This is not ranked by likeliness to win the actual tournament, but rather the general strength and "star power" of the squads.

1. Spain
The winner of the 2010 World Cup and 2008 European Championships, Spain has embarked on a four-year run that has cemented La Furia Roja as one of the greatest international teams of all time.

The Dutch squad took their Official Team Portraits at their training ground in Hoenderloo yesterday afternoon, as part of UEFA's pre-tournament procedures. Despite the slight rain, Wesley Sneijder, Ibrahim Afellay, Arjen Robben, van Bommel and co' all lined up in a row to have their photo taken.

The Netherlands continues their warm-up to the Euro 2012 tournament with a friendly against Slovakia. The match will take place at De Kuip Stadion in Rotterdam, Netherlands with kickoff scheduled for 2:30 PM USA Eastern time.

Netherlands player Arjen Robben

"It was a special week (playing in UCL final for Bayern Munich) but I am back here on the practice field with Holland and the Euros is the new target.

OTP gives you the lowdown on all the Euro 2012 teams. 10 word description: World Cup finalists can call upon some big name stars. Coach: Bert van Marwijk Van Marwijk has been in charge since 2008. He doesn't exactly endorse free-flowing football, albeit he's got some skillful players who can do that for him.

He may be all smiles at The Netherlands' Euro 2012 training camp in Hoenderloo, but Robin van Persie has undoubtedly been thinking about his future in English football. The question at the top of everyone's minds right now, of course, is will he stay at Arsenal or move to a Spanish side next season?

Presently, you could argue that the German National Team has the most overworked players (apart from the Dutch, Spanish and England) at the Euro 2012 tournament. The likes of Thomas Mueller, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Gomez were barely given a week to recover themselves before turning up at their training camp in Tourrettes, France, while Arjen Robben played a friendly for The Netherlands a mere three days after Bayern's Champions League final loss!

I just spent ten days in Europe: Barcelona, Prague, Brussels and Madrid. I had originally planned to try to go to Munich to the CL final, but when I could not get tickets, I went to Prague and watched the final at the lovely and lively Old Square. It was on the same day where the Czech Republic had played and lost to Slovakia in the semifinal of the hockey World Cup, so there was a disappointed

Mais um jogo amistoso, foi disputado no dia 29/02/2012, na cidade de Londres-ENG, onde jogaram as seleções da Inglaterra (5º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção da Holanda (3º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
Copa do Mundo
1990Cagliari 16/06/1990 ENG0:0NED Group matches
Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo
1994Rotterdam 13/10/1993 NED2:0 (0:0)ENG First stage1994London 28/04/1993 ENG2:2 (2:1)NED First stage
Eurocopa
1996London 18/06/1996 NED1:4 (0:1)ENG Group matches1988DüSseldorf 15/06/1988 ENG1:3 (0:1)NED Final round
Amistosos
2009Amsterdam 12/08/2009 NED2:2 (2:0)ENG
2006Amsterdam 15/11/2006 NED1:1 (0:1)ENG
2005Birmingham 09/02/2005 ENG0:0NED
2001Amsterdam 13/02/2002 NED1:1 (1:0)ENG
2001London 15/08/2001 ENG0:2 (0:2)NED
1987London 23/03/1988 ENG2:2 (1:2)NED
1982London 25/05/1982 ENG2:0 (0:0)NED
1977London 09/02/1977 ENG0:2 (0:2)NED
1970London 14/01/1970 ENG0:0NED
1969Amsterdam 05/11/1969 NED0:1 (0:0)ENG
1964Amsterdam 09/12/1964 NED1:1 (0:0)ENG
1946Huddersfield 27/11/1946 ENG8:2 (6:1)NED
1935Amsterdam 18/05/1935 NED0:1 (0:0)ENG
Jogos Olímpicos
1948London 31/07/1948 GBR4:3 a.

Es war eine komische Woche. Von den eigenen Fans ausgepfiffen zu werden ist merkwürdig, das ist nicht einfach.

Arjen Robben, Mittelfeldspieler des FC Bayern München, kommentiert die Pfiffe gegen ihn, nachdem er den Elfmeter im Finale der Champions League verschossen hat.

La selección Holandesa (Holanda la naranja mecánica) en la Eurocopa Polonia y Ucrania 2012 uniforme, estadísticas, historia,seleccionados y análisis. Los Países bajos, Netherlands.

Cuando se piensa en la Eurocopa de naciones la imagen que se viene a la mente del aficionado futbolero es el golazo de Marco Van Basten en la final de la Eurocopa de 1988, Gullit , Van Basten,Frank Rijkaard y compañía causaron sensación con el entrenador Rinus Michels y ganaron el único titulo de la naranja mecánica en su historia.

La selección Holandesa (Holanda la naranja mecánica) en la Eurocopa Polonia y Ucrania 2012 uniforme, estadísticas, historia,seleccionados y análisis. Los Países bajos, Netherlands.

