PlayStation F.C. UEFA Champions League App out now for PS4

“You can not improve your team for the Champions League – you have to try to improve for the national competition”.

For the first time in what seems like forever, fans of the handsome game can look up to match day 1 of a new UEFA champions league with joy as new laws ensures the biggest teams meet at the group stage.

While BATE is a past master at getting through Champions League qualifying – in four of the last five seasons – this year’s campaign was unimpressive.

This year’s incarnation returns tonight against a backdrop of European consternation at Premier League spending, which hit a record high of £870million this summer – representing a four per cent increase on 2014. The Greek title holders, who have won their last six home fixtures in the Champions League, have also reinforced their squad, bringing in experienced former Argentina midfielder Esteban Cambiasso.

Yet if you consult the shrewdest interpreters of market forces – the bookmakers – Barca, Bayern and Real are some way clear at the head of the market. It would be a shock should Chelsea find a way not to advance regardless of what’s happening to them in the Premier League over the next three months. In the last three seasons, the Portuguese powerhouse has netted 25 goals in the competition from just 23 appearances.

A two-time victor with Barcelona and the current manager of Bayern Munich, Guardiola awaits his third shot at the crown. So why should it be any different this time? And against the likes of their Turkish and Portuguese opponents in this group, they will have an edge in possession.

Beyond the established elite, it has become nearly impossible for other sides to pose a challenge, with Wolfsburg’s chances of making an impression seriously compromised by the loss of their outstanding player Kevin De Bruyne to Manchester City.

Even with Pogba in their ranks, Juventus have just completed their worst-ever start to a Serie A season, losing their first two games to Udinese and Roma.

The Bosman ruling of 1995 has made it practically impossible for a great European name like Ajax to keep their best players for long enough to make an impression in the Champions League nowadays. They solve this by winning in the Champions League, putting even more pressure on Juventus and Roma.

Manchester United return to the competition after a season in the wilderness as English football’s second biggest spenders.

Arsenal have a potentially awkward visit to Zagreb on the same night, and when Arsenal are in Europe nothing can ever be taken for granted, though it would be a major surprise were anyone other than Arsene Wenger’s team and Bayern Munich to make it out of Group F. This could well be Francesco Totti’s last season in the competition too.

Assuming Chelsea do not take their early-season domestic form into Europe, the two London clubs look the safer bets to stick around. The players are ready to play in more than one system.

A home game against Maccabi Tel Aviv is a good opportunity to begin that process.

Five games in and that couldn’t be less true – with captain Vincent Kompany leading from the front as the champions of 2014 have secured maximum points and have yet to concede a goal.

Real Madrid star Ronaldo scored five goals in a stunning performance as Real Madrid beat Espanyol 6-0 on Saturday, but Alba is certain he is playing with the best player around.