I am going through the Champions League games this week, and I am amazed at the stars who will be missing because of injury. The Champions League is billed as the best club tournament in the world, but this year's event has, so far, failed to live up to the hype. Whether it is familiarity because the same sides play each other every year, or a full schedule that leaves players vulnerable to injury, the Champions League group stages this year have been a major disappointment. 

 

Here is a sample of the stars that will probably be missing from action this week:

Barcelona: Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry

Liverpool: Fernando Torres

Real Madrid: Ronaldo, Fernando Gago, striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, and defender Christoph Metzelder

AC Milan: Lassana Diarra, Marco Storari, and Gennaro Gattuso

Manchester United: Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Park Ji-Sung, Darren Fletcher, and Patrice Evra 

Inter Milan: Marco Materazzi and Thiago Motta 

Bayern Munich: Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery


If some of the big teams above lose on Match Day Three because they are missing some of their best players, it could make the last three group stages matches much more interesting.