Only the best will survive

SO, Manchester United are the best in Europe, are they? As the nine month long, 205 match new-look Champions League finally swings into action this week, the merits (or lack of) of Europe's reigning champions represent just the first of many intriguing questions posed by UEFA's controversial decision to create a de-facto, first-ever European Super League.

There are good reasons for suggesting, even at this early stage, that the side which finally emerges victorious on May 24th next may not necessarily be the best side in Europe but rather the most physically robust and stamina-endowed one. Put simply, the side which wins the trophy will have had to play 17 Champions League games (six first phase matches, six second phase matches, 2 quarter final, 2 semi-finals and the final).

For some of Europe's elite, this extra workload will come as a traumatic shock. For example, 17 games represents exactly half the entire Italian Serie A championship season. In other words, Italian clubs are preparing to play what for them amounts to a season and a half of soccer between now and May.

It might be argued that the treble-winning men from Old Trafford last season showed that it was possible to remain simultaneously competitive on three different fronts. Yet even Manchester United can foresee problems as evidenced by their willingness to drop out of the FA Cup.

While the players and coaches may wince at the forthcoming, increased work-load, there is no denying that the new-format competition has much to offer fans by way of intriguing, cross-border confrontations. Writing in these pages yesterday, my colleague David Lacey suggested that the Champions League will offer English soccer a chance to remind Europe that there is a big difference between the football played IN England (by the clubs) and that played BY England (by the English national team, currently in danger of failing to qualify for next summer's European championships).

He may have a very valid point but it is one that will be put to an immediate test by two Anglo-Italian classics, Fiorentina v Arsenal tonight and Chelsea v AC Milan tomorrow night. There are many who would argue that Manchester United's Champions League win last season provided proof of the superiority of the United, if not the English game.

If Premier League soccer really has evolved from an exciting, frenetic game of pace and commitment into the something more cerebral, then English soccer should be able to throw up more than a one-off winner. After all, in the preHeysel era, English clubs won the old-style Champions Cup in seven out of eight years in a remarkable run between 1977 and 1984. In more recent times, Italian clubs have won four out of the last 11, whilst an Italian club has made it to nine of the last 10 finals.

Last season, United eliminated two ailing giants in Inter Milan and Juventus on the way to the title. This year, their Premiership rivals Arsenal and Chelsea have not been so lucky in that they meet two of the strongest sides in the land, two teams currently in excellent pyscho-physical shape.

Champions Milan were already a balanced, strong unit last season but with the addition of Ukraine striker Andrij Shevchenko ($22 million from Dinamo Kiev) and Brazilian winger-cum-full back Serghino, they are looking better. The Ukraine striker has much to learn about Serie A yet he has already done the essential thing by scoring in both Milan's opening two games, a 2-2 away draw to Lecce and a 3-1 home win against Perugia on Sunday. As for Serghino, he was the star of the show against Perugia and it will be greatly in Chelsea's interests to find a way of containing his incursions down the left wing.

Fiorentina, too, are a strengthened side. Enrico Chiesa ($15 million from Parma) and Yugoslav Pedrag Mijatovic ($10 million from Real Madrid) join captain, Argentine Gabriel Batistuta in an imposing front line which may keep the Arsenal defence busy. Fiorentina's coach, experienced campaigner Giovanni Trapattoni, recently said that if he had had Chiesa last season (rather than the unreliable, moody Brazilian Edmundo) then he would have won the title.

Remarks like that may be offered just to keep the fans happy but what is certain is that Fiorentina will prove no pushover for either Arsenal or the other big name in a fascinating Group B, namely Barcelona. Bayern Munich v PSV, Bayer Leverkusen v Lazio, Valencia v Glasgow Rangers, Feyenoord v Borussia Dortmund and, of course, Manchester United v Croatia Zagreb are just some of the other intriguing ties on this gala opening night of the brave new world of Champions League soccer.