses of Benfica and Sporting CP and of course London that is home to five premier league teams this season.

With this in mind a quick glance at the teams playing in the champions league in the past has lead to me coming up with this blog post. What capital cities are absent from the champions league on a regular basis. I developed a criteria for this question because there are of course countries who have never had a team qualify for the group stage, Ireland, Iceland and the Baltic countries being a few. To qualify for this I also discarded countries who had less than five qualifications in the past twenty-three years since the group stage was introduced. This is what I came up with, some you might be shocked with.

Ankara, Turkey:

This might not actually be a surprise at all but the capital of Turkey has never had a team qualify for the group stage of the champions league. Not too surprising given that the capital hasn't even had a a title winner since the Super League was introduced back in 1959. Ankara hasn't even come close to breaking that glass ceiling. In fact the last time an Ankara club finished in the top three in Turkey was back in 2002-03 when Gençlerbirliği finished nineteen points off winners Beşiktaş. The following season however Gençlerbirliği did reach the last 16 of the UEFA cup in the city's best European run to date. 
This season Osmanlispor are currently top of their Europa league group containing Villarreal, Steaua and FC Zürich with a terrific chance of qualifying for the last 32.

Oslo, Norway:

Norway gets onto this list because of Rosenborg's exploits in the late 90s and early 00s when they regularly competed in the group stage. Rosenborg are based in the northern city of Trondheim and their dominance of the domestic league in that time prevented any progress for Oslo to get a team into the group stage of the premier club competition. With Rosenborg's European performances the league actually had two champions league places in 1998 and Oslo still couldn't get a team in with Molde being the lucky beneficiaries that season. 

When Vålerenga did break Rosenborg's domination in 2005 they couldn't get through the qualifying stages the following year going out to Czech side Mladá Boleslav and that is as close Oslo have got to getting into the group stage. 

Edinburgh, Scotland:

Like Ankara this isn't much of a shock really considering the dominant powers of Scotland reside in Glasgow. However unlike Ankara, Edinburgh has had a side in the qualifiers. That team was Hearts in 2006 after they split the Old firm in 2005-06 to finish 2nd. Hearts managed to negotiate the obstacle of Bosnian champions Široki Brijeg before they succumbed to AEK Athens in the final qualifying round, going down 5-1 on aggregate. 

The capital's other side Hibernian haven't threatened to end the barren run with a couple of UEFA cup appearances the some total of their European adventures. 

Bern, Switzerland:

This might shock you. The capital of Switzerland, regular participants in the champions league has never had a team reach the group stage. The city's big team BSC Young Boys did appear in the qualifiers in 2010-11 but they couldn't get the better of Tottenham in the final qualifying round. Since then the club have had two shots of trying to end the run but fell at the 3rd qualifying round in 2015-16 and the play-off round this season. In 2004-05 they fell in the qualifying rounds to Crvena Zvezda. 

The club haven't won the domestic title since 1986 and in a league such as Switzerland's where multiple sides getting into the group stage doesn't happen, a title win is what's needed for Bern to finally grace the group stage of the champions league. 

Minsk, Belarus:

Like Norway with Rosenborg, Belarus gets into this list courtesy of BATE Borisov's regular qualifications. BATE are from a city an hour away from the capital of Minsk and to date the capital hasn't been able to get a side into the group stage. Given BATE's utter domination of the league the capital hasn't had a domestic title winner since 2004 when Dinamo Minsk were top dogs in the country. Belarus only gets one team into the champions league and with BATE's current streak of eleven titles it's difficult to see Minsk ending their run of being absent from the group stage. 

It's the Europa league however where they have had a bit more luck with Dinamo qualifying for the group stage there on two occasions (2014-15 & 2015-16). 

Other mention:

Above were the capital cities without a qualification at all. There is one capital with a solitary one qualification that might have you scratching your head and that is the German capital of Berlin. 

The city of Berlin has only had one qualification since the group stage was introduced in 1994-95. That came in 1999-00 when Hertha BSC came through the qualifiers, defeating Anorthosis of Cyprus. They then reached the second group stage after a top two finish in a group containing Chelsea, AC Milan and Galatasaray. A last place finish in the second group stage with Barcelona, Porto and Sparta Praha ended their run and to date is the last time Berlin has played host to champions league group stage football. 

The French cup and it's unique aspect

Coupe de France
source: getfrenchfootballnews.com

The seventh round of the French cup takes place this weekend and as as usual it has it's unique aspect in full flow. This round of the French cup not only features sides as far down as the ninth tier of the football league system but offers a unique aspect in including sides from the various dependencies that make up France's "L'outre mer". The domestic cup winners of New Caledonia and Tahiti being joined by sides from Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion and Saint Martin.

The inclusion of these sides does obviously open up some quite eye boggling travel distances. To combat this the French football association (FFA) offers mainland sides the chance to apply to be eligible to face the overseas teams. To break it down, the sides that express interest in travelling are then put into the section of the seventh round where they can be drawn against any of the overseas teams. The make-up of the travel budget for the overseas teams remains unclear but I'd be amazed if there isn't some sort of grant from the FFA, their local leagues and football associations to travel the vast distances. Likewise for the mainland teams open to travelling.

The French overseas territories
source: meteofrance.fr

The draw for the seventh round is made in two parts with the overseas section made first. As mentioned in the previous paragraph it's pitting sides who have applied to travel for their cup games with the overseas sides and of course which overseas teams make the journey to the mainland. The main part of the seventh round draw being made the following day.

