Sunday, August 7, 2011

Champions RoundUp Edition 05

Its a jam packed edition of Champions RoundUp this week as the Qualifying rounds reach their advanced stages!

We'll be looking at the sides taking part a little later, but first ...


Play-Off Preview!

The teams:

FC BAYERN MUNCHEN - Germany:
Finalists in 2010 and four time champions of the UEFA Champions League, they are the top side in the Play Off Round. No one will want the Bavarian giants!

How they got here: Automatically qualified via Bundesliga.

APOEL NICOSIA - Cyprus:
A giant in Cypriot football and they qualified for the Group Stage in 2008/09, they will be a formidable opponent for any side.

How they got here: They beat Korce of Albania in the Second Qualifying Round and Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava in the Third Qualifying Round.

BATE BORISOV - Belarus:
Belorussian powerhouses BATE Borisov have progressed i leaps and bounds since the turn of the decade, and featured in the Group stages before. A less than convincing qualifying round saw them draw against two of the smaller sides in the UEFA Champions League and they will need to improve their performances for the big guns.

How they got here: Aggregate victories over Linfield and Ekranas saw them make it this far.

DINAMO ZAGREB - Croatia:
They have come so close on many occasions of making the group stage, but always fell short at the later qualifying rounds. They will be desperate to make the cut this season so will provide a real threat to the other sides in the Champions pot. They have the quality to make it!

How they got here: Comprehensive victories over Neftchi Baku and HJK Helsinki.

RUBIN KAZAN - Russia:

Wisla Krakow
Maccabi Haifa v KRC Genk
v Malmo FF
FC Copenhagen v Viktoria Plzen
v SK Sturm Graz

Non-Champions Path
Odense BK v Villarreal CF
FC Twente v SL Benfica
Arsenal FC v Udinese Calcio
v FC Zurich
Olympique Lyonnais v Rubin Kazan

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