Unless one has been in a coma for the past two weeks, they would have noticed the controversy surrounding the (just about) Croatian Eduardo's attempt to "deceive the referee" in Arsenal's Champions League Qualifier against Celtic and his subsequent two match ban by UEFA.

After the entire British Isles bar the red side of North London cried "cheat" at Eduardo, UEFA handed out a two match ban to Eduardo and one would have thought that justice has been served and the world can move on to other football controversies like Gael Kakuta and APOEL FC's presence in the Champions League.

Which teams will survive the first round of the Champions League?

The long summer of guessing and online gaming is now over, with the groups for the Champion League playoffs finally ready. Let's take a quick look at which teams will make it through to the second round, with our predictions below for the group plays.

15/09/2009Gruppo AJuventus - Bordeaux ore 20.45Maccabi Haifa - Bayern Monaco ore 20.45Gruppo BWolfsburg - CSKA Mosca ore 20.45Besiktas - Manchester United ore 20.45Gruppo CZurigo - Real Madrid ore 20.45Olympique Marsiglia - Milan ore 20.45Gruppo DChelsea - Porto ore 20.45Atletico Madrid - APOEL FC ore 20.

The 90th Minute Soccer Blog is glad to announce the UEFA Champions League Power Rankings that will be released after each set of group stage matches. The rankings are based mainly on teams performance in the Champions League and not necessarily a reflection of their form in domestic or other competitions.