The overseas section of the draw threw up the following:

• CS Moulin (Guadeloupe) vs FC Fleury 91
• AS Magenta (New Caledonia) vs Pau FC
• Club Franciscain (Martinique) vs FC Lunéville
• ASC Le Geldar (French Guiana) vs SC Selongey
• JS Saint-Pierroise (Réunion) vs Sainte-Geneviéve Sports 
• Avoine OCC vs AS Excelsior (Réunion)
• Rodez vs FC Mtsapéré (Mayotte)
• ASM Belfort vs Phare du Canal (Guadeloupe)
• US Avranches vs AS Dragon (Tahiti)
• FC Mulhouse v US Matoury (French Guiana)
• Tarbes v Golden Lion FC (Martinique)

Last season all the overseas sides were eliminated by the time the competition reached the last 32 with Réunion side US Saint-Marienne bowing out to Gazélec Ajaccio, who were in Ligue 1 at the time. No overseas team has ever won the French cup nor has any progressed beyond the last 64. Of the overseas teams only five in the history of the French cup have progressed two ties in the same season. So reaching the last 32 remains as the glass ceiling yet to be breached. Could it happen this season? well history suggests no but given that we are talking about 2016 I guess we can't completely rule out a strong performance from the overseas teams. The Ligue 1 teams don't typically enter the cup until the ninth round (or last 64) so the opportunity of getting a plum tie against the big names of PSG, Marseille, Lyon or Saint-Étienne isn't entirely out of the question. 

A popular question that might rise from this is the hypothetical situation of an overseas team winning the French cup, do they get to play in the Europa League?. The answer to this is unfortunately no. Given that some of these overseas teams come from FIFA members it renders them ineligible for European competition. Some of the sides such as the Réunion representatives have taken part in the African champions league while the Tahitians and New Caledonians are regularly involved in the Oceania champions league. To enter European competition a team to my knowledge has to be affiliated with a UEFA nation and competing in the structure within that said nation, none of the other overseas teams are competing in the French league system. 

What makes this aspect more interesting is that the likes of Réunion, New Caledonia and Tahiti are FIFA members. So this could happen with say the Dutch cup including sides from say Aruba and Curacao or even the likes of England, Spain and Portugal going down a similar road.
It's safe to say that while the FA cup in England remains the oldest cup competition in the world, the French cup is surely the biggest. From researching this blog post a figure of the amount of teams that took part one season was north of seven thousand. A quite incredible figured given that the FA cup most years hovers in and around the eight hundred mark.

SO for the weekend that's in it, Bon chance to the overseas teams and hopefully one at least breaks new ground in getting through to the last 32. 

Super competitive title race number two

Finland's Veikkausliiga had up until last week four sides that were vying for the title, in the end that was won for the first time by IFK Mariehamn after they got the win they needed against Ilves. However across the gulf in neighbouring Estonia, the title race is entering the final two rounds of games with one crucial result on Tuesday ensuring a dramatic finale is in store for these final rounds of games.

Tuesday saw Nõmme Kalju beat bottom side Rakvere Tarvas 2-1 with a winning goal from Italian Maximiliano Uggè in stoppage time. That goal moved Nõmme Kalju into second place, two points behind leaders Infonet with two rounds of games to play. They moved level on points with the big two Tallinn clubs Levadia and Flora on seventy-two. Four contenders for the title with two rounds left.

The league known as the Meistriliiga is contested by ten teams with all of them playing each other home and away twice. It commences in March every year and concludes in November. This season the four contenders have been in a league of their own. The league table shows this with the gap between 4th placed Levadia Tallinn and 5th placed Sillamäe Kalev standing at an enormous twenty-five points. 6th placed Paide are level with Sillamäe Kalev who themselves are nine points clear of the next side in the table, 8th placed Tammeka.

The Contenders:

To the four contenders themselves. Two of them are the country's most successful sides, Flora and Levadia Tallinn. Flora Tallinn have since independence in 1992, racked up ten league titles, their arch-rivals Levadia have nine. However you might be forgiven in thinking Levadia have been around since independence in the top flight but in actual fact, Levadia only played their first top flight season in 1999 having been founded the year before. Flora were the dominant team in the 90s and hold a joint record with Trans Narva in being the only founding members of the Meistriliiga in 1992 to never be relegated.

Nõmme Kalju are chasing only their second league title. Winners in 2012, they have emerged as a challenger to the Flora, Levadia arms race that developed in the 2000s. Promoted to the top flight for the first time in 2008 they have never finished below 5th in their current spell. During the summer they shocked Israeli side Maccabi Haifa in the Europa league qualifying rounds by beating them on penalties before bowing out to Osmanlıspor in the following round. They knocked out HJK Helsinki in their debut champions league campaign back in 2013 before Czech side Viktoria Plzeň ended their dreams.

The final contender are actually the current leaders, Infonet. They also hail from the capital Tallinn. However they are the only one of the contenders to never taste a league triumph. In fact they are the youngest club having been founded only in 2002. Infonet also only made their top flight bow in 2013 which makes their rise to this title challenge all the more impressive. Last season they ended up twenty-two points off the title, with two rounds left they are two clear.

The Run-in:

The season climaxes on November 5th but this coming Saturday (October 29th) will be a pivotal round. Flora Tallinn host Sillamäe Kalev with Levadia Tallinn away at bottom side Rakvere Tarvas. Nõmme Kalju are on the road to Tartu to face Tammeka with leaders Infonet playing the day before everyone at home to Paide, a chance to really put pressure on the chasing trio. 

