Champions League and Europa League group draws set

This week both the Champions League and Europa League final teams qualified for group stage play after home and home games.

One of the most entertaining series was Werder Bremen vs. Sampdoria in which Bremen ultimately lost 3-2 on the scoreboard but advanced thanks to extra time strike that gave the German team a 5-4 win on aggregate. Tottenham also recovered from a shock 3-2 defeat in Switzerland to thrash Young Boys, 4-0 and move on. Liverpool survived to stay in the Europa league, but Aston Villa could not do the same and neither could Celtic, who both exited European competition after shock defeats.

Anyway here's the link to the Champions League groups.

And here's a link to the Europa League groups.

For EPL fans both Manchester United and Arsenal received favorable draws, while Tottenham drew Inter Milan as well as Werder Bremen another dangerous team. It's tough to say how difficult Chelsea's group will be with Russian power Spartak Moscow and a very dangerous Marseille team, but I know nothing about MSK Zilina.

I also think both Barcelona and Bayern Munich will be pleased with their draws whereas Real Madrid and AC Milan, who were drawn for a second successive year into the same group, probably are not too thrilled.

Just looking at how everything stacks up I would say Group A featuring Inter Milan, Tottenham, Werder Bremen and FC Twente is the strongest followed closely by Group G with Real Madrid, AC Milan, Ajax, and Auxerre.

I think the group with the most parity is Group B headed by Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, and Hapoel Tel Aviv. None of these teams are exactly household names in the states but Lyon were semifinalists last year and are generally the best team in France. Benfica are the biggest team in Portugal and have won more league titles than any other team in their country. Schalke are a team hardly anyone knows about from the Bundesliga, but are extremely dangerous. And Hapoel are definitely no slouch.

The Europa League is another story all together. Most new followers to the game don't know much about the competition that often produces many memorable games. These are the teams that finished in the second tier in their domestic leagues. In England, Spain, Germany, and Italy they are the teams that finished somewhere between third and sixth. In smaller leagues like Scotland, Holland, Portugal the teams in Europa may have finished as high second in their domestic leagues.

To be honest I don't know a lot about a lot of these teams, but it's a great competition to follow because it is often where many of the young, up-and-coming talent comes from where big clubs like Chelsea or Real Madrid or Inter Milan or Bayern Munich scout looking for the next big thing.

And the great thing about both leagues is that they are now very well televised. Champions League games air on Fox Sports World and the Comcast channel around here on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Europa League games air on both Fox Sports World and GOL TV on Thursdays and Fridays.

Update on the transfer window

The biggest news coming down in the last couple of days is that Javier Mascherano has finally secured a move away from Liverpool and England to Barcelona and that Brazilian midfielder Diego, who failed to impress after his move from Werder Bremen to Juventus last summer, is on his way back to the Bundesliga to play for Wolfsburg.

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson lit into Mascherano after stating the move would be finalized this weekend ripping the Argentine defensive midfielder for refusing to lace up the boots against Manchester United earlier in the week. Hodgson cited a two players he had coached in the past that had gone through similar incidents as he talked about the negative influence of agents. His tirade was rather amusing, here's a look.

Liverpool did get good news that Dirk "Diggler" or Dirk Kuyt will be staying after reports had linked him with former manager Rafa Benitez at Inter Milan.

Emmanuel Adebayor, a villain to Arsenal fans such as myself for leaving the club for Manchester City, appears ready to leave the Eastlands now after just one season. After City's massive spending spree, Adebayor appears to be one of the players left out in the cold and now is trying to move to either Real Madrid where he likely wouldn't play much or to Juventus where he probably could be a featured forward. Regardless I have to laugh at Adebayor because he's a bit of a bozo, a very good player no doubt and someone that could have been truly superb I think at Arsenal where he was a perfect fit, but he continues to seek out greener pastures where he just isn't good enough.

