Trebles:

Unusually the last two seasons have produced European trebles. Pep Guardiola achieved it with Barcelona in 2009 and kicked off last season with a trophy – the UEFA Supercup against Shakhtar Donetsk. Their hopes of retaining the Champion’s League were thwarted in the semi-final as Internazionale, then coached by José Mourinho held out at Camp Nou for a famous win that resulted in a victory run onto the pitch by Mourinho, despite the best efforts of Victor Valdés to stop him.

Last May’s final at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium was guaranteed a treble as both finalists Inter and Bayern München had already completed their domestic doubles in Germany and Italy. Mourinho won his battle of wills against Louis van Gaal and endeared himself to his prospective employers. It was an open secret that he would leave Inter for Real before long.

He did so with a treble under his belt and having thwarted former employers Barcelona and rubbed their noses in it. His welcome back to the Bernabéu was assured, but his former charges Julio Cesár, Maicon, Wesley Sneijder and Diego Milito did him no favours at all in the draw for this season’s tournament.

The Group of Champions:

As usual the Champion’s League draw threw up some interesting clashes and a clear Group of Death. “José Mourinho is a very good coach,” former Real Madrid great Emilio Butragueño told us. “We think he will do very well.” Butragueño and Real has targeted the Champion’s League, despite the clear Group of Death or Group of Champions as AC Milan’s Organising Director Umberto Gandini prefers to call it.

Group G consists of AC Milan, chafing under the shadow of the recent success of local rivals Internazionale. After achieving the first European treble in Italian history, the Special One departed for the scene of his triumph  on a permanent basis. AJ Auxerre and Ajax make up the difficult Group G. Gandini is looking forward to renewing acquaintances with Mourinho.

Transfer Flops:

Meanwhile, Gandini confirmed that negotiations with Barcelona over the possible transfer of Zlatan Ibrahimović are still in progress and not completed as had been reported previously. If they go through the Swede will maintain his nomadic recent history. Since leaving Ajax, Ibrahimović has played for Juventus, Internazionale and Barcelona in quick succession and that trend looks set to continue.

Ibrahimović claims that Barca coach Pep Guardiola won’t talk to him, but Guardiola insists that his door is always open. Dmytro Chygrynskiy may beg differ as well, lasting less than a season at Camp Nou before returning with a loss of €10m to Shakhtar Donetsk. Both players were wanted by Guardiola, but fell out of favour in less than a year, which surely raises questions about Guardiola’s judgement.

An awkward reunion with Chygrynskiy has been avoided for now, but the Ukrainians will expect to progress from Group H, although Arsenal, Braga and FK Partizan will provide a stiff test. The Portuguese team disposed of Sevilla in qualifiers.

Expectations:

Despite winning the double last season Carlo Ancelotti knows that European silverware is owner Roman Abramovich’s Holy Grail. Failure to deliver it cost Mourinho his job at Stamford Bridge. Olympique Marseilles, Spartak Moscow and Slovakian Champion’s League débutantes MŠK Žilina make up Group F.

Shorn of the two Davids – Villa and Silva – a much changed Valencia, suffering more than most due to the financial meltdown, will still expect to progress from Group C. Manchester United will provide the stiffest opposition, but even in their current position los Ches will expect to advance to the knock-out stages with Rangers and the Turkish Champion’s League débutantes Bursaspor hoping to cause an upset.

Former treble winners Barcelona will tote up the air-miles with trips to Copenhagen to face FC København, Athens to meet Panathinaikos and Russia to play Rubin Kazan in Group D. Beaten finalists Bayern München will play Swiss representatives FC Basel, Romanian champions FCR 1907 Cluj and AS Roma. Meanwhile, defending champions Internazionale face Werder Bremen, minus Mesut Özil, first time Dutch champions FC Twente and Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham Hotspur.

The serious business begins on September 14th and ends at Wembley Stadium on May 28th 2011 – the first time the final will be contested on a Saturday.