Should all four remain in contention after this next round of games, the final day promises to be a very interesting watch. Similar to Finland's title race just ended, we have a pair of head-to-head fixtures for the title. Nõmme Kalju host leaders Infonet and Tallinn city rivals Levadia and Flora go at it in the derby. A mouthwatering climax to a pretty epic title race. 

Veikkausliiga update

Last month I did a blog post about the most competitive title race in Europe which turned out to be Finland's Veikkausliiga. At the time the top seven in the league were extremely close to each other with just seven points separating seventh place and top spot.

In the month since the contenders have been whittled down from seven to four. The race has ended for KuPS, who have lost every single game they have played in the past month and RoPS whose hopes ended by picking up just four points in that time. VPS are currently fifth and astoundingly still could, in theory at least, win the league. They sit five points off leaders IFK Mariehamn with two games to play. However realistically their hopes depend on an odd combinations of results. That leaves the four contenders being leaders IFK Mariehamn, traditional powerhouse HJK Helsinki, defending champions SJK and outsiders Ilves.

The league enters it's final two rounds of games after Friday's results. A day that saw none of the final four contenders win their games. Ilves were held to a 1-1 draw at home by lowly HIFK, SJK rescued a late point against mid-table Lahti while there was a top two clash with HJK Helsinki and IFK Mariehamn playing out a 1-1 draw at Sonera Stadium.

Those results mean IFK Mariehamn remain just about on course for a first ever league title. The side from Åland which lies just south of the gulf of Bothnia between Finland and Sweden are a solitary point ahead of HJK Helsinki. 
In third is defending champions SJK who are a point behind HJK. SJK also have a resurgent streak on their side and are actually the form team in Finland right now. In fourth a further point behind is Ilves. They are also reaching peak form at just the right time. 

The penultimate round of fixtures take place on Monday. IFK Mariehamn are away to Lahti, SJK host already relegated PK-35 Vantaa while Ilves host HJK in a massive clash between two contenders. Defeat for Ilves ends their hopes but a victory puts them above HJK and puts their title hopes in their own hands. 

This leads me onto the best part of this epic title race. The final day is next Sunday on October 23rd. In that round of games the fixture computer has given fans a pair of massive fixtures. All four contenders, should Ilves remain in the running until then, face another contender. HJK Helsinki host SJK while IFK Mariehamn are at home to Ilves. So it's pretty much set up for an almighty conclusion to what has been an utterly insane season. 

The run-in

The massive title swing that was October 8th

October 8th was a massive night in the League of Ireland title race. The scene that afternoon had Dundalk with a four point buffer ahead of Cork City with seven games to play, which includes a head-to-head between the two, more on that in a bit.

Dundalk also had the superior goal difference which was +40 with City on +34 large enough to effectively be an extra point in the title race.
Cork City were away on Saturday in Galway while Dundalk hosted a Sligo Rovers side that had their European ambitions still burning although getting quite feint so needed a result. Both games kicking off simultaneously at 7:45pm. Nobody including myself could've foreseen what was to unfold in those two hours on Saturday night.

It began when Sligo's French striker Achille Campion capitalized upon Gary Rogers fluffing a clearance to give his side the lead in the first minute. A minute later on the opposite coast Sean Maguire kept up his scoring run by putting City in front against a Galway side that sacked manager Tommy Dunne the previous week. Not even 7:50pm and already movement in the table. By 8:10pm the picture got rosier for City as goals from first Stephen Dooley and then Garry Buckley had City coasting at 3-0 while Dundalk were still 1-0 down but probing.
8:21pm and a massive moment in the title race. Philip Roberts, who had replaced the injured Campion minutes previously planted a low shot past Rogers after he evaded Andy Boyle and the Dundalk defense to put Sligo 2-0 up in Oriel park, Dundalk stunned. A moment of magic from the Sligo substitute. That is how it stayed until half-time. Forty five minutes of football, City moving to just a solitary point behind Dundalk in the table but crucially a five goal swing in goal difference. It was now Dundalk +38 and City +37.
To the second half and much like the first, no waiting around for the action. 8:48pm and Maguire got his second goal of the night to put City 4-0 up. Game set and match for City the only thing not certain was on the east coast at this point. That game was to have another turn on 8:54pm when Liam Martin was given his marching orders for Sligo. Not what Sligo needed and early enough in the half for Dundalk to still turn the deficit around. Just after 9pm and massive title swing number two as Rafael Cretaro finishes off a Sligo counter attack to put the visitors 3-0 up. Sensational stuff from the ten men of the Bit o'Red.
Dundalk failed to register even a consolation goal in the final half hour while for City there was still enough time for them to register a fifth when substitute Chidozie Ogbene slotted coolly past Sam Ramsbottom. A 5-0 victory for City coupled with a 3-0 defeat for Dundalk, a massive night in the title race. That eight goal swing in goal difference also wiping out the advantage Dundalk had and actually giving City the edge in that column.

The events of Saturday night set up a mouth watering head-to-head between the top two tonight. Dundalk with home advantage with a win will put daylight between them and their challengers with five to play after tonight.
City will go top with a victory and really put the pressure on their county Louth opponents.

There will be points dropped by both sides in the remaining games. The pair have after tonight five league games which will be squeezed in before the final day of the league season on October 28th. This means games every three-four days between now and then,
Dundalk have an extra game due to their Europa league exploits with them hosting Zenit St Petersburg in between league games with Longford and Bohemians. So ahead of tonight, Come on City!.

"Maybe the switch will do us good? "

In 2017 Georgia's top division, the Umaglesi Liga, will become the twelfth spring-to-autumn league in Europe. The decision taken earlier this year means that there will be a transitional season for the rest of this calendar year to decide who represents the country in next season's European competitions. The transitional campaign isn't a normal league campaign and does require a bit of a breakdown.