Robinho, another Eastlands wantaway, could be headed to Barcelona or AC Milan, but apparently must wait to see what Zlatan Ibrahimovic is going to do, according to most reports. Manchester City confirmed both clubs have made inquiries about Robinho. However, AC Milan have made clear their first choice target is Ibrahimovic with Robinho as the backup plan. I think it's obvious then that if Ibra moves Barca would swoop in for Robinho, who I think would be a natural fit for the blaugrana on the left hand side. Think about how delicious it would be to see the combination of Messi on the right, David Villa at central striker and Robinho on the left working together with incredible pace and dribbling ability - maybe a few highlights.

My boy Austin and Tottenham supporters alike today are probably shedding a tear or two that their London club could not muster the funds to snatch up Brazilian bomber Luis Fabiano, who currently plays for Sevilla. Fabiano has stated several times of his intentions to move to Italy or England, and at first did not want to move to Tottenham when the club was interested. But upon finding out Tottenham were both a London-based and Champions League qualified side, his tune changed. Regardless Spurs boss Harry Redknapp revealed his club don't have the funds to meet Sevilla's asking price of £25 million plus.

One player that will be leaving Sevilla for London is France international defender Sebastien Squillaci, who will fill the Gunners desperate need for another central defender.

Ballack has to be fuming right?

I'm not going to sit here and bad mouth one of my all-time boys Michael Ballack. He is unquestionably a German legend and one of the 10 greatest players of his generation in my opinion leading the Fatherland to multiple international finals - 2002 World Cup, 2008 Euro.

That being said here comes the BUT, but Ballack is no longer the inspirational central midfielder that he was eight years ago. In fact you could see the slip in Euro 08 despite the fact he helped lead Germany to the final, he was slower and more marauding, and as a result Spain was able to practically run circles around Germany.

Ask Chelsea supporters like Mr. Slate about Ballack's contributions the past couple of seasons to the London club and they'll tell you Ballack was not one of the key cogs of that team. He was a player who almost took up space behind Lampard almost in a defensive role as a destroyer, but that's never been Ballack's strong suit, he's an attacker whose skills have diminished. Jon Obi-Mikel and Michael Essien simply got better than Ballack at that position, which is why he was not offered a contract after it expired last season and was allowed to leave on free transfer.

I said before the World Cup it would be a good thing that Ballack was injured and could not play for Germany because the team had young talent behind Bastian Schweinsteiger that was ready to replace him and move on. It was almost a classic case of Bill Simmons' Ewing Theory.

That definitely happened. Schweinsteiger filled in for Ballack at his position and was simply sublime partnered alongside Sami Khedira in the middle with Mesut Ozil roaming just in front of them and Thomas Muller and Lukas Poldoski tearing down the wings.

Simply stated this group is better equipped now without Ballack, who would clog up the middle and slow down Germany's most explosive weapon - its speed on the counter attack.

So I am very happy that German coach Jogy Lowe has shown some moxie by not including him in the team's first Euro qualifier against Azerbaijan. Lowe stated he wants Ballack to return to full fitness before he calls on him for the team.

Do I believe that? Well there may be some shades of grey in that statement by Lowe, and he may even have some plans to use Ballack at some point, but no I don't believe that is the real reasoning.

I think this is a calculated and ingenious move by a terrific coach brimming with confidence that knows he has the backing of his federation after heading up a second phenomenal campaign in an international tournament - Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup. Lowe has done a magnificent job with Germany.

I think he knows the writing is on the wall for Ballack, and one of the other little controversies with Ballack is that he wants to return as captain. Well Philipp Lahm did a great job in that role at the World Cup and is not ready to give it up. For me as I've said this is no longer Ballack's team, and I think Lahm or Schweinsteiger needs to go on as captain, which I believe is what Lowe is doing here. He's going to go to Michael at some point in the near future and let him know if he wants any role with Germany, it won't be as captain. It's a sticky situation as England found out with David Beckham.

To me if Ballack wants to continue to play with Germany he needs to follow the path of another German legend - Lothar Matthaus. Matthaus was the attacking midfielder for Germany when they won the 1990 World Cup but was at the end of his rope, so he switched positions to sweeper to be able to continue. I see that as something Ballack would be capable of, but I'm not sure he will do it.

