With the group stages kicking off in less than two weeks, the qualifying rounds complete, and with the dust finally starting to settle on the historic domestic and European campaign waged by Pep Guardiola's Barcelona last season, it's time we now fete a brand new edition of the Champions League fast approaching.
A Champions League that we hope, will provide us with more cracking contests and the basis of more passionate debates and discussion all over Europe in the coming months.
In this first-ever edition of the BR CL roundtable I have invited members of the BR football community to represent the views and opinions of the clubs they support as we preview, and hope to provide some insight on, what we might expect to see this year.
Joining me at the roundtable today are: Barney Corkhill (BC)—Liverpool, Deepak Israni (DI)—Real Madrid, Adamo Digby (AD)—Juventus, Salomon Gonzales (SG)—Chelsea, Anurag Bhatt (AB)—Barcelona, Salaar Shamsi (SS)—Manchester United, Rocky Getters (RG)—AC Milan and Ismail Ayub (IA)—Arsenal
Who will I (MM) be representing at this roundtable?—UEFA, of course! We can't have a UEFA Champions League discussion without a UEFA representative!
So without further ado, lets get underway.
MM: New season, new signings, new coaches...even new presidents: What are we looking forward to seeing this season concerning our teams in the Champions League, gentlemen? Let's start with last year's winners, Barcelona.
AB: I am looking forward to seeing Barcelona disprove their critics who said that last year's win was a one-off; that they never deserved to get past Chelsea, and are now criticising the purchase of Ibrahimovic. Seeing Ibra score his first Champions League knock-out goal would also be nice.
My most ardent wish is that Barcelona continue their philosophy of playing the same attractive, attacking football, and lifting the trophy in the Santiago Bernabeu.
DI: I am just looking forward to Real Madrid clearing the Round of 16 this time, they have not been able to do that for five years running now! Just joking, I am looking forward to Real Madrid play in the finals (as it is at the Bernabeu) and winning the Champions League for the 10th time, the squad is good enough to make that possible.
SG: It's quite simple!—Chelsea have to win the Champions League this season.
We've been too close for far too long and it's about time that we went that step further and conquered Europe. The club didn't sign that many players with Zhirkov being the only one to potentially command a starting spot this season.
I'm looking forward to seeing him back in the side, because he looked really good against AC Milan during pre-season, in which he of course scored in.
I have high hopes for Sturridge, and his attitude so far has been commendable. I can see him making a big impact both in the league and champions league, once Drogba and Kalou jet off to Africa.
I haven't seen much of Matic but I've heards loads of good things about him. He could well play an important part this season when Essien and Mikel join Drogba and Kalou in Africa.
RG: AC Milan have always been very strong in the Champions League. Despite the rebuilding we are doing in the team right now, I expect nothing different.
Coach Leonardo, earlier, talked about having the right attitude, and that's all that'll matter here. On the big European stage, Milan need to be stable, relaxed and yet positive.
The loss against Inter last Saturday in the Serie A, was a good lesson for the Rossoneri. The players got nervous after the first goal and they really collapsed after that. They cannot let that happen on the European stage.
Milan may not be the dominating force they were, say 3-4 years ago, but Milan still have a quality squad and all the players are motivated and hungry. The Rossoneri want to show Europe that they are still a force to be reckoned with.
BC: I'm looking forward to seeing how Glen Johnson will get on featuring in regular European competition. He has been excellent so far in the league, and has impressed in some of his international appearances, although not without some criticism, so the Champions League should be another interesting test for him.
I'm also looking forward to how Alberto Aquilani adapts to it, or rather how Liverpool adapt their tactics now that Xabi Alonso has gone. Alonso's style of play was more or less perfect for Europe, so Aquilani has some big boots to fill in that respect!
Rafa Benitez has a great record in Europe and has made Liverpool into a team no one else wants to play. Hopefully, he can improve his already impressive European resume with another good performance this season!
What am I looking forward to most, though? Stevie G lifting ol' big ears above his head again!
SS: Manchester United came agonisingly close to retaining their European crown last season, however on the night Barcelona was clearly the better team, and by a country mile.
United don't have Ronaldo, who chipped in with his fair share of goals to assist United's progress in Europe last season. However, Wayne Rooney appears to have taken his game up a notch and this is quite a boost for the Red Devils.
They will need Darren Fletcher, Micheal Carrick, Nani, Dimitar Berbatov, and new signings Micheal Owen and Luis Antonio Valencia to back up Rooney with consistent performances if they are to shut the gaping hole created by the departures of Ronaldo and Tevez.
AD: Juventus should finally be competitive in Europe this season after being handicapped by the Calciopoli scandal in recent years. The summer transfer campaign has been the first to excite me as a Juve fan since 2001, when we brought in Buffon, Thuram and Nedved.
The additions this term look great—a home grown defence of Italian guile, grit and cunning: Buffon, Cannavaro, Chiellini, Legrotaillie, Grosso, De Ceglie and Molinaro.
Then Brazilian flair and ingenuity going forward of Melo, Diego and Amauri complementing Trezeguet, Del Piero, Iaquinta and Sissoko; A strong squad with the potential to win it all.
IA: Well I for one am looking for Arsenal to make a strong run in the Champions League and seeing Arsenal do battle with some of Europe's leading lights and big spenders. The idea of an Arsenal vs Barcelona tie would be something that would get everyone off their feet, I'm sure.
I'm hoping to see more maturity in the players when playing in Europe and of course exceptional performances. Each year we are treated to some exceptional games from the Gunners; Arsenal 7, Slavia Prague 0 and Fenerbahce 2, Arsenal 5, to name but a few. Hopefully this year we achieve some more large scorelines.
In terms of new players, I think that Vermaelen has settled in exceptionally well and will add an extra layer of steel to our backline. Also I think we'll see the best of the 4-3-3 in the CL. This is simply because of the fact, that in Europe, teams try to play good football against us. This just plays into our hands and will mean that we can dominate our opposition.
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