So, then, who is going to win the Champions League this season? As the curtain rises tonight on Europe's premier club competition, you could be forgiven for concluding it is "round-up-the-usual-suspects" time when it comes to picking the eventual winner.
For example, five of the six top-quoted clubs in most bookmakers' lists also happen to be the five clubs which between them have won eight of the last 10 Champions League finals - Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Juventus and AC Milan (in starting price order), whilst the two Champions League winners of the last decade not to feature prominently in the ante-post books are Ajax Amsterdam (1995 winners, quoted at 33/1) and Borussia Dortmund (1997 winners, not qualified).
Professional gamblers would probably agree that if you take the above five clubs and then add in inconsistent Arsenal, newly-formed Chelsea and of-times disappointing Inter Milan, then you have covered all options.
This season, the Champions League comprises just one Group Phase with the 16 qualifiers from the eight groups going into an immediate, knock-out, cup tie second-round stage that starts at the end of February.
What chances then that sides like PSV Eindhoven, Deportivo La Coruna (Group C), Lazio (Group G), Ajax Amsterdam (Group H), Porto (Group F) or Galatasaray (Group D) win their way through to second round, then hit one of the favourites on a bad night and get themselves on a giant-killing, cup-tie roll? At this point, fans from Eindhoven, Amsterdam, La Coruna, Istanbul, Porto and Rome would protest at the "giant-killing" label since their clubs are all amongst the top dogs in their own leagues.
The new format will at least mean that from February on there will be no more of the cynical or meaningless last day group phase games in which already qualified sides such as Manchester United, Juventus, AC Milan et al were happy to field second choice sides and lose.
Not only the new format but also the overall strength of the "Big Five" would suggest this season may produce a vintage tournament. Favourites Real Madrid with their Dream Team line-up of Ronaldo, Raul, Zidane, Figo, Roberto Carlos plus Beckham may well have overlooked the small matter of defence but they are sure to set off fireworks.
Real walloped Valladolid 7-2 on Saturday in the Liga but in a first round Group F that includes Olympique Marseilles, Partizan Belgrade and, above all, Porto, their defensive limitations may be exposed. One can only wonder just how they will fare without defender Fernando Hierro (gone to Quatar) and midfielder Claude Makele (now with Chelsea), two players who between them have been the entire Real defence in recent seasons.
Bayern Munich, hungry for Europe's premier stage after a humiliating first group phase elimination last season and strengthened by the €18.75 million purchase of Dutch striker Roy Makaay from Deportivo, look the part. Yet, a 3-2 defeat on Saturday by Wolfsburg serves as a reminder that, despite the presence of Kahn, Ballack, Deisler, Ze Roberto et al, they still have their problems.
Manchester United, at least viewed from this distance, look sure to make the quarter-finals but not so sure to go any further.
All of which, curiously, leaves us with the dear old Italians. For the Italian-haters out there, the bad news is both last season's finalists Juventus and AC Milan look stronger than ever.
Juventus have acquired useful players in defender Nicola Legrottaglie (Chievo), Ghana midfielder Stephan Appiah (Brescia) and striker Fabrizio Miccoli (back from loan to Perugia), whilst resident stars such as Czech Pavel Nedved and Alessandro Del Piero look hotter than ever.
As for the reigning champions, they have acquired one of the most exciting new Brazilian talents in Kaka whilst they continue to have two of the greatest craftsmen around in strikers Filippo Inzaghi and Andriy Shevchenko. Want to bet against an Italian side lifting the trophy, again, in Gelsenkirchen next May?