Unfortunately I see this shaping up as a messy divorce for a man just doesn't have much to give his country anymore after having poured his blood, sweat, and tears into this team for years. But that's typically the case with the greats, they don't know when there time is up until it's passed them by.

With only days left the transfer market is heating up

Much like in baseball where there are all kinds of wheelings and dealings right around the end of the trade dead line, it is always fascinating to see whose coming and going at the end of the transfer market.

At the moment there seems to be all kinds of deals in the works, and topping the group for my money is Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

"The magnificent nose" as he is nick-named seems to be surely on his way out of Barcelona after a somewhat up and down first campaign at the Nou Camp. I was surprised to learn that Ibra is only 28 and also that he scored 23 goals in La Liga as well as nine more in the Champions League, he just never really seemed to fit with that team last year and was very much overshadowed by Lionel Messi's incredible goal scoring exploits.

I have said it before, I think Ibrahimovic is a good player, just not a great one. He seems to be able to pick off lesser defenders fairly easily, but when it comes to the biggest games he too often disappears, and I think that was one of his biggest problems at Barcelona.

Not only did I think Barcelona vastly overpay for the Swedish international by giving up €46 million and striker Samuel Eto'o, I just didn't think he was the right fit for that team. Barcelona needs a central forward that wants to look for his own shot, a poacher, and a finisher - Ibra likes to set up as much as he likes to finish, which is not a knock on him, but Barcelona has plenty of playmakers already.

In contrast David Villa I think is the perfect player for Barcelona, which is one reason if I was making a wager right now I would pick Barcelona to win the Champions League.

Anyway to get back to business, Ibrahimovic is practically demanding a transfer to either AC Milan, Real Madrid or Manchester City. He apparently had a bust-up with Barca boss Pep Guardiola, which has made matters worse, and the most likely destination appears to be Milan because obviously Barca would not sell to bitter rivals Madrid and Ibra had his best years in Italy. However, don't rule out Manchester City yet, they have the deepest pockets in football right now Jose Mourinho stated yesterday.

Javier Mascherano is another player that wants out of his current club Liverpool and has essentially gone on strike to force a move from Anfield. Liverpool have set a price of £25 million for Mascherano, which no one appears ready to offer.

Barcelona are the team making the public push for Argentina captain, but so far have only offered £18 million along with Alexander Hleb. However, Liverpool appear to want only money for the defensive central midfielder.

It's interesting to me that Barcelona are making such a strong push for Mascherano. They must feel like they want a replacement for Yaya Toure, whom they sold to Manchester City earlier this summer. I've always thought Mascherano to be a little over-rated as well, but he certainly had an excellent World Cup.

Another misfit, Robinho, has wanted out of Manchester City for quite some time and has made himself quite clear first forcing the club to allow him to move back down to Santos on loan to end last season then demanding he be sold when City would not accept another loan from the Brazilian team.

To me Robinho's story is quite hilarious. The rumor goes that when he wanted to leave Real Madrid the team went to the Brazilian and told him Manchester City were interested in buying. Not paying any attention, Robinho thought Real Madrid meant the other team from Manchester as in Manchester United and accepted the move only to find out he would be dressing up in light blue instead red.

Robinho appears set to leave the Eastlands for either some club in Spain or Turkey have already turned down the opportunity to play for Fenerbahce in Turkey. Joining him on the way out the door from City is Paraguayan strike Roque Santa Cruz, who looks likely to join Lazio in Italy.

My main man Philipp Lahm wants to stay with my main team

I've been on the record as stating I think Philipp Lahm is one of the two or three best outside backs in the world maybe even the best because he can handle either side of the pitch despite his short stature - he's only 5-7 - and his preference to play on the right side as he does now for both club and country.

So I am more than happy to read that the German international is ready to commit his future to my favorite team Bayern Munich for the future.

"There will definitely be talks about my contract his season," he told the Bildnewspaper. "I assume that the club will approach me.

"I can imagine signing for the long term, because as a player in the coming years at Bayern you will play for international titles.

Pipe down Eddie

Does Eddie Johnson realize he is Eddie Johnson?

