As European's elite begin preparation for another season of shocks, surprises and the inevitable media-circus around Jose Mourinho's long-awaited return to the Champions League, two of the leading performers have already stolen the show by making history. The heroes and villains of Champions League football usually arise as the latter stages progress, but Anorthosis Famagusta and FC BATE have already acclaimed success by remarkably reaching the Group Stages for the very first time.

The UEFA league coefficient is used to rank the leagues of Europe and the purpose of these rankings is to act as a way of determining the number of clubs from each league that will participate in the the UEFA Cup and the Champions League. The ranking determines the number of teams competing in the season after the next.

Four clubs surprised the pundits by pulling off impressive victories against higher ranked outfits. Based on current rankings:

• Anorthosis Famagusta (ranked 193) defeated Olympiacos (ranked 44)
• FC BATE Borisov (unranked) defeated Levski Sofia (ranked 80)
• Atlético Madrid (ranked 67) defeated Schalke 04 (ranked 22)
• Dynamo Kyiv (ranked 74) defeated Spartak Moscow (ranked 61)

FC BATE from Belarus and Anorthosis from Cyprus are the first clubs from their perspective countries to ever qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

Week 2: Group H: Uefa Champions League FC BATE Borisov are meeting Juventus in the second round of the Champions League, tuesday 30th. Don`t forget to sign up 11×2.com - the next big football site   Watch the match LIVE here!

Kuralar bu sefer Cuma 13:00'de değil, bu akşam (Perşembe) 19:00'da çekiliyor.
Fenerbahçe üçüncü torbadan dahil olacak. İşin rengini 4. torbadan gelecek takım belirler. Torbalar şu şekilde: 1. Torba Manchester United FC (İNG), Chelsea FC (İNG), Liverpool FC (İNG), FC Barcelona (İSP), Arsenal FC (İNG), Olympique Lyonnais (FRA), FC Internazionale Milano (İTA), Real Madrid CF (İSP) 2.

Watch the match LIVE here. Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today

Week 1: Group H: Uefa Champions League: Real Madrid are meeting FC BATE Borisov in their first match in the Champions League this year, wednesday 17th. Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Don`t forget to sign up 11×2.com - the next big football site WATCH THE MATCH LIVE HERE!

On the newly re-launched Third Half podcast (a roundup show for all the Talk web sites), I had a great discussions with host Jonathan Starling about the goings-on of Matchday 2. Download the episode from EPL Talk. It was a Matchday that saw debutants BATE Borisov and CFR Cluj pull off draws (and one might say [.

Uefa Champions League: Watch the game LIVE here Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Don`t forget to sign up 11×2.com - the next big football site

A: Chelsea, Roma, Bordeaux, Cluj B: Internazionale, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos, Anorthosis Famagusta C: Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, Basel, Shaktar Donesk D: Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Atlético Madrid E: Man Utd, Villarreal, Celtic, Aalborg BK F: Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina G: Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbahce, Dynamo Kiev H: Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg, FC BATE Borisov

It says a lot about the UEFA Champions League and a lot more about the global stature of Manchester United that for many in Los Angeles the most important game of the week does not involve the Galaxy or Chivas USA, but today's 11:30 a.m. game on ESPN2 that has the Red Devils facing Jozy Altidore's Spanish team Villareal.