Transitional Format
The league has fourteen clubs which for this short season are divided into two groups of seven. Each side plays each other home and away against the sides in their own group. The two group winners will then play each other at the end in a championship play-off to decide who gets the champions league place. 2nd and 3rd place finishers in both groups enter play-offs against each other to decide who gets the Europa League berth. The winners of the Georgian cup will take a Europa League berth as usual.
The teams finishing bottom of both groups are relegated to the second tier Pirveli Liga with 5th and 6th place finishers in both groups entering play-offs to keep their top flight status, the two losers here are relegated.

The change:
The league originally started out as a spring-to-autumn season after independence. The Georgian Football Federation (GFF) then decided to go with the autumn-to-spring season from the 1991-92 season up until last season. In that time the league has switched around league formats with a sixteen team home and away format, a championship and relegation pool system after a general season and a ten team home and away format with a twenty team format and oddly a seventeen team format also used.
The reason for this switch in calendar can probably be put down to European performance. Georgian clubs enter European competition in early July which is a good month and a half before domestic football resumes. The hope is that by switching the calendar the clubs will be match fit and sharp heading into these games giving them a slight edge of potentially out of season opponents, thus improving European results.

Dinamo Tbilisi were outclassed by PAOK
source: enallaxnews.gr

This season only Dinamo Tbilisi made any sort of run in Europe. They beat Alashkert from Armenia in the champions league before defeat by Dinamo Zagreb sent them into the Europa League play-off round which ultimately ended in a 5-0 aggregate defeat to PAOK. For the past two seasons all other Georgian clubs haven fallen at the first hurdle.

There have been notable runs such as Chikura Sachkhere in 2014 when they reached the third qualifying round in the Europa League after beating Bursaspor from Turkey and of course Dila Gori's runs to the play-off round in successive seasons, beating sides such as AaB Aallborg, Hajduk Split and Anorthosis. Zestafoni have also reached the play-off round in recent years. However those runs remain exceptions as opposed to rule and as of yet Dinamo Tbilisi remain the only Georgian club to have qualified for a group stage of European competition (2004-05 UEFA Cup).

By getting Georgian teams match fit and in season when these qualifying games come around the GFF hope to replicate the success neighboring Azerbaijan is currently having. For the second season is succession, Azerbaijan have two sides competing in the Europa League group stage.
The case point for a change in calendar having better results is Ireland. In 2002 the league of Ireland made the decision to press ahead with a switch in calendar to play through the summer with the aim of improving European results. That switch was made it 2003 and only a year later Shelbourne made serious inroads of getting into the champions league group stage. Results in Europe did improve but only for a few years until the lack of money impacted on the standard of Irish sides. Results are only now starting to pick up after that lull with Shamrock Rovers in 2011 and Dundalk this season making the group stage of the Europa League.

The season so far:
So far this season it's a free for all. The biggest and most successful club, Dinamo Tbilisi are off the pace. The defending champions are six points off top spot in Group 2. The country's second most successful side, Torpedo Kutaisi are bottom of the same group.

The struggles of the bigger sides have opened a window of opportunity. Leading both groups are sides that have never won the league title before. Samtredia lead Group 1 by two points ahead Dinamo Batumi, who themselves haven't won the title before. Chikhura Sachkhere lead Group 2 by five points from Locomotivi Tbilisi.

The group games will be concluded on November 25th by which time the play-offs for the European places will take center stage so still a bit of time for the bigger sides to sort themselves out.

Well that's Nice to see

After seven rounds of games in Ligue 1 someone other than Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) is top of the table. It's not even Monaco either, or Lyon, or Marseille. Nope, instead it's the unexpected name of Nice that are sitting top of the tree.
From the outside looking in, Ligue 1 these past few years has been, well let's be honest, a bit of a bore when it comes to title races. PSG since their Qatar investment in 2011 have basically ran free with the title with the notable exception of 2014-15 which I blogged about a number of months ago. For a recap the 2014-15 Ligue 1 season was actually a three horse race up until April with Lyon and Marseille pushing PSG. In the end both chasing sides fell away in the final few games but it did provide some competition. Then came last season's procession.
Prior to PSG getting that Qatar investment the league was mightily competitive. Lyon's run of dominance ended with Bordeaux claiming the title in 2008-09 and after that no fewer than three different sides claimed the title in the successive three seasons. Then came the start of the current run of dominance of PSG.
Despite the runs of dominance by PSG in this decade and Lyon in the last, Ligue 1 still has produced more different league champions than all the other so called big leagues since the turn of the century. Eight to be precise.(England, Germany, Spain and Italy all have five different champions since 99-00).

Back to this season and well Nice are not one of those eight sides to have claimed at least one title since 2000. In fact Nice have only ever won the title four times and the last of those was in 1958-59. The rise of Nice for followers of French football shouldn't be that much of a shock considering they had a superb campaign last season. Sure they may have missed out on the prize of champions league football by two points but under Claude Puel they secured European football for the first time since 1997-98. Puel departed in the summer for Southampton and their star performer was the familiar name of Hatem Ben Arfa, he also left. Nice did however replace one troubled genius in Ben Arfa with another one this summer. Step forward one Mario Balotelli. Nice raised eyebrows when they signed the Italian from Liverpool with even Jaime Carragher saying that the free transfer was Nice paying over the odds. Balotelli made his debut in the home game against Marseille and he responded with two goals, a penalty and close range header. He added two more goals in Nice's 4-0 demolition of Monaco last Wednesday. That big victory over Monaco put Nice top of the league and the narrow 1-0 success away to Nancy on Sunday maintained their position at the top.

