Hamburg - Anyone expecting a changing of the guard in Europe will be disappointed at the outcome of the group phase of the Champions League even before its conclusion next month. When the draw for the first knockout round takes place in Nyon, Switzerland on December 19, it will feature almost exclusively the same teams that have been dominating the tournament in recent years.
Outsiders Anorthosis Famagusta are still in with a chance of going through after the penultimate group matches on Tuesday and Wednesday, but elsewhere it has been very much a case of business as usual.
Thirteen teams are now assured of progress to the last 16, leaving five clubs now vying for the remaining three places: Roma, Chelsea, Girondins Bordeaux, Panathinaikos and Anorthosis.
The list of qualifiers is a familiar one. Since the 1999/2000 season when 32 teams took part in the tournament's group phase, 10 teams in the current last 16 are in the vanguard of regular qualifiers for the knockout round.
They are led by nine-time European champions Real Madrid who have made it a maximum 10 in a row. They are followed by Arsenal and Manchester United (9 out of 10 attempts), Barcelona and Bayern Munich (8 out of 9), Lyon (7 out of 9), Porto (7 out of 8), and Juventus, Liverpool and Inter Milan (all 6 out of 7).
Completing the last-16 roll-call so far are Villareal (2 out of 2), Sporting Lisbon (1 out of 4) and Atletico Madrid (1 out of 1).
The line-up for the knock-out stage beginning in February is, however, missing two pedigree sides in AC Milan and Valencia.
Seven-time European champions Milan, the 2007 winners, could only qualify for the UEFA Cup after a poor domestic season, and Valencia, losing finalists in 2000 and 2001, missed out on Europe completely.
Meanwhile Russia's UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg, who were expected to make a strong challenge, failed to impress in a tough group featuring Real and Juventus, while former European champions Olympique Marseille, PSV Eindhoven and Celtic were other casualties.
The line-up for the knockout stage is expected to include Chelsea, losing finalists last season and semi-finalists in 2006 and 2007, who will be favourites to overcome Romanian side Cluj at home in Group A. Roma need a draw in the group at home to Bordeaux to advance, while Chelsea could conceivably even lose and go through.
"The qualification is in our hands. Now we need to win the last game. We need to beat Cluj at home. But if I thought the team did not have the quality to beat Cluj at home, then I had better go back to Brazil," said Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc said: "Everybody thought there were only two teams in it, Roma and Chelsea, but there is a third, Bordeaux. I'm proud of that. I'm proud for the club as well.
"We can continue to hope and we are still alive. We are going to play in the UEFA Cup at least, but when you taste the Champions League, you want to have more."
Group B, meanwhile, sees an intriguing clash between Greek side Panathinaikos and Champions League debutants Anorthosis to see who will join Inter Milan as qualifiers from Group B - perhaps even as group winners.
Panathinaikos have not won at home, while Anorthosis are without a win away in the group, but the Cypriot side not only defeated Panathinaikos 3-1 on match day two, they knocked out fellow Greeks Olympiakos to get to the group stage in the first place.
Anorthosis would have been in a better position had they not squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Werder Bremen on Wednesday evening, and Temuri Ketsbaia's side now need to win in Athens.
Outside of Groups A and B, the last matches on December 9 and 10 will see battles for top group spots - to ensure an away tie against a second-placed team in the first leg of the first knockout round - and UEFA Cup qualification for the third-place finishers.
Zenit, Shakthar Donetsk and Aalborg already have the UEFA Cup tickets now being chased by Fiorentina, Steaua Bucharest, Luis Aragones-coached Fenerbahce, Dynamo Kiev, Marseille, PSV and Germany's Werder Bremen.
For the Bundesliga team, however, it has been a disappointing campaign leading to exit at the group phase for the third successive season. Even a win at home to Inter Milan in their final game will come too late if Anorthosis gain a point at Panathinaikos.
