England: It looks likely that it will be Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal to pick up the automatic qualification to the Group Stage and Manchester City to enter at the Play-off Round. Tottenham will need to close the three point gap but still have to play an in-form Chelsea side. Man City’s toughest game will be away to Everton but you can never be sure with this City side, they seem capable of losing points against anyone. However the most crucial game could again be at Eastlands when City host Spurs on the 10th of May.

Spain: Barcelona and Real Madrid have already secured the top two spots in Spain. Below them from third to fifth are separated by 12 points. Valencia look likely to take third, with Espanyol providing their hardest game who currently sit in eighth. It seems likely then that Villarreal will take 4th spot and enter at the Play-off Round, as it will be tough for Bilbao to gain over 6 points on El Submarino Maranillo as if they draw level on points, Villarreal would qualify by virtue of a better head to head performance.

Italy: AC Milan have secured one of the qualifying spots to the Group Stage but below them things remain fairly tight. It looks like Inter Milan and Napoli will take the other two spots. Battling for fourth are Lazio and Udinese who still must face each other. The team from Rome must also play Genoa and Juve in their last four games so will have to play at the top of their game to secure fourth spot. However, Udinese’s run in is no picnic either, they must also face Fiorentina and then Milan on the final day. Poor results for these teams could leave the door open for Roma or Juventus, but the Bianconeri may find that they have left it too late.

Germany: Borussia Dortmund have all but secured Champions League football as they will almost definitely finish in the top two. Leverkusen look set to follow them, taking the last Group Stage qualification slot. Third spot grants qualification to the Play-off Round which is being fought for between Hannover and Bayern Munich. Bayern sit a point behind in fourth place and must face Stuttgart and Schalke in their last three games. These are teams that have underperformed domestically this season, which could be argued is the same for Bayern, who have been extremely inconsistent. They will need some big results in order to qualify.

France: With six games to go anything could happen in France. Lille lost their lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table to Marseille who win their game in hand this week. Below them Lyon, PSG and Rennes will all hope to get the final spot for the Play-off Round and my money is on Lyon to be consistent enough to secure the spot in next seasons competition.

Russia: The season that provides the teams for next seasons Champions League is over and so we know that Zenit St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow will make the group stages, with Rubin Kazan entering in the Play-off Round.

Ukraine: Shakhtar look set to win another Ukrainian Title and therefore enter automatically and Dynamo Kiev look set to enter the competition at the Third Qualifying Round unless Metallist Kharkiv can close the 6 point gap in the remaining 4 games.

Romania: It’s all still up for grabs in Romania with 6 games left this season. Timisoara who currently sit second, have to play 1st placed Otelul, 3rd team Vaslui and 4th placed Dinamo Bucharest. Vaslui look like the best placed team to get one of the spots with the easiest run in, but Timisoara could also run away with the league if they win the big games previously mentioned. I would also expect Dinamo to put in a late charge.

Portugal: FC Porto have already won the league and thus will enter at the Group Stage, Benfica have secured second spot and will therefore enter at the Third Qualifying Round.

Netherlands: With two games to go just three points separate the top three; Twente, Ajax, and PSV Eindhoven. Ajax and FC Twente play on the 15th in a match that could well decide the title, but could also allow PSV to move up to second and take the final Champions League spot and enter at the Third Qualifying Round. Anything could happen in Holland, Nether say Nether.

Turkey: Fenerbahce and Trabzonspor will qualify for next years competition but they are both currently on 70 points with four games left. Fenerbahce have a slightly easier run in so should take the title and therefore a spot in the Group Stage, with Trabzonspor entering at the Third Qualifying Round.

Greece: Olympiakos won the League and therefore return to the Champions League Group Stages again. Panathinaikos will enter at the Third Qualifying Round.

Switzerland: The Champion of Switzerland will only enter the Group Stage automatically if the Winner of this season’s competition qualifies through domestic performance. This will occur unless Schalke manage to win the Tournament. Should Zurich win their game in hand against Neuchatel Xamax, they will be just one point behind leaders Basel. They still have 6 games left to play and the top two meet in Zurich on the 11th of May which will play a big part in deciding the title. I would expect Basel to qualify under the leadership of Alex Frei.

As Champions from the remaining countries will enter in the Qualifying Rounds of the Tournament I feel it is not wholly worth looking at as they will no definitely take part in the Tournament. Who do you think will be lucky enough to gain automatic qualification to the Group Stage?

Join the Best Football Manager game now, Its Free!