PSG's rather indifferent start has opened up the table in these early weeks of the season, with the champions already suffering two league defeats which is the same total they suffered last season in it's entirety. Although it is early days one does hope that they are challenged this season. Can it be Nice? well so far the signs are pretty good. They have the best defense in France after seven games with just four put past them and much will depend how they juggle their European commitments, which began two weeks ago with a defeat at home to struggling Schalke. Coach Lucien Favre has the side playing lovely stuff at times and with the experienced head of Dante at the back they have the foundations of a reliable defense that could see them have an even better season than last season.

The Europa League moan

José Mourinho at the press conference this week
source: getty

"It's embarrassing to be in Europa League", "This is not a competition Man United want", "I think it's a killer..to be frank". Just some of the quotes from English football on the Europa League from Rio Ferdinand, José Mourinho and Harry Redknapp.
I'll start of this post by addressing those quotes. Rio Ferdinand made the "It's embarrassing to be in Europa League" comment after Man United finished 3rd in their champions league group last season. Whats embarrassing here is that Man United failed to get through a group containing Wolfsburg and PSV Eindhoven. For a club from the self proclaimed "best league in the world" you would expect an awful lot better.
"This is not a competition Man United want" well José, suck it up because Man United were not good enough to finish in the top 4 of a very weak premier league last season. Also a bit hypocritical of a man whose managerial career really began to take off by his successful Porto side in this competition's previous guise, the UEFA cup in 2003.
"I think it's a killer..to be frank" Harry Redknapp actually said this about the Europa League when Spurs were gunning for the premier league title. Redknapp's side were eliminated from the Europa league in the group stage that season and guess what, they still didn't win the title.

Other instances of English clubs not being particularly bothered about Europe happened last year when West Ham fielded a team of kids against Astra Giurgiu in Romania. The unfortunate part of that was West Ham had fans that traveled out to Romania to watch their side in Europe, instead they got to see a manager completely disregard them and the competition. Justice prevailed when Astra got through.

What I will never get my head around is you would expect utter arrogance from the likes of United, Liverpool, Chelsea and City, you know teams that are in Europe most years. It's the likes of West Ham, Stoke City and Aston Villa turning their nose up at this competition that baffles me. Despite the propaganda the premier league sends out, these teams haven't a glimmer of winning the league (Leicester's title last season is at the moment an outlier, no trends or conclusions can be made from that). Their best chances of trophies are cup competitions and they turn their noses up at them. Last season Swansea's Ashley Williams was "relived" to miss out on the Europa league because he wanted to "concentrate on the league". Why not concentrate on doing well in both competitions?
This excuse that Thursday-Sunday fixtures are hampering teams is pathetic as well. Thursday-Sunday is the exact same as Wednesday-Saturday fixtures for champions league sides. Ah but the champions league has the glamour, money and prestige to be taken seriously.These Premier League sides have a bumper new TV deal to hoover up as many players from around Europe as they want yet they can't get a big enough squad to compete in a few cup competitions alongside the league.
Also this isn't a recent phenomenon. Going back about ten years now when Reading were newly promoted and looking good for a UEFA cup place, their manager at the time said had they qualified for the UEFA cup he would've played the reserves. Needless to say Reading haven't been remotely close to qualifying for Europe since.
The argument of letting the bigger sides forgo taking part in the Europa League is dead in the water because even the small English sides don't even see the point in showcasing themselves in what is at the end of the day a European competition.
Up until the August revelation of the new format for the European competitions (more on that in another blog post) all national leagues in Europe were ranked on performance in the past five years in European competitions. This table has now pretty much been nullified with the plans in place but it was the system used to decided how many places in the champions league a nation got. English clubs with their disdain for the Europa League had slipped to 3rd in the table and were under threat of losing their 4th champions league spot until Italy had lost it's representatives in Europe early. Losing that champions league spot has hit Italy hard and Italy are a good case point here. For years Italian clubs were like the English clubs, they viewed the UEFA Cup/Europa league as a hindrance. Only after Italy lost their 4th champions league place in 2011 have Italian sides began to embrace the Europa League. Perhaps the English losing their 4th place would've changed their mindset?

This is the pathetic attitude of English sides towards this competition and you have the English media banging the anti-Europa league drum as well. What's even more incredible is even the fans are dismissing the Europa League. Some suggesting they'd rather their clubs sacrifice a European run for finishing two-three places higher in the league, like really, are you serious?
The arrogance in English football towards anything non-Premier league is astounding. One only has to flick through comments on match reports of the various English clubs on Europa league nights to see this in black and white. "oh it's only the Europa league", "not even arsed about the result" etc,
There is a lot wrong with modern football but what is really strange is that fans are valuing different competitions their teams play in on the monetary value. Oh the prize money for finishing 10th in the premier league is better than winning the Europa league. As a fan are you seeing any of that prize money?

From a personal point of view Europe is where I aspire my club to be. There is something magical about European games. Your club is testing itself against your counterparts from other countries. The away trips to cities that you never thought existed is part of the charm. I can tell you the memories I got from following Cork City in Europe to Belfast, Gothenburg and Genk this year will stay with me for the rest of my life, hell even our 2015 trip to Reykjavík had it's moments. Sure the club got rewarded for that European run, but as a fan I didn't give a toss. I was more concerned about where we might be going in the 4th round had we got past Genk, not drooling over the €800k the club would get for progressing.
You see I don't get this whole fans turning into accountants for their clubs. The clubs have people employed to look after the finances and make decisions accordingly. As a fan you are there to support the team not count the notes.