Currently at Fulham, Johnson hopes to sway new manager Mark Hughes that he is good enough to stay with the club this season instead of being loaned and to gain regular first-team action. The sometimes U.S. international, who got as far as the 30-man preliminary World Cup roster before being axed for younger and hotter forwards to play in South Africa, said yesterday that U.S. players are struggling to be respected in the English Premier League.

Now I don't know who he was talking about considering Clint Dempsey is one of the stars now in the league - ask fans of Fulham about Demps and they will talk about his legendary chip against Juventus in the Europa League last year - Timmy Howard and Brad Friedel are each considered two of the top 5 goal keepers in the league, and Landon Donovan made a pretty nice splash from January to March when he helped Everton accumulate top-notch scalps of both Manchester United and Chelsea.

In fact if you look around Europe the Americans are doing pretty well from Michael Bradley and Steve Cherundolo in the Bundesliga to Maurice Edu in Scotland to Charlie Davies in France to Jozy Altidore perhaps finally in Spain and Stuart Holden in England, U.S. players are certainly making in roads and names for themselves. And each year there are more and more.

Eddie's problem is that he has not been able to make headway in the Premiership because he is not that good and he does not work hard enough on the pitch. NOt to put down the U.S., but he couldn't even crack the roster for the World Cup. It seemed he had a bit of a resurgence when he was loaned to Greek side Aris with Freddy Adu, but to be perfectly honest Johnson probably never will be a regular first team player for any team that is in the EPL because he's just not skilled enough.

What about Bob? (starring Bob Bradley)

Bob Bradley is a smart man: he did go to Princeton after all so he has to know that his time coaching the U.S. men's national team is running out.

This should help explain why he's making every effort to get his name out there for the Aston Villa job.

It's turning into a very bizarre situation and hopefully having a lame-duck coach doesn't happen or at least not for too long. Shimer and I both like Bradley but we agree that to take the U.S. to the next level, they'll need a coach with more star power and a more impressive resume than Bradley.

Seeing this set of musical chairs as Bradley likely pursues his next job is not a good look for any involved. The U.S. has to make a decision (and fast!) to figure out if they want Bradley or not. If they do, lock him up through the next World Cup. If not, get his diplomas off the wall and send him packing.

There are four years between World Cups but with qualifying, friendlies and countless other tournaments, the time goes by much faster than you'd expect.

United States coach Bob Bradley says he is keen to hold talks with Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner about being their next boss following Martin O'Neill's exit earlier this month.

Bradley, who led the USA to the last 16 of the World Cup, has had no formal talks with Villa's American owner but his representatives have made contact with the club.

"I think Aston Villa is a massive club with great history and a great following and those type of opportunities would of course be of interest," Bradley told BBC Radio Five Live. "I would certainly be honoured to have that conversation but I'm impressed with the way things have been handled so far and we'll see what the future holds."

Ironically, Newcastle (in its home opener since returning to the EPL) embarrassed Aston Villa earlier today 6-0. Villa has Kevin MacDonald as its interim manager; they won their first match but without a suitable replacement for Martin O'Neill, it's hard to see Villa having a good season.

But while Bradley, 52, has a contract with the United States which runs until the end of the year, he is ambitious to manage in Europe.

He said: "I've always been excited about being a manager in Europe but at the same time I'm proud of the work we've done with the US team over the last four years. It is important to consider that as a challenge as well. So we'll see what happens.

"There have been discussions with some of my representatives to at least find out the situation but Aston Villa seem to have taken a good stance where they have been patient.

"They have a very good man in Kevin MacDonald who is highly respected in the club so I think on the one hand they are probably putting a list together and on the other making sure Kevin has the time to consider his future as well. It has been handled very well.

"I had some people do some checking just to find out where things stood."

Reading the tea leaves, it's obvious that Bradley knows he's done with the U.S. and he's giving his due diligence to see what's available in Europe.

Like any U.S. player, we encourage our coaches to go abroad and coach at the highest level; it can only help the USMNT and soccer in our country to see more Americans succeed.