Europe’s premier club competition is now well underway and 32 of the continent’s finest teams are all still in the running to reach the knockout phase next year. Mark Pickering assesses the credentials of three of the more noteworthy teams in this year's edition of the Champions League...

The tournament, which enters group Match Day Three on November 4th, is replete with squads that are the envy of world football and features no less than eight previous Champions League winners.  

While there’s the usual cast of mainstays like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United, who are synonymous with the competition, there are also some little-known newcomers and returning sides in this year’s European showpiece.  

Three of the most intriguing entrants are Spanish standouts Atlético Madrid, Cypriot newcomers Anorthosis Famagusta and Romanian debutants CFR Cluj.

The headline-grabbing trio have already made a splash in this year’s competition and are well placed to reach December’s draw for the knockout stages.  

Atlético are participating in the tournament for the eleventh time in their history and are intent on making up for lost time with their last appearance in the competition coming over a decade ago.  

Serbian Radomir Antić guided the Los Colchoneros to a famous league and cup double in 1996 and a much coveted Champions League berth.  

The double winners had a squad brimming with talent including Argentine legend Diego Simeone, Serbian playmaker Milinko Pantić, Madrid native Juan Manuel López and his widely popular countryman Kiko.  

The Spanish side won their group ahead of eventual competition winners Borussia Dortmund but narrowly lost out 4-3 to defending champions Ajax in the quarter finals.  

Twelve years on and the Spaniards have a squad reminscent of their class of 1996.

Now under the stewardship of Mexican Javier Aguirre, whose best known for guiding perennial strugglers Osasuana to the brink of the Champions League, Atletico are well placed domestically and gearing towards European honours.  

The star-laden squad has a strong Argentine influence with 20-year-old prodigy Sergio Aguero, captain Maxi Rodriguez, veteran keeper Leo Franco, on loan midfielder Ever Banega as well as naturalised Spaniard Mariano Pernia.

Aguirre’s ranks also prominently feature a Spanish core with namesakes Luis and Raul Garcia and their compatriot Antonio Lopez also holding key roles.  

The Mexican coach invested well in the summer, boosting his squad with a string of shrewd signings including Ajax’s John Heitinga, former French number one Gregory Coupet from Lyon, Czech captain Tomas Ujfalusi and Porto’s Paulo Assunção.  

Their timely spending spree added much needed depth to the squad and all but ensured Atletico would be a force to be reckoned with this term. That has proved the case as the La Liga side produced a highly polished performance to convincingly beat PSV Eindhoven 3-0 in Holland in their opener and followed up with a gutsy 2-1 win at the Vincente Calderon against Marseille.  

Now Atletico lead the way in Group D with maximum points and have a mouthwatering double header against Fernando Torres’ Liverpool in their sights which will likely decide who finishes top of the group.  

With such a talented squad, an ambitious president and the astute Javier Aguirre at the helm the Spanish side were expected to perform admirably in their return to the competition but brushing aside Champions League regulars PSV and Marseille with such ease has raised eybrows.  

Atletico will keen to test their mettle against Liverpool and could well torment their former idol Torres.   

Elsewhere newboys Anorthosis Famagusta, who became the first ever Cypriot side to reach the group stage and are one of the least fancied teams in the competition, are heroically topping Group B.

The little-known Cypriots overcome Greek giants Panathinaikos by three goals to one this week after a hard fought goalless draw away at Werder Bremen on Match Day One.  

Their resolute performance in Germany is the more commendable of their two impressive results as they kept out a free-scoring Werder Bremen side that had scored 18 goals in their previous six Bundesliga games and thumped Bayern Munich 5-2 a fortnight ago.  

Despite their stellar start to their first ever Champions League campaign their efforts have gone largely unnoticed.  

The Old Lady, who are coached by charismatic Georgian Temuri Ketsbaia, might be newcomers to European competition at the highest level but they do boast a wealth of international experience in terms of personnel and some familiar names.  

Former Real Madrid and Brazil star Savio, much travelled former Bordeaux man Paula Costa, former Portsmouth midfielder Giannis Skopelitis and towering Greek defender Traianos Dellas, once of AS Roma, all ply their trade with the Cypriot Champions.  

