Bring on the best
The Champions League returns next week with a familiar cast of clubs in the knockout stage. Can the Premiership section of the round make the grade? THE Champions League would never be the same again if Michel Platini has his way – and the newly installed president of the UEFA must impose his version of the Napoleonic Code to overpower the separatist rebels of G14 if he were to succeed. The last reworking of the competition's format three seasons ago was greeted with routine horror by the powerful clubs that make up the grouping that controls the elite league. Nothing less than a call to arms is expected if Platini proceeds with his plan to democratise the Champions League at the expense of the leading clubs in Europe.
Football observers would argue that changes are badly needed for a tournament that has the thick air of predictability hanging over it despite the makeover in Season 2003/04. Platini has recommended cutting down representatives from the four major leagues to three – currently four Spanish, English, German and Italian clubs are eligible to compete – in order to achieve wider participation across the continent. While outfits from the Bay of Biscay to Barrents Sea rejoice at the invitation, there will only be clenched faces around the boardrooms of the leading clubs ignorant of the progressive devaluation of their beloved scheme. 
The national title races in Europe themselves are embarrassing 10-month snore-fests dotted by occasional acts of gallantry from the lesser lights in the respective countries before normality is restored. Deep into January, we were resigned to watching either Manchester United or Chelsea slug it out for the Premiership title and nothing has changed considerably in a fortnight into February to alter our perception.
This underlines a serious handicap: unlike the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, where undersized clubs such as Nottingham Forest, Everton and Aston Villa set out to stake their places in history and then take the podium as European winners, the introduction of the Premier League has only enriched the rich and left the rest – aided by mismanagement – with hollow coffers. It is likely that the Premiership trophy will be transported between the northwest of England and London in the foreseeable future as England's other hotbeds of football muster detached gazes at the May processions.
This status quo virtually translates into Champions League football when G14 members hold a domination that was broken when Red Star Belgrade (renamed Crvena Zvezda for a tongue twister) defeated Marseille via an anti-climatic penalty shoot-out in 1991 in the European Cup's 100th final. Jose Mourinho's FC Porto may be a wildcard winner that warmed the hearts three years ago but they, just like Marseille, are members of the G14 faction.
That was also a unique year for the Champions League when three of the semi-finalists (Monaco, Deportivo La Coruna and Chelsea) were not part of the G14 and it shattered the tedium of the grouping supplying at least three of their members in the last four ever since they were formed in 2000. Prior to this, the only other time the G14 members were prevented from occupying a minimum of three of the four places was in 1996 when Nantes and Panathinaikos gate crashed the party only to let Juventus beat fellow member Ajax Amsterdam on penalties in the final.
Platini realises the big clubs' impetus towards total capitalism and the need to keep football relevant at every level and he too would be hoping the see more of Villarreal-like exploits from non-members of the G14 when the unheralded Spanish club marched all the way to the semi-finals before narrowly losing to Arsenal 1-0 over two legs. Everton fans would recall that it was their club making a pig's ear of qualifying for the Champions League group proper that paved the way for the Yellow Submarine's heroics.
Everton, with the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Newcastle United, will be the casualties of Platini's attempt to revamp the Champions League but underlying this “loss” is the doubt whether any of these clubs would have achieved enough to merit mention alongside Villarreal. In reflecting the poor pedigree of Premiership clubs, only two clubs in the knockout stage of the Champions League – which resumes next Tuesday – have won it since its re-introduction in 1992. While Manchester United would start preparing to add to their two triumphs, Liverpool – at least on paper – face the toughest match of all four of England's entries against holders Barcelona.
Lille Metropole v Man United
(Tuesday): Alex Ferguson would start preparing for the quarterfinals in earnest only if they attain an overwhelming win at their opponents' temporary stadium Stade Felix-Bollaert. Two seasons ago, Lille snatched four points off United in their debut Champions League campaign and last December, they humbled a disjointed AC Milan side at the San Siro for a place in the last 16 to continue their growth. Coach Claude Puel, 45, is rated as one of the most promising young coaches in Europe and is cautious – despite his own charges' high position in Ligue I – in entertaining any hopes of emulating the feat of last year when they finished above United in their group. There is no doubt that the newly improved United are the team to fear at this level of the competition.
PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal
(Tuesday): The Gunners have been bitten by the Champions League final bug and would want to go one step further this term by triumphing in Athens on May 23. Arsene Wenger has a team emboldened by the adventures of last season and will take that experience into these matches. The knockout stage would represent the clubs' fifth and sixth meetings in the last five years and the balance of power is easily in the hands of Arsenal. The Gunners are unbeaten against PSV and have two wins and two draws from their clashes between 2002 and 2005. Coach Ronald Koeman would be counting on matching the success of his ex-club Benfica which reached the quarterfinals and lost to eventual victors Barcelona but the odds are stacked against his side.
FC Porto v Chelsea
(Wednesday): The emotional quotient would be upped in the run-up to these games and this would suit Mourinho's penchant for melodrama as he takes his Chelsea to the club where he had – as he admitted last month – assembled his best team ever. His old adoring public at the Estadio do Dragao might afford him homecoming applause but would not be fooled into thinking that their team would let the Blues off the hook. Coach Jesualdo Ferreira has reinforced his team last month with Colombian international striker Wason Renteria and Argentinean left back Lucas Mareque, both of whom are expected to start against the Blues. It is improbable that the surprise element that these South Americans carry would be sufficient to derail Chelsea's dreams of becoming the first London club to land the European Cup.
Barcelona v Liverpool
(Wednesday): There could not be a more opportunistic moment to derail champions Barcelona than in the next few weeks as news of unrest at Camp Nou finally made it to the pages. It was a badly kept secret that the exit of ex-vice-president Sandro Rosell had caused divisions in the dressing room before Samuel Eto'o exposed it to the public. The disunity has not affected the team's form – the Blaugrana are three points at the La Liga's summit ahead of nearest challengers Sevilla and are favourites to retain their title. The same may not apply in Europe when they meet a team managed by their former chief tormentor: Rafael Benitez has an impressive record against the Catalans and would keen to re-impose his command over Barca.
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