UEFA Champions League: 7 Sides That Could Be Next Season's APOEL Nicosia

APOEL showed it can be done. Here's who could do it next.

Tiny APOEL Nicosia reached the Champions League quarterfinals this season before finally losing to Real Madrid. Along the way, the Cypriot minnows eliminated more heralded European teams like Porto and Lyon.

No one saw APOEL coming this season—probably not even their own fans—but their run showed that unheralded clubs can succeed in the Champions League.

Here are seven sides that could do the same next season.

Basel

Choosing Basel is almost too easy, and they almost don't count.

Why? Because before APOEL, Basel were the darlings of the Champions League this season.

Under the leadership of Thorsten Fink and then Heiko Vogel, the Swiss champs advanced to the Round of 16 before being eliminated by Bayern Munich.

Along the way, they finished ahead of Manchester United in Group C and drew a match at Old Trafford. In Switzerland, they recorded victories over both United and Bayern.

Young Swiss playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri will leave for Bayern in the summer, but Basel should have plenty of talent left in the roster to make another run.

The only problem is everybody knows about them now.

Olympiakos

Olympiakos have already claimed the Greek title again. Now they can concentrate on preparations for another Champions League campaign.

This season, the reigning Greek champs finished third in Group F behind Arsenal and Marseille. If not for Marseille's comeback win over Borussia Dortmund on the final group match day, Olympiakos would have advanced to the Round of 16 to face reeling Inter Milan.

Considering Inter's struggles this season, Olympiakos probably would have reached the quarterfinals.

But that's all guesswork. Back in reality, Olympiakos defeated Arsenal 3-1 at home (after Arsenal had already qualified for the knockout stages), Marseille 1-0 away and Borussia Dortmund 3-1 at home.

Celtic

Celtic clinched the Scottish Premier League title last weekend, and though the Glaswegian giants do have a glorious history domestically, their European forays have been short in recent years.

The 1967 European Cup winners have not advanced to the knockout stages of the Champions League since 2008, when they fell to Barcelona in the Round of 16. This summer, Neil Lennon's team will enter the competition at the third qualifying round.

If the Hoops are to make a run, they'll need more goals from SPL joint-top scorer Gary Hooper.

Galatasaray

Galatasaray have also fallen on hard times lately despite a strong European pedigree. The Turkish Super Lig leaders finished eighth last year and missed out on European competition.

In fact, the 2000 UEFA Cup winners have not appeared in the Champions League since 2006-07. But Gala did make the semifinals of the old European Cup in 1989 and reached the quarterfinals in 1994 and 2001.

They should qualify for the group stage next season, assuming they successfully navigate the Super Lig's Championship Group this spring. If so, it will be interesting to see what the likes of Johan Elmander, Selcuk Inan and Felipe Melo can do in the Champions League.

Oh, and the squad also features Milan Baros and Emmanuel Eboue. Remember those guys?

Montpellier

Montpellier have stuck around in Ligue 1 all season despite PSG's huge injection of new money. Heading into the stretch run, the unheralded upstarts from southern France are level on points with their more glamorous rivals, with a game in hand.

France's Ligue 1 receives two automatic berths in the Champions League group stage, so Montpellier should be a good bet to make it at least that far.

If they do—and if they can hold onto attacking stars like Olivier Giroud and Younes Belhanda—Montpellier could be a team to watch.

Borussia Monchengladbach

A poor run of form has seen Borussia Monchengladbach fall out of the Bundesliga title race and all the way down to fourth place.

Gladbach are 14 points off the pace, but even if they finish fourth, they'll earn a spot in the qualifying rounds for next season's Champions League.

Marco Reus is off to Borussia Dortmund this summer, but there's still a lot of quality throughout a squad that recorded league wins over Bayern Munich both home and away this season.

Anderlecht

Anderlecht finished the regular portion of the Belgian Pro League season in first position, and they're now atop of the Championship Playoff table after two matches.

Finishing either first or second in the playoff would put Anderlecht in the third qualifying round for next season's Champions League.

If the Belgians can keep hold of talented Argentine Lucas Biglia (midfield captain) and Matias Suarez (forward with 18 goals and 16 assists in all competitions this season), they could pose a danger to bigger clubs.

But that's a big if.