By Chris O'Brien
December 9 2004

With the group stages over, it's time for the big action in the European Cup as United qualify from pool D to the knock-out phase. Here's a look back at an exciting qualifying campaign, with England the best represented nation left in the illustrious competition.

Well the group stages have ended, and for United they finished with something of an anti-climax. Eyebrows were raised at Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to field reserves and kids in Turkey and the raw inexperienced Red Devils side were comfortably swept aside 3-0. A win would have meant United won the group, so was it a foolish option?

The obvious answer is yes. However, looking at the final group tables it hasn't really mattered. Finishing second in group D means United will face one of the winners of another group in the next stage. Uefa saw sense last season with the abolition of the second group stage and thus it gets really serious from here.

Uefa regulations state United cannot face opposition from the same association in the next stage, meaning an all Premiership clash is not possible. Therefore, games against title rivals Chelsea and Arsenal are impossible, leaving 5 possible second stage opponents following the upcoming draw.

Group Winners	Group Runners-Up
Monaco	Liverpool
Bayer Leverkusen	Real Madrid
Juventus	Bayern Munich
Lyon	Manchester United
Arsenal	PSV Eindhoven
AC Milan	Barcelona
Inter Milan	Werder Bremen
Chelsea	FC Porto

In all honesty, which list looks stronger? Probably the runners-up. United will face either Monaco, Leverkusen, Juventus, AC Milan or Inter Milan in the next stage. Losing in Turkey has avoided possible games against Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and holders Porto. Losing is never a good thing, but it's hard to argue with Ferguson's selection policy. Some bright prospects got another taste of European action, and the senior players missed a trip to a country where a warm welcome is never on the cards.

Looking at the group stages, avoiding Juventus and Inter Milan would be nice. The Italian giants remain unbeaten after the 6 pool matches and are being touted as many as challengers for the crown. Still, the club's target is to win the European Cup for a third time this term, and to do that the best will have to be beaten. We are capable - so bring on whoever!

United have impressed in Europe thus far. The more pessimistic among us were predicting an early departure and the possibility of Uefa Cup football or worse, but United secured three vital home wins which was always going to be enough. Failing to win away is a worry, although the Fenerbache result is something of an irrelevance whilst a draw in Lyon is hardly a disappointment. Well done to the lads.

So all 4 Premiership sides march on. Chelsea, Arsenal (boo!), the Scousers (boo!) and ourselves are into the last 16 with England the best represented nation in the competition. The 4 Premiership sides are joined by 3 German clubs, 3 Spanish sides, 2 Spanish sides, a couple of Frogs with one team from the Netherlands and one from Portugal.

Chelsea marched through the group stages with little fuss. Four consecutive wins in the opening quartet of games meant Jose Mourinho could take his foot off the gas for the final two games, where Chelsea drew with PSG and lost to the club Mourinho led to glory last term, Porto. After the Stamford Bridge trophy cabinet was left empty against last season, buying their way to silverware could pay off this term.

Arsenal ended up group winners but qualified in very different circumstances to their London rivals. An emphatic 5-1 victory over Rosenborg in the final match sent the Gunners through, but any other result at Highbury would have left Arsene Wenger with only Uefa Cup football to take his mind away from domestic action. The so-called "Untouchables" may have ended their poor run with consecutive wins over Birmingham and Rosenborg, but they are still flattering to deceive on the continent.

Well with 80 minutes to go at Anfield on Wednesday evening, I was grinning from ear to ear. Liverpool were drawing 1-1 at home to Olympiakos and needed two late goals to avoid an early exit from the Champions League. The Scousers did it. Mellor and Gerrard secured their own mini version of our late, late Nou Camp show in '99 to secure a place in the last 16. An away win in La Corunia was the pivotal result in Liverpool's qualifying campaign.

SPL holders Celtic couldn't match their English counterparts. The Glaswegian side lost their opening three games always leaving them with a mountain to climb, and Shakhtar Donetsk's impressive home win over Milan meant no Uefa Cup qualification for Martin O'Neill's team. The colourful Celtic fans won't be flying their Irish tricolours in Europe again this season and will watch on in agony as rivals Rangers and Heart of Midlothian continue to represent the SPL on the continent.

After a slow start to the season, things are looking up for MUFC. Into the semi-finals of the League Cup, picking up the pace in the Premiership and into the last 16 of Europe. Hopefully we can negotiate our way past Exeter in the F.A Cup and we're flying! Quadruple anyone? Keep the faith.

Below are full pool tables from the 8 Champions League groups. Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Lyon, Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Werder Bremen and FC Porto have qualified for the second round, whilst Olympiakos, Dynamo Kiev, Ajax, Fenerbache, Panathanikos, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia and CKSA Moscow are into the Uefa Cup.

Group A:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Points
Monaco	6	4	0	2	10	4	12
Liverpool	6	3	1	2	6	3	10
Olympiakos	6	3	1	2	5	5	10
Deportivo	6	0	2	4	0	9	2

Group B:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Points
Bayer Leverkusen	6	3	2	1	13	7	11
Real Madrid	6	3	2	1	11	8	11
Dynamo Kiev	6	3	1	2	11	8	10
Roma	6	0	1	5	4	16	1

Group C:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Points
Juventus	6	5	1	0	6	1	16
Bayern Munich	6	3	1	2	12	5	10
Ajax	6	1	1	4	6	10	4
Maccabi Tel-Aviv	6	1	1	4	4	12	4

Group D:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Points
Lyon	6	4	1	1	17	8	13
Manchester United	6	3	2	1	14	9	11
Fenerbache	6	3	0	3	10	13	9
Sparta Prague	6	0	1	5	2	13	1

Group E:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Points
Arsenal	6	2	4	0	11	6	10
PSV Eindhoven	6	3	1	2	6	7	10
Panathanikos	6	2	3	1	11	8	9
Rosenborg	6	0	2	4	6	13	2

Group F:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Points
AC Milan	6	4	1	1	10	3	13
Barcelona	6	3	1	2	9	6	10
Shakhtar Donetsk	6	2	0	4	5	9	6
Glasgow Celtic	6	1	2	3	4	10	5

Group G:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Points
Inter Milan	6	4	2	0	14	3	14
Werder Bremen	6	4	1	1	12	6	13
Valencia	6	2	1	3	6	10	7
Anderlecht	6	0	0	6	4	17	0

Group H:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Points
Chelsea	6	4	1	0	10	3	13
FC Porto	6	2	2	2	4	6	8
CKSA Moscow	6	2	1	3	5	5	7
Paris SG	6	1	2	3	3	8	5

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