22.05.2010 12:15
2010/11Champions League line up
Jesús Carrillo
With the 2010 tournament coming to its climax, the shape of the 2011 Champions League is becoming clear, with the main contenders for the crown all set to fight for a place in next May’s Wembley final.
Alongside Barca, La Liga representatives will be Real Madrid and Valencia, with Seville having to
get through the qualifying rounds to reach the draw for the Group Stages to be held at the end of
August.
Barca seeded
Barca will be one of the top eight seeded teams in the draw- together with Bayern,
Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, lnter, AC.Milan and Seville –should they qualify.
Spurs take on Liverpool mantle
With Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal taking the top three spots in the
Premier, Tottenham will be going into the qualifying round after finishing fourth. After a
disappointing season, Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool finished seventh – seven points behind
Spurs - and the five-times winners will have to make do with Europa League next season, whilst
Harry Redknapp will take the Londoners on their first Champions League adventure.
Bayern only German team to repeat
Van Gaal’s Bundesliga champions will be joined by Schalke 04, with Werder
Bremen going into the qualifying rounds. Neither Wolfsburg nor Stuttgart will be back in the
competition this year after finishing 8th and 6th respectively.
Bordeaux miss out
In France, Bordeaux missed the chance to repeat their Champions League feats of last season,
with Lyon and Olympic Marseilles through to the Group Stages and Auxerre in the qualifying round.
Milan teams and Roma from Italy
Finally, in Italy, Inter, Roma and AC Milan are in the competition, with Sampdoria going
through qualifying, whilst neither Juventus nor Fiorentina will be taking part.
Other Leagues
From the other European leagues, the main surprises are that Porto miss out from Portugal, whilst
Benfica are back and Twente will represent Holland, with three ex-champions Ajax, PSB and Feyenoord
all absent .From Turkey, Bursaspor make their Champions League debut, whilst Fenerbahçe, Besiktas
and Galatasaray all miss out. Cluj are the Romanian representatives, with Xakhtar Donetsk directly
through from Ukraine and Dynamo Kiev involved in the qualifying rounds.