Bet on Man United with Sportingbet.com and get a free bet worth up to £50

Man United Tickets Available from Telegraph Tickets

Fenerbahce are reportedly lining up a move for Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov .
According to the German 4-4-2 Web site, the Turkish giants are have prepared a €15 million offer for the Bulgarian.

And they are reportedly ready to offer the Bulgarian €5 million per year to lure him to Istanbul. (IMScouting

It seems some people have short memories. A few short weeks back people were singing the praises of Bulgarian international Dimitar Berbatov and many believed he had overcome his sticky start to life at Man United, but now it seems that the Old Trafford man is surplus to requirements and many feel that Sir Alex Ferguson will look to offload the former Tottenham man as soon as he possibly can.

Remember the 29 year old netted seven goals in his first six matches of the season but things have gone slightly pear shaped for Berbatov since and he has failed to net in nine matches furthering the assumption that he only does well when he has Wayne Rooney alongside him doing the donkey work.

Would Ferguson take the offer from Fenerbahce? Would Dimitar be interested in a move to Turkey?

Bet on Liverpool to win the Europa League and get £25 worth of free bets!>

Join the Free CaughtOffside Fantasy Football League and Win £20k! CaughtOffside Fantasy Football League – PIN Number 1312

Manchester City forward Robinho has rejected a transfer to Turkish club Fenerbahce and is holding out for a move to Italy or Spain.
The Brazilian wants to find a new club before Tuesday’s transfer deadline and City had given permission for talks.
However, the 26-year-old told globoesporte.com: “With all due respect to Turkish football, I’m not going to play there at the moment.
“The only thing I’ll say is that I’ll carry on in Europe, in Italy or Spain.”
Robinho has not featured for City in the early part of this season since returning from a six-month loan spell at his boyhood club Santos.

The British record £32.5m signing from Real Madrid in 2008 fell out of favour at City last season and was farmed out to the Brazilian team in January.
Having declined a request from Santos to extend his loan, City are now looking to recoup a proportion of his fee by selling him to a European club.
Robinho, who scored twice for Brazil at the World Cup in South Africa this summer, added: “Fenerbahce were the only team who sent an official [transfer] proposal but it’s already decided that I’m not going.
“I’ve got talks going on but I can’t reveal anything yet. A week is time to do a lot of things.”

City boss Roberto Mancini confirmed on Wednesday that Robinho has informed him of his wishes but revealed the player could still have a future at Eastlands.
“Robinho has two or three options,” said Mancini. “I have spoken with Robinho and he can stay if he works well and trains well. I have a good relationship with him but I think he wants to play in Italy or Spain.” (BBC Sport)

I am a little surprised that only Fenerbache were willing to take a punt on the 26 year old Brazilian, for all his reported foibles and apparent irritations, he is a quality player who has a lot to offer. Roberto Mancini is cutting the City striker some slack, and who knows, perhaps if he trains well and shows he wants to play for the club maybe he still has a future at Eastlands….probably not.

Robinho had a very good first season under Mark Hughes but he didn’t appear to have his head in the right place for his second term at the club and hasn’t had a look in since the Italian took charge.

Reports suggest that City are willing to take a fee well short of the £32.5m they paid, which makes the fact that hardly anyone expressed interest all the more worrying for the former Real Madrid man.

Join the Best Football Manager game now, Its Free!

Think Blackpool will finish bottom? SkyBet and get £20 bonus

Join the Free CaughtOffside Fantasy Football League and Win £20k!

William Gallas has been offered a staggering 3 million pounds tax-free a season three-year deal by Fenerbahce of Turkey.

France international Gallas, 32, is a free agent after being released by Arsenal, who would not give him a long-term deal.

Wealthy Fenerbahce, who lost out in last season’s title race to unfancied Bursaspor, have already been knocked out of the Champions League by Swiss minnows Young Boys Berne.

But the Turks, desperate to get their season back on track, are pressing the veteran centre-back to make up his mind quickly about their bumper offer. (Sunday People)

Given the lack of defensive options currently available to Arsene Wenger one wonders if it made sense to not give William Gallas the kind of contract he was after. Turkish side Fenerbache have decided to offer the Frenchman a very large pay packet in the hopes of securing the 32 year old and apparently the former Chelsea man is very likely to accept the deal.

Even though the centre back did have a penchant for eccentric behaviour he was still a very solid customer and a player who 9 times out of 10 performed admirably. Clearly Wenger has his policy on players over 30 and as such felt he could not offer a deal that Gallas was after so this was the inevitable end to his Emirates career.