Twists, turns and more in Europe's most competitive title race

It's that time of the season where the end is in sight, no not in most European leagues that have only just started up but for the summer leagues. In Europe there are eleven leagues that play during the summer (Belarus, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden) and it's in these leagues that the finish line is in sight. For one league in particular it's been an extraordinary season at the top of the table.

That league is Finland's Veikkausliiga, which is Europe's most compelling title race this season. On Saturday 2nd placed IFK Mariehamn had the opportunity to claim top spot with a victory over SJK away from home. However it was last season's champions that claimed a 1-0 win to close within seven points off top spot themselves, SJK currently lie 7th in the table. Yes you read that right, SJK in 7th are seven points off top spot. It's been a fascinating season and one that really wasn't foreseen.

Last season saw HJK Helsinki, the country's most successful club, knocked off their perch by SJK from Seinäjoki, who claimed their first ever league title. However it probably was a little teaser of what was to come as the final day of the 2015 season saw three sides (SJK, RoPS Rovaniemi and HJK) tussle for the title. SJK went into that final day top and both RoPS and HJK needed them to drop points to have a chance of landing the title. In the end all three won their games which was enough for SJK. 

Previous to that 2015 success for SJK, the league was dominated by HJK who between 2009 and 2014 won every title on offer. So this latest bout of competitiveness has been very much unforeseen. What makes it even more astounding is HJK were Europa League group stage participants in 2014-15 so with all the money earned from that this really does add to the mystery of this insane season. 

HJK have been very inconsistent in 2016 which has opened the door to some sides that haven't tasted league glory in quite some time. In order of how the table reads aside from HJK these are when the contenders last tasted glory; IFK Mariehamn (never), RoPS (never), Ilves (1983), KuPS (1976), VPS (1948) and SJK (2015). So this season really is a fantastic opportunity for some of these clubs to seize the moment and end their title droughts. 

HJK only reclaimed top spot last week with a 2-0 win away at mid-table PS Kemi. Since that victory they have lost twice on the bounce. A 4-1 hammering by Lahti at home was followed by a 3-2 loss away at struggling Inter Turku which offered IFK Mariehamn that chance to reclaim top spot this weekend, which was spurned. The form teams are actually those catching up behind HJK and Mariehamn. Ilves are unbeaten in five, VPS likewise with draws being their problem in recent weeks. SJK have recovered from an absolute disaster of a start in which they were winless after the first month of the season and have since clawed themselves up into contention, just. 

HJK have also played a game more than all of the other six contenders. All the others play their games in hand before September is out which will have the capital side sitting nervously seeing what will unfold. They could however relinquish top spot again before those sides even play their games in hand as they host RoPS in a delicious looking clash on Wednesday when the next round of games will be played. At the same time IFK Mariehamn will host Inter Turku with the other four contenders face each other with VPS hosting SJK and KuPS facing Ilves. 
The league concludes on October 23rd by which time seven contenders will be whittled down somewhat but in the six rounds of games before that expect twists, turns and more in Europe's most competitive title race. 

Europa League group stage predictions

For the first time in five years there will be Irish interest in the Europa League group stages and for only the second time ever. It's a big deal, even if the side in question are direct trophy rivals for my own club. Dundalk make their group stage debut having dropped down from the champions league play-offs which saw them unable to get the better of Legia Warszawa. Victories over Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar of Iceland and BATE Borisov of Belarus gave them a guaranteed group stage place at least before doing battle with the Polish champions. 
Dundalk thus became only the second side from this island to reach the group stages. Shamrock Rovers, the most successful side here were the first to break the barrier after a dramatic extra-time victory over Partizan Belgrade in 2011. Rovers went on to lose all six group games in what was a very difficult group and Dundalk will be obviously hoping to better that performance. Dundalk however are in a tricky group make no mistake. Pitted against AZ Alkmaar from the Eredivisie in Holland, Russian giants Zenit St Petersburg and Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Tel-Aviv it offers it's own challenges. More on Dundalk's group later. 

Elsewhere the group stages have a decent spread of team across the continent. However two regions are without teams in this season's group stage. Scandinavia have no teams competing with only FC København the last remaining Scandinavian side left in either European competition. The Balkans is the other area without a team with Dinamo Zagreb the last team standing in either competition. 
What we lack in Scandinavia and the Balkans we make up for in other areas. Cyprus' APOEL Nicosia return for the second successive season in the Europa League group stage, Israel have two sides competing, as do Azerbaijan and Romania. The Czechs have a trio of hopefuls alongside the same number of Turkish sides. Even Kazakhstan have a side competing with Astana having dropped down from the champions league qualifiers. It all makes for an interesting group stage. 

Group A

Believe it or not I'm actually having a tricky assignment predicting this group. Yes Manchester United should be getting through but it's balanced out with not exactly easy away games. United's strength in depth should be enough to nab one of the top two spots but the other one is very tricky. Feyenoord have the atmospheric De Kuip to get them over the line at home as do Fenerbahçe with the Şükrü Saracoğlu. Zorya Luhansk have an unknown element about them that could fall in their favour. I'm not exactly a Ukrainian football guru but playing games in Odessa as opposed to Luhansk might be the difference in them getting through or not. I'll plum for Fenerbahçe to join United in getting through here. 