Cuando se piensa en la Eurocopa de naciones la imagen que se viene a la mente del aficionado futbolero es el golazo de Marco Van Basten en la final de la Eurocopa de 1988, Gullit , Van Basten,Frank Rijkaard y compañía causaron sensación con el entrenador Rinus Michels y ganaron el único titulo de la naranja mecánica en su historia.

Bayern Munich have responded to Wesley Sneijder's accusations that the club has not been supportive of Arjen Robben following his penalty miss in the Champions League final defeat to Chelsea, particularly since the winger was jeered by some fans in a home friendly against Netherlands.

Tuesday night's exhibition match saw Bayern's Robben don his national team colors and every time he touched the ball, sections of the crowd voiced their disapproval by whistling at him.

La vida como el deporte es de momentos , muchos de ellos no podemos evitar a que lleguen ,momentos que nos harán sacar lo mejor o lo peor de nosotros como deportistas, cuando esos momentos aparezcan debemos de estar preparados.
Este post no pretende hacer leña del árbol caído, pero es que cuando te dedicas a una sola actividad y pretendes ser de los mejores debes de saber que hay momentos que no se presentan tan a menudo.

Netherlands stars Wesley Sneijder and Mark Van Bommel have hit out at Bayern fans for jeering Arjen Robben during an exhibition match at the Allianz Arena last night while manager Bert van Marwijk will understand if the winger now chooses to walk out on the club despite recently signing a new contract.

Netherlands stars Wesley Sneijder and Mark Van Bommel have hit out at Bayern fans for jeering Arjen Robben during an exhibition match at the Allianz Arena last night while manager Bert van Marwijk will understand if the winger now chooses to walk out on the club despite recently signing a new contract.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has revealed that his penalty shoot-out heroics against Bayern Munich in Saturday's Champions League final triumph are directly attributable to homework rather than guesswork.

Even before the shoot-out, Cech was brilliant in denying former Blues teammate Arjen Robben five minutes into extra time, thus thwarting Bayern's hopes of taking a 2-1 lead in the contest.

Der FC Bayern sollte sich schämen, das hat Arjen nicht verdient.

Rafael van der Vaart, holländischer Nationalspieler, findet die Pfiffe der Bayern Fans gegen Arjen Robben im Freundschaftsspiel Holland gegen den FC Bayern München nicht in Ordnung.

It is no secret that most of Bayern Munich's squad endured a sleepless night following the penalty shoot-out defeat to Chelsea in Saturday's UEFA Champions League final. But after hours of reflection, at least some are able to put it all into perspective.

Bayern had 43 shots to the Blues' nine, while also delivering 20 corners to the Premier League outfit's one.

21.05.2012 - Desde que la Champions League se disputa con el formato actual (1992-93), nunca hubo un finalista local. Las circunstancias pudieron inducir que, después de eliminar al Real Madrid en semifinales y sin Barcelona enfrente (eliminado por Chelsea), Bayern Munich no tendría otra opción que festejar el título en casa, el Allianz Arena de Munich.

Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has insisted that his side's penalty shoot-out defeat to Chelsea at the Allianz Arena on Saturday evening was a more bitter pill to swallow than the nightmare 2-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United in 1999.

Thirteen years ago in Barcelona, Bayern led 1-0 heading into stoppage time before two quick goals from the Red Devils led to a collapse of massive proportions for the Munich outfit.

We're sure that Bernadien Robben is sympathetic, but she's not going to be looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Image: REUTERS/Alexander Hassenstein.

Arjen Robben's missed the odd important penalty this season, but none was as crushing as the one he missed on Saturday. With the Champions League final poised at 1-1 in extra time, Didier Drogba's foul on Franck Ribery in the 95th minute handed Bayern Munich the opportunity to take the lead and.

After his penalty miss on Saturday night, Bastian Schweinsteiger hasn't been in the best of moods. Naturally, the German tabloids decided to stalk the defender on Sunday morning as he walked his dog wearing the worst outfit ever assembled. Well, to be fair, after you've lost such a painful Champions League final 15 wasted corners and all the last thing you'll care about is your shirt or the fact you look like Eminem's hobo brother.

And so it finally came to pass. Nine years after Roman Abramovich arrived at Stamford Bridge and spent like no other owner before him, and Chelsea win the one prize that always eluded Roman's riches. Ironically, this comes just a week after Sheik Mansour's Manchester City won the league on even greater resources than Chelsea have been used to.

Am liebsten würde ich jetzt eine Woche auf einer unbewohnten Insel verbringen.

Arjen Robben, Mittelfeldspieler des FC Bayern München, nach seinem Elfmeterfehlschuss in der Verlängerung des Champions League Finales.

Chelsea proved that they had more lives than a video game character this season by beating Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout to win the Champions League final. It was a hard luck loss for Bayern, who had a total of 43 shots and 20 corner kicks to Chelsea's nine shots and one corner kick (which they scored on in the 88th minute) during 120 minutes of play.