They may not be household names or at the height of their careers but collectively form a cohesive side who are relishing their first foray in the Champions League.  

The Cypriots have a daunting couple of games against Italian giants Inter ahead but will take heart from their two group games so far and strive to remain in the hunt for an unlikely place in the next round.  

Fellow newcomers CFR Cluj-Napoca have been the darlings of the tournament so far and attracted plaudits as well as unprecedented mainstream attention after beating AS Roma in Italy and holding last year’s finalists Chelsea to a stalemate.  

The Romanian Champions, who have an international flavour with ten South American players on their books, five Portuguese, three Ivorians, a Canadian and a handful of Romanians, have wildly exceeded expections.   

The Champions League newcomers stunned Roma in their first game in the competition with a deserved 2-1 victory at the Stadio Olimpico and in doing so sent shockwaves through European football.  

CFR Cluj proved their result in Italy was far from a fortunate one by taking the game to Chelsea in Romania and could well have emerged with all three points.

Six years ago they were among footballing backwaters in the the third tier of Romanian football - now they’ve become the first team from outside Bucharest to win Liga 1 in 17 years and are more than holding their own against Europe’s elite.  

The latest chapter in their meteoric rise is being overseen by Italian coach Maurizio Trombetta who will be looking for more of the same in the crucial double header against bottom placed Bordeaux. 

Mark Pickering

Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster has confirmed that he will allow Wesley Sneijder to join up with the Dutch national side for their World Cup qualifiers after this weekend.

There had been rumours yesterday that Real Madrid were prepared to put up a fight to stop Netherlands national team coach Bert van Marwijk from calling up Wesley Sneijder for next week’s World Cup qualifying duties.

The Oranje playmaker had only just returned from a serious damaged cruciate knee ligament and he has yet to play an official game this season for Los Merengues, although he could finally be given a run out this Sunday against Espanyol.

But Schuster told reporters at the pre-game press conference that “there will be no problems” if Sneijder is called up by van Marwijk and is asked to play in Holland’s two qualifying games against Iceland (October 11) and Norway (Oct 15).

“It is an agreement that both coaches have entered into,” was Schuster’s simple explanation, although he declined to confirm whether or not he will give Sneijder a cameo on Sunday..

It's been a busy summer so far for Andrei Arshavin and the Russian playmaker is in the news again today after it has been revealed the self confessed Barcelona fan is so desperate to leave Russia he would even join Real Madrid...

Despite the fact that Andrei Arshavin has not actually left Russia this summer, the diminutive playmaker has rarely been out of the headlines. Following a fine European Championships Arshavin is believed to have been courted by various clubs around Europe but with Zenit asking for €30 million for the player there was no deal done.

Now though, with the January transfer window in mind, it has been revealed that Arshavin is so desperate to leave Russia he would join Spanish giants Real Madrid, even though he confessed recently that he is a fan of arch rivals Barcelona.

It is thought that his agent, Dennis Lachter, has been in the Spanish capital this weekend to suggest the possibility of the move to Real Madrid chiefs Ramón Calderón and Pedja Mijatovic. The main problem for any potential transfer though is that Zenit have in the past refused to lower their price tag on the player of €30 million and if they continue to do so a move might be difficult to broker.

For his part the Russian is known to be keen to leave his native country and to prove himself in one of the top leagues in the world before he gets too old to do so. Currently twenty eight, the playmaker could be at his peak now and it is understandable that he wants to join a bigger club whilst at the top of his game.

The revelation that he would join Real Madrid is a suprise one though, not only because he is a fan of Barcelona, but also because it is thought the Spaniards were offered him over the summer but were not interested, preferring to focus on other targets instead.

James Walker-Roberts

Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster was pleased to see his side wrap up all three points against BATE Borisov in the Champions League opener, but he was disappointed not to have seen more goals.

Real Madrid controlled the contest against BATE literally from whistle to whistle and racked up some 20 shots at the opposition goal in total but only registered a 2-0 win.

While the three points never really looked in danger, Los Blanco were unable to secure a bigger margin of victory. And coach, Schuster was a little disappointed not to have witnessed a goal feast at the Bernabéu, especially in the first half.

“After taking a 1-0 lead and seeing that our rivals could not respond, I believe we slowed down a little,” he analysed during the post-match conference.