1. Manchester United
2. Fenerbahçe
3. Feyenoord
4. Zorya Luhansk

Group B

I like the look of this group. The Greek-Cypriot clashes do give it a spicy flavor which is tasty and qualification doesn't look beyond any of the teams. Olympiacos will no doubt be favorites to at least get through and they should do. APOEL have the warm conditions to their advantage but do face a chilling trip to Astana in November. Astana themselves will be travelling quite a lot which is a factor. Young Boys will be a tricky side to overcome. I'm going to side with APOEL here.

1. Olympiacos
2. APOEL Nicosia
3. Astana
4. Young Boys

Group C

Again another tricky group to predict. A decent grouping of sides that you could make a case for all to get through. Anderlecht's European record compared to their excellent domestic record have been a constant let down. Saint-Étienne I do think will get through. Playing in front of France's most passionate fans they will be a tough nut to break. Mainz have a small European sample size to go off of but I do think they'll be close in this group. The wildcard in this group is Qəbələ. The Azeri side are making their second ever group appearance after last season and will be a tricky opponent especially at home. I can see them coming very close this time but I'll play it safe and go with Anderlecht to join Saint-Étienne. 

1. Saint-Étienne
2. Anderlecht
3. Qəbələ
4. Mainz

Group D

Here we are. Irish eyes will be (well the should be) glued to this group. Dundalk being honest are up against it but that could be their advantage. No fear, no expectation. I'll go on record and say they will at least get a point, how much remains the joy of this competition, unfortunately for them I can't see them getting through. Zenit have quality dripping through the squad and should be favorites to top this group. AZ Alkmaar were a disaster in the group last season finishing 4th and I do think they'll miss out with Maccabi Tel-Aviv nabbing that second spot behind Zenit. The Israelis have lost their free scoring Eran Zahavi but do have a decent attacking threat about them. 

1. Zenit St Petersburg
2. Maccabi Tel-Aviv
3. AZ Alkmaar
4. Dundalk

Group E

Roma surely can't muck up this group. I would be amazed if they didn't get through. Joining them is where it gets tricky to predict. Astra Giurgiu were resolute in overcoming West Ham to get here and look fairly good in keeping teams out on that evidence. Austria Wien are a side that have a very decent shot at getting through. Currently 4th in the concertina at the top of the Austrian league do they have enough to get the better of Viktoria Plzeň. Czechs sides have began to improve in Europe after a doldrum period and I'm inclined to side on their side in this case. 

1. Roma
2. Viktoria Plzeň
3. Austria Wien
4. Astra Giurgiu

Group F

One team in particular I'll be following in this group and no prizes for guessing are our conquerors in the third qualifying round, Genk. Genk were a class or two above City in July/August and I'll be keeping an eye on their progress here for sure. Athletic Bilbao should be getting through without too much trouble. Sassuolo are in their debut European campaign so it's hard to see how much of a challenge they will otherwise have been had they been a seasoned Italian side in Europe. Rapid Wien have a passionate home support which will be their strength. I'm going to be bold here and go for Genk to join Athletic Bilbao in the next round, why not, it'll look better for City. 

1.  Athletic Bilbao
2. Genk
3. Sassuolo
4. Rapid Wien

Group G

A tasty looking group this. Celta de Vigo have began the season in disasterous form with three defeats from three, they have lost Nolito who at times last season was unplayable and could be the first Spanish side to exit Europe this season. Ajax well dumped out of the champions league by Rostov shows they are not in the finest of health. Panathinaikos like most Greek sides whose name is not Olympiacos have no money and Standard Liége well they had the utterly bizarre play-off system domestically to thank for them being in Europe in the first place. All sides have problems so makes for a really interesting battle. Ajax I think will go through alongside Panathinaikos but this group will be tight and don't be surprised to see Celta get through. 

1. Ajax
2. Panathinaikos
3. Celta de Vigo
4. Standard Liége

Group H

Playing away from Donetsk isn't ideal for Shakhtar but they have pedigree in this competition. The final winners of the UEFA cup and semi-finalists last season they are a side you just can't bet against in this group. Again a tricky group to predict given that Braga have started quite well in the league and Gent were among the last 16 in the champions league last season. Konyaspor are making their debut in European competition this season having finished an impressive 3rd domestically last season. I'll go with Braga to join Shakhtar in getting through.

1. Shakhtar Donetsk
2. Sporting Braga
3. Gent
4. Konyaspor

Group I

A very difficult group to predict. Schalke will be favorites to get through and I'd expect them to. Salzburg have in the past been ruthless in groups and have gone through on numerous occasions so will be a tough team to shift. Krasnodar were in the last 32 o this competition last season and won't be a pushover. Nice likewise will fancy their chances in this group. They have started quite well in Ligue 1 and should they carry that form over they have to be considered. I'll stick my neck out and go with Nice and Schalke here. 

1. Schalke
2. Nice
3. Salzburg
4. Krasnodar

Group J

Fiorentina will top this group without too much difficulty I think. The other three will be an interest fight for that second spot. Slovan Liberec are a side that could pose a threat to the more fancied PAOK. The Greeks will be my favorite to get through this group but it could very well be a close run thing. With the experience of the past few years under their belts Azeri side Qarabağ can't be dismissed from the discussion either. 

1. Fiorentina
2. PAOK
3. Qarabağ
4. Slovan Liberec

Group K

The trend of tricky groups continues here with three teams on a similar level and one potential wildcard team. Inter Milan obviously being the biggest name in the group and one would imagine should be getting through. I'm not so confident about the second team to go through. Southampton have in recent years punched above their weight and under a new manager this season are not the same side of those years. Sparta Praha obviously had a very impressive run in this competition last season. Hapoel Be'er Sheva have shown to be strong at home and are a banana skin in this group. I'll stick my neck out and side with Sparta to get through. 