Chelsea finished their improbable run to the UEFA Champions League final with a 4-3 win on penalty kicks against Bayern Munich. For most of the match, Chelsea played a defensive match and looked for their chances on the counterattack. Ultimately, they would come from behind in the second half and also during the penalty kick shootout.

szólj hozzá: Chelsea Bayern HIGH + PENS

Five years ago in Munich, John Terry was a picture of abject misery, slipping on the slick Luzhniki Stadium turf and missing his penalty as Utd held off Chelsea in a heartbreaking loss.

Today, we saw Chelsea do the impossible as they held Bayern at the Allianz Arena, their home stadium, through full time and extra time for 120+ minutes through so many near death experiences.

It's nearly time. The goosebumps, yeah they've arrived.

Take it.

You may be wondering what's with today's photo selection? I know, I'm usually pulling out film-based artifacts (screencaps and the like) but today is an entirely different animal. This is the UEFA Champions League final for Christ's sake.

Below are predictions for the UEFA Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea on Saturday, May 19, 2012.

Score

Bayern Munich 2-1 Chelsea Bayern have the home advantage and have been very impressive in the Champions League this season. This combined with missing several key players due to suspensions will be more than enough to give Bayern their fifth Champions League/European Cup.

Champions League final: Dilemma for Di Matteo as Chelsea look to make history is a post from: Just Football

The Champions League final is ironically being contested by two sides who are not champions of their own domestic leagues.

Chelsea have finished 6th and Bayern Munich have lost the league for the second year running, compounded by a 5-2 defeat to Dortmund in the German Cup final last weekend.

Chelsea. Bayern Munich. One game for Europe's bragging rights.

The two clubs fought their way to the UEFA Champions League final (FOX, 2:45 p.m., Saturday), and while both will have to overcome some personnel absences Saturday at Allianz Arena in Munich, players like Franck Ribery, Didier Drogba, Mario Gomez, Frank Lampard, Arjen Robben, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ashley Cole, Philipp Lahm, Manuel Neuer and Petr Cech carry the starpower and international cache to turn in a memorable final.

Are we really less than 24 hours from contesting a second UEFA Champions League final? It really is hard to fathom. Tomorrow, we seek atonement not just for our loss to Manchester United in 2008 but for all the cruelty that has beset us in this competition over the past eight years. It is time, my friends, for the last act of a legendary generation.

Robben's a Man on a Mission (Simon Kuper, Mio Stadium)

Robben isn't really a "Dutch" footballer. He was born in Bedum in the windswept north of the Netherlands, 60 kilometres from the German border. No great Dutch footballer had come from the north since the Koeman brothers 25 years early, and none has ever come from Bedum.

TweetArjen Robben is ready to announce his retirement from football should he win both the Champions League and Euro 2012! The outspoken Bayern Munich winger will lineup to face Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal (German Cup Final), before hosting Chelsea in the Champions League final at the Allianz Arena on May 19.

Soccer diving as an Olympic sport? Anyone on the list below could win the gold.

Germany's Jurgen Klinsmann, now head coach of the USA national team was condemned as an uber-flopper in his playing days. He conned the referee in the 1990 World Cup Final by spinning airborne then hitting the ground like a man who had just been subjected to an electric shock.

By THOMAS FLOYD

It turns out Arjen Robben and Bayern Munich won't be parting ways anytime soon.

After months of rumors surrounding the Dutch winger's future, Robben has signed a new deal that will keep him with the German giants through 2015. The 28-year-old has scored 16 goals in all competitions for Bayern this season while helping the club secure a place in the Champions League final in Munich on May 19.

Real Madrid right-back Sergio Ramos has hit back at suggestions that yesterday's Champions League elimination to Bayern Munich was a sign of a massive collapse on both an individual and team level.

Two Cristiano Ronaldo goals within the opening 14 minutes put Real in the driving seat with a 3-2 aggregate lead, only for Arjen Robben to level the scores by converting a penalty won by Mario Gomez before the end of the first half.

We thought when we woke up this morning, this photo would turn out to have been a figment of our inebriated fevered imaginations. They normally are. Image: Andreas Gebert/dpa/Corbis. Thank you, Ruby.

Since Tuesday night's drunken tweeting went down so well, we felt almost obliged to sneak out of the office early and do it all again.

So we now know that Chelsea will face Bayern Munich on Saturday May 19th in the Champions League Final. I think you would have been hard pushed to find anyone neutral when asked, if they would have picked our two sides to make it.
We are there and it looks like it's going to be a great game.

25.04.2012 - Con goles de Cristiano Ronaldo (´6 penal y ´14), Real Madrid venció (2-1) a Bayern Munich (Robben ´27 penal) para igualar la serie global (2-2). Después del tiempo sulementario, Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo y Sergio Ramos erraron sus tiros y, por penales, Bayern se impuso (3-1) para clasificarse segundo finalista de la Champions League 2011-12.