So it’s a good time to give you a heads up about a new website that is about to launch which will bring you a scores and results service covering all of the major British and European leagues and tournaments, including the Premier League, English Football League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and the Champions League.

As well as following favourite domestic clubs in the Premier League and Championship, I also follow the trials and tribulations of my non-league hometown team, formerly Gravesend & Northfleet now known as Ebbsfleet, as well as favourite European teams of which I have personal favourites in each of the top European leagues.

These passive allegiances stem from my childhood when the only European football to be shown on British television was on Wednesday nights on the sadly missed Sportsnight programme.  My memories are full of exciting  European football matches when I was allowed to stay up way past my bedtime to watch great teams with world class players and cool looking football kits to match.

Johan Cruyff and Ajax, Franz Beckenbauer and Bayern Munich and wonderful sounding teams like Dukla Prague, Panathinaikos and Borussia Monchengladbach!

I recall Leeds United losing 1-0 in a ill-tempered game to AC Milan in the 1973 Cup Winners Cup final just four days after losing 1-0 to Sunderland in the FA Cup final; Nottm Forest beating the Swedish part-timeers Malmo in 1979 with a Trevor Francis header and retaining the European Cup by beating Hamburg in 1980; and West Ham losing to Anderlecht of Belgium in the 1976 Cup Winners Cup.

I remember the glory days of Saint Etienne in the French League and how Real Madrid played in a similar all-white kit to Leeds United (only to recently read that Don Revie changed the home kit to mimic the Spanish giants on becoming manager of Leeds United in 1961!).

I also have a passive favouritism for teams with cool kits, choosing Celtic over Rangers not for any political or religious reasons but because I thought green and whites hoops looked cooler than a regular blue shirt.  I also preferred the black & blue stripes of Inter Milan to the red & black stripes of AC Milan.
So even before European football was made available on satellite tv, my interest in football spread further than the English leagues.  The English Premier League is often cited by critics and players alike to currently be the best league in the world.  But I still lookout for scores and results from the Spanish La Liga and Italy’s Serie A.

The Football Scores website will be a great source for all this information and will also include international tournaments, such as the European Championships, international friendly matches, international qualifiers and the World Cup. The website is called FootballScores.com and it launches this month.

Chelsea are going to struggle in the Premiership without John Terry and Alex for the next couple of months but they will both be fit when the Champions League knockout stages begin in March and with two games to go Chelsea have already booked their place in the second round.  And with Frank Lampard returning from injury too, I still believe Chelsea have the best chance of lifting the Champions League trophy in May, of all four English clubs.

So with two games to go in the first round of this season’s Champions League, which two teams from each group look likely to go through to the knockout stages next year?

FC Twente have two games left against Inter Milan (away) and at home to Spurs.  To finish ahead of either Inter or Tottenham they are going to have to win one of those games and hope that Tottenham & Inter drop points in their other games; possible, but unlikely.

Three teams can still progress from Group B.  Lyon currently lead the group with nine points followed by Schalke 04 on seven and Benfica with six. Lyon and Benfica should both pick up three points when they play Hapoel Te-Aviv, while Schalke 04 have the most difficult games as they face both Lyon & Benfica.

Manchester United are unbeaten this season in both domestic and European competition and lead Group C with ten points.  Rangers will need to beat Man Utd at Ibrox on Wednesday if they are going to have any chance securing second place ahead of Valencia.

In Group D Barcelona & FC Copenhagen are both in a very strong position and do not play each other in their two remaining fixtures.

Bayern Munich are one of only two teams to have won all four games and so have already qualified for the next round.  Roma look the most likely to join them ahead of CFR 1907 Cluj-Nopoca (great name) and Basle.

Chelsea are the other team with four wins out of four but it’s not clear whether Spartak Moscow or Marseille will finish second. I’m erring towards Spartak Moscow as they play Marseille at home tomorrow night, and then should easily beat MSK Zilinia in the last round of games on Wednesday 8th December, while Marseille entertain Chelsea in their last fixture.

It is not clear who will join Real Madrid in the next round from Group G.  AC Milan are currently one point ahead of Ajax and the final game on Wednesday 8th December between the two former Champions League winners will decide.  AC Milan will have home advantage, and if they beat Auxerre tomorrow, a draw will be enough against Ajax.  Ajax host Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid tomorrow evening in Amsterdam where they will be trying to keep the pressure on AC Milan with a win.

Finally, in Group H Shakhtar Donetsk look favourites to join Arsenal in the next round following their surprise 2-1 win at The Emirates where former Arsenal striker Eduardo scored the winning goal.  Both Arsenal & Shakhtar Donetsk could qualify if they win their games tomorrow evening.  Arsenal are away to Braga and Shakhtar Donetsk are away to pointless Partizan Belgrade.

Qualifying from the group stage if teams are level on points will be determined by the results of games between the teams in the tie (if tied, by goal difference and then by away goals counting double).

My Champions League tips for which two teams are going to go through from each group are as follows:

Group A: Inter Milan & Tottenham
Group B: Lyon & Benfica
Group C: Manchester United & Valencia
Group D:  Barcelona & FC Copenhagen
Group E: Bayern Munich & Roma
Group F: Chelsea & Spartak Moscow
Group G: Real Madrid & AC Milan
Group H: Arsenal & Shakhtar Donetsk

The final Champions League first round fixtures will take place on Tuesday 23rd & Wednesday 24th November and Tuesday 7th & Wednesday 8th December.