1. Inter Milan
2. Sparta Praha
3. Southampton
4. Hapoel Be'er Sheva

Group L

I would be fairly confident that Villarreal will coast this group. Semi-finalists last season they have much more quality than their group rivals. Steaua București have their own off the pitch problems but were fairly outclassed by Manchester City in the champions league. FC Zürich are actually the only non top division side in the competition having suffered relegation last season but won the Swiss cup. Turkish side Osmanlıspor are in only their second ever European campaign and did overcome FC Midtjylland in the play-offs. I actually think the Turks have a really good chance here so I'll go with them to get through. 

1. Villarreal
2. Osmanlıspor
3. Steaua București
4. FC Zürich

Champions League group stage predictions

The champions league group stage kicks off tomorrow with a few notable absentees as well as a few returning faces and two new teams making their bow in this competition.
The first new team is FC Rostov from Russia. Agonizingly close to a first ever domestic league title last spring they had the consolation prize of a place in the qualifiers to get over the disappointment. Victories over Anderlecht and Ajax have seen them make it to the group stage in their first ever season in the champions league/European cup. Their reward is a difficult group with Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid and PSV Eindhoven. More on that group later.
The second is obviously the defending English champions Leicester City. This being the first time they will be playing in the champions league/European cup.

This season sees Bulgarians Ludogorets Razgrad return after their debut season two years ago. Turkish champions Beşiktaş are back for the first time since 2009-10. Celtic are making their first group stage appearance in three seasons. Portuguese side Sporting Clube de Portugal return after a gap of two seasons, Club Brugge are making their return for the first time since 2005-06, FC København return, three seasons after their last group stage appearance and of course this season sees Poland represented in the group stage for the first time since 1995-96 by Legia Warszawa who make their return this season. 

A notable fact about this season's competition is the absence of any Greek teams in the group stage. Perennial champions Olympiacos were eliminated at the third qualifying round by Israeli side Hapoel Be'er Sheva and last season's runners-up PAOK exited at the hands of Ajax at the same stage. For the first time since 1996-97, Greece won't be hosting any group stage games. 

Group A

A very easy group to predict. PSG to top the group, Arsenal to get through in 2nd and Basel to take the Europa league place, but will push Arsenal all the way. 

1. PSG
2. Arsenal
3. Basel
4. Ludogorets Razgrad

Group B

A slightly tricky group to call. I can see Napoli getting through but joining them is the challenge. I'd probably side with Benfica ahead of Dynamo Kyiv but I wouldn't be surprised to see the Ukrainians edge through. 

1. Napoli
2. Benfica
3. Dynamo Kyiv
4. Beşiktaş

Group C

This group will end how it was drawn. I can't see Gladbach getting the better of the top two seeds in this group. Much less so Celtic who I think will end up bottom of the group with maybe one or two points. 

1. Barcelona
2. Mancheser City
3. Borussia Mönchengladbach
4. Celtic

Group D

Another very predictable group. It'll end as it was drawn. The only interesting aspect will be, can Rostov nip that third place? I was impresed with PSV last season and think they'll do enough to claim third. 

1. Bayern Munich
2. Atlético Madrid
3. PSV Eindhoven
4. FC Rostov

Group E

Now this is a group that is hard to predict. All four teams seem to be close together in ability which makes it tricky to predict. Monaco have started the season well domestically as have CSKA Moskva. Leverkusen after two Bundesliga games have one win and one loss so not a lot came be written about that. Tottenham currently sit 4th in England, unbeaten so going by that they will be tricky opponents for their group rivals. I'm going to go with Monaco and Tottenham to get through, just. Leverkusen to be pushed into third. 

1. Monaco
2. Tottenham
3. Bayer Leverkusen
4. CSKA Moskva

Group F

A dull group in which Real Madrid and Dortmund will easily qualify. I fully expect Sporting Clube de Portugal to secure third place with ease as well. 

1. Real Madrid
2. Borussia Dortmund
3. Sporting CP
4. Legia Warszawa

Group G

Leicester can count their lucky stars they got such a manageable group. Porto are not in the greatest of nick these days while both Club Brugge and FC København are only just back in the group stage after a few years away. Leicester and Porto to get through with the Danes to get third place. 

1. Porto
2. Leicester City
3. FC København
4. Club Brugge

Group H

A tough group to predict despite the presence of Juventus. I still think Juve will get through but I would have my doubts as to how easy they will secure qualification. There is a temptation to say Sevilla third place so they can go for another Europa league tilt but I actually think they will just about squeeze through. I'm writing off Dinamo Zagreb with confidence given past experiences and Lyon will push for qualification to the very end. 

1. Juventus
2. Sevilla
3. Lyon
4. Dinamo Zagreb

Hopes and thoughts

Obviously my main hope for this season's competition is that someone outside of the usual cartel of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich wins the tournament, however it's unlikely, very unlikely. Outside of that I don't see Atlético repeating last year's run to the final, Juventus could be a decent bet for a semi-final place given their summer activity and Manchester City with Pep will go deep into the competition. 

My shout for biggest underachiever in this competition will be PSG. A lot look at them as a "dark horse" but given the cash they have splashed over the years they have underachieved massively. At this moment I can see them falling in the last 16. 

I'll be interested to see how Legia Warszawa cope with their group. I get the feeling they'll lose all six games. They showed they were probably a level above Irish champions Dundalk so I'll be keeping an eye on their fortunes for sure. 

Everyone will be looking out for Leicester to see if they can take Europe by the same storm they took England last year. I think they'll get through but the last 16 will be as far as they get.