Join the Best Football Manager game now, Its Free!

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Don’t forget to check out Online Football Manager!

With Fabio Aurelio still out injured and Emiliano Insua a little raw for a long sting in the first team and the jury well and truly still out on Andrea Dossena, would a move for Roberto Carlos be a wise one?

Yes he’s 36 but he is super fit and has a wealth of experience and is available, perhaps most crucially given the financial state we are in, for free. Obviously this is only a short term solution but one that could well work wonders. It would be unfortunately too late for the Brazilian to be drafted into the Champions League, at least not the group stage but he could come in very handy for the long haul for a season that will hopefully stretch to 50+ games it would be a wise investment.

The former Real Madrid man is a three time Champions League winner and the holder of a World Cup Winners medal but hasn’t had a stint in the Premier League and I am sure he would jump at the chance. He could also be on hand to help build up the talents of the likes of Insua and the absence of a fee would make it viable to pay what would probably be a hefty salary.

Our 20 year old Argentine left back has displayed great potential when called upon but it would be unwise to burn him out too soon and even though Aurelio is soon to make a comeback a move for someone in the caliber of Roberto Carlos on a one year deal would still make sense.

The likes of Notts County are sniffing around but I don’t see the left sided player sinking that low and could fancy the chance of one last spell in the limelight. This is a player who competed in last seasons Champions League and took part in over 50 games last term of Fenerbache so is clearly still able to perform at a very high level.

Don’t forget to check out Online Football Manager!

The Rumour

Fenerbahçe’s 16-year-old wonderkid Mehmet Topçu is attracting interest from a whole host of European clubs, with Premier League giants Arsenal said to be leading the race for his signature.

Capped 22 times for Turkey Under 16’s, the central midfielder’s performance in the national team has reportedly alerted Arsenal along with fellow top flight sides Chelsea, Manchester City and Fulham.

Topçu’s father Mujdat Gurel Selami has already received an invite from one of the above clubs and it’s expected that the Gunners’ will take advantage from being his favoured destination.

The Source: (Gooner Talk)

The Analysis

Only two things to say about this particular potential target.

a) Do Arsenal need yet another central midfielder?

b) Do they need yet another teenager?

The club is crying out for a defensive midfielder and one who has a decent amount of top level experience. Yaya Toure was one such target but he only just signed a contract extension. Felipe Melo is another, and Gilberto Silva has helpfully urged the Fiorentina man to make the move. Then you have Miguel Veloso, a quality player who’s club want to milk as much money as they can out of the signing therefore dooming that deal never to come to fruition!

The Likelihood

Topçu to Arsenal: May well happen, but why?

Get a free £10 bet on Arsenal by joining William Hill now.

Valencia midfielder Marcos Senna, who starred so brilliantly for Spain this summer, was subject to a bid from his former national team manager. However, Brazilian-born Senna rejected the chance to move to Turkey, instead staying at Estadio El Madrigal, in spite of a reported deal of up to €3.5 million (£2.75 million) a year.

The 32-year-old, who had been linked with Manchester United, told Spanish newspaper Marca:

Luis is a great man and an admirer of Brazilian football.

I have spent six years in Spain and I feel very loved at Villarreal. At the moment I hope to win the Champions League with Villarreal, it’s my dream.

“In football, names and money don’t win games. You have to go out there and play, 11 against 11. Money buys players, but doesn’t build teams. We will play until the death and the better side on that specific night will be in the semi-finals.” (The Sun)

Will the lowly Turkish paupers beat the Kings Road billionaire brats?

Watch Chelsea live online

“Chelsea without Mourinho are not the same. Under him, they were a machine. There were no surprises, no mistakes. Everything worked fantastically. Now they have ups and downs. We’ve watched the last couple of games and against Middlesbrough and Sunderland they made four or five mistakes.

“There’s not the same spirit in the team any more. There are rows at training. It’s not the machine it used to be. You can see that something is not working. If [Frank] Lampard goes out of the game after 75 minutes it means something is wrong. If Mourinho had been in charge of this match of course it would’ve been different. He is a very different coach.”

Hang on a minute – wasn’t Avram meant to improve Chelsea? Wasn’t the glum Israeli meant to bring glitz, glamour, and razzmatazz? Right now Chelsea are as avant garde as a plastic poncho at a rainy Theme Park.

Watch Chelsea live online