For the team of this particular writer, Celtic, it will hopefully be the dawn of a new era.

The tenure of Tony Mowbray which started so well with a rare away win in Europe was eventually brought to an end mid-season after a humiliating four goal trouncing at the hands of St. Mirren.

The introduction of Neil Lennon in temporary charge was ultimately not enough to stop Rangers charge to their second title in succession.

A feat which is all the more remarkable when you consider that the Ibrox club has not bought a player since the summer of 2008, due to a spending embargo enforced by the bankers currently running Rangers.

Anyone who knows anything about the Glasgow football scene knows how hard it is to praise the other half of the Old Firm!

The loan signing and subsequent goal scoring exploits of Robbie Keane were enough to stave off too much excessive criticism of the board. Perhaps a bounty worth paying for the suits of the Celtic boardroom!

In fact even the shocking Scottish Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of Ross County was treated by the Celtic support at large as just another chapter in a season long book of misery.

Neil Lennon’s honesty in his post-match media work that day went a long way to cementing his place as the man for the job in the eyes of the Hoops support.

That was then though. Now the real work must begin.

Wednesday’s Champions League reverse at the hands of a slick Braga side could work out to be a blessing in disguise.

The general consensus is that the championship must be priority number one and barring a miracle at Celtic Park in the second leg – they are going to have plenty of time to work on that target.

The fans are as passionate as Neil Lennon was as a player and will give him some time to bed in his array of new signings but let’s not forget that the Northern Irishman had nearly a third of last season to get accustomed to the manager’s chair.

He is expected to hit the ground running domestically… and keep on trucking.

Lennon has strengthened all areas of the squad he inherited and the players he has signed already seem “a better bet” than those that his predecessor brought in.

Players like Gary Hooper and Joe Ledley who have proved themselves in the tough English Championship.

South Korean, Cha Du-Ri and Mexican, Efrain Juarez both played well in South Africa and should provide classy support to the young guns already at the club.

The likes of Thomas Rogne, Jos Hooiveld, Ki Sung-Yong and experienced campaigners Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady – if the latter stays at the club.

In fairness though, all of this was said this time last year so there is a more “cautiously optimistic” line being peddled from the Glasgow’s East End this time around.

Both Glasgow clubs seem to be doing their best to lower expectations in the lead up to the Scottish Premier League season openers.

Rangers claim that a league win this season would be the greatest achievement in the history of the club given their precarious financial position.  While Celtic are already said to be “concentrating on the league.”

No matter what happens in the second leg against Braga, the next qualifying round would have likely paired them with a European giant and therefore the expectations game is again being used cool the potential fallout.

Despite the desperate need for success from both sets of fans, they love nothing better than getting one over on their oldest rivals.

Set the bar low. Leap over it high seems to be the new mantra!

Have Old Firm fans succumbed to the wonders of political spin?

I wonder.

Rangers style was famously referred to as ‘Anti Football’ by Lionel Messi when Barcelona met them in Europe last year.

Hateley accepts that Rangers football may not be pretty, and says “We’ve had unfair criticism for long periods of this season of the way Rangers play football, But you play to your strengths.”

He does not expect Smith to change his tactics for the final, suggesting that Rangers will stick with the lone striker and hope to frustrate the Zenit St Petersburg with a strong packed defence, relying on the long ball forward to create their own chances.

Despite the style of football Hateley believes the current squad compares favourably with the Rangers team that he was part of when he joined them from Monaco in 1990. He went on to win nine successive Scottish titles with a team that included the likes of Paul Gascoine and Brian Laudrup.

“They are two different teams” says Hateley “But this team has got further than that team, so you would say this team on paper, stat-wise is a better team.”

Rangers have Daniel Cousins suspended for tonight’s game, while Zenit’s top scorer Pavel Pogrebnyak also misses the game through suspension.

Battling Rangers managed to keep Fiorentina from scoring despite immense pressure throughout the game from the Italian side. With the scores level at 0-0 after 90 minutes the game went into extra time, for more of the same. Rangers stood firm despite losing substitute Cousin for a second bookable offence with just 10 minutes of extra time to be played, when the Rangers player head butted Liverani.

With no score after extra time the tension became even more intense as the game moved on to a penalty shoot out, with Rangers holding their nerve to win the game 4-2 and win a place in the UEFA cup final.

Former Rangers boss Dick Advocaat led Zenit St Petersburg into the final earlier when his side demolished a sad looking Bayern Munich 4-0.

Philosphical as ever, Rangers manager Walter Smith commented: “The fewer players you have, the easier it is to select a team.”

Fiorentina have already knocked out Everton on penalties and are currently in fourth place in Serie A behind Inter Milan, Roma and Juventus, one place above AC Milan.

This will be a tough challenge for Rangers, and one I believe, without so many first team players will be a bridge too far.
If they can stop Fiorentina from scoring tonight then they have a chance. But to do that they must contain former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu, Fiorentina’s leading scorer who has already scored six goals in the Uefa Cup.