“That is always dangerous because any silly mistakes and things could have been very complicated for us. Perhaps a second or third goal was needed.

“But the win is good. It is something that we needed today, although we should have scored more goals. I was waiting for more in the first half,” he added, before going on to joke that he has not been angry at all today.

The German then concluded by saying that he is not at all worried by Guti and Rafa van der Vaart’s lack of understanding on the pitch, while he also praised Gonzalo Higuaín for his excellent start to the season.

Bernd Schuster has taken a dig at Robinho for joining a mediocre English club to achieve his dream of becoming the best player in the world and admitted he cannot understand why he left Real Madrid.

The German coach has not talked about the Brazilian since he forced a move to Manchester City on transfer deadline day but has now issued a compliment and a criticism in one fell swoop.

Robinho's decision to leave Madrid upset Schuster, but his choice of club appears to have confused Los Merengues' trainer despite the Citizens' new found wealth.

"Personally, it was a real disappointment because Robinho had everything he needed here to be a success and we wanted him," Schuster told reporters.

"But we have to understand his dream to be a good player in a mediocre team in England and we have to respect that."

Schuster than revealed his frustration with the Sergio Ramos saga after Madrid claimed that the defender returned from international duty with a groin injury.

While the Spanish Football Federation deny he suffered a problem with them, the player is set to miss the Champions League date with BATE and the coach explained why.

"I want my players to be completely fit and I do not want then to go somewhere and then later on I cannot play them. I have to show that I am upset," he added.

Lucas Brown, Goal.com

José María “Guti” Gutierrez will join a special list a Real Madrid legends after registering himself as the owner of Real Madrid’s 5,000th goal in the club’s illustrious history.

Miguel Torres has revealed that he would never let an agent make him behave like Robinho did during the summer in order to force a move out of Real Madrid.

The 22-year-old defender is still a fan of the Brazilian's talent but was not impressed with his actions since the end of last season and thinks that he was badly advised.

Madrid president Ramón Calderón blamed Robinho's advisor, Wagner Ribeiro, for holding a press conference where he said he wanted to leave and Torres stated that he could never have done that.

"I would never accept something like that. My dad and my uncle take care of my affairs -the latter is a lawyer-. That says it all," he told AS.

"I do not like commissions and the club knows my family will never treat this as business. I play for Real Madrid; what more could I ask for?

"Robinho is a great player, but we all have to row in the same direction."

Torres was still earning €30,000-per-year after he had made 20 first team appearances for Madrid and valued his place in the team more than worrying about a bigger contract.

"There is no merit in it. I value a quality lifestyle, not material things. I prefer to be close to my family, in my own city and on the team I love than to earn a lot of money," he continued.

"I signed for what they offered. I would have signed for even less. Money doesn't rule my life."

Torres was then outraged when asked whether he felt that Raúl was losing his touch and could no longer command a regular place in the first team.

"Of course he is not! He is the most natural guy I have ever met and the player who has given me the most advice. I'm sure he will help Real Madrid return to Cibeles this year."

Real Madrid are currently looking at the possibility of signing Bayern Munich striker Luca Podolski during the January transfer window according to Marca.

The German international has already come close to swapping the Bundesliga for the Primera Division and he is admired by Los Blancos coach Bernd Schuster.

Podolski has already asked the German side to leave as he is not getting much playing time in the Allianz Arena.

Jurgen Klinsmann is sticking with Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose up front this season, therefore it is highly unlikely that the Polish-born hit-man will get much chance to shine this term.

Marca claims that the Santiago Bernabeu club are planning to pounce and make their move as soon as the European player market opens its doors to it’s new sales in January.

Podolski is a proven striker at both club and international level and reports suggest that Real may secure his services for around €12m.

However, there is one problem which may cause the Spanish side reconsider their options.

The striker will not be eligible to play for Los Merengues in the Champions League if he plays in that competition for Bayern from now until January.

In any case, Real are likely to prepare the cash and give their coach a late Christmas present.

Salvatore Landolina 

"Viva es-Sneijder!" Real Madrid midfielder Wesley Sneijder returned to training action today. This was his first time on the pitch of play since he suffered a serious knee injury in the friendly match against Arsenal a month ago today...