It was no surprise to see Sky's television analysts deliver with customary smugness the fact that all four English clubs have qualified for the Champions League knockout stage. It is their duty to puff up the Premier League at all available opportunities.
In case nobody in England noticed, all four La Liga clubs also qualified. And three out of four Serie A clubs secured safe passage — only Fiorentina's failure prevented the kind of big league whitewash the Uefa president, Michel Platini, is so keen to avoid. The contenders in the last 16 are completely predictable. Look at all eight groups: is anyone shocked that one of the third- or fourth-placed teams didn't finish higher?
To some eyes, this makes the Champions League a false and overbearing contest that makes the word "competition" seem inappropriate. But on the other hand it is hard to overstate the kind of experience — for players, supporters and a club in its entirety — that a spell at the party gives to the gatecrashers.
CFR Cluj, barely known outside Romania and not even particularly well-known in it considering they were in the third division six years ago, have won a lot of friends for their stylish, latin-style football. They can justifiably dine out on winning at Rome's Stadio Olimpico (the venue for this season's final), and if they had played Chelsea in an old-fashioned home-and-away tie they would have been going through on away goals until Didier Drogba's late intervention. It is easy to snort at the Champions League format, and we all know it is not perfect, but is it right to deny Cluj this adventure?
Likewise Anorthosis Famagusta. The Cypriot team arrived at Europe's top table with an astonishing story of a club who exist in exile from their own home town. In their debut Champions League season they finished unbeaten at home, scored plenty of goals, and served up probably the most exciting match of the group stage when they drew 3–3 in a breathless encounter with Internazionale.
Even BATE Borisov, those unknowns from Belarus who entered the Champions League with the worst Uefa ranking of any team ever to reach the group stage, managed to make a name for themselves by drawing both their matches against Juventus. And was it so awful to see Aalborg's supporters rip their shirts off last night to celebrate their unfancied team leading at half-time at Old Trafford? The Champions League may be hopelessly formulaic, but at least there is still room for unpredictable moments worth cherishing.
