But this site has practically all you need to know about the teams that will set off this week on the road to Athens. Every game is previewed comprehensively, with quotes from managers and key players, and it is easy to click through to the clubs’ websites. Match reports, with full statistics and analysis, will appear within minutes of the final whistle. It is also possible to follow games on a minute-by-minute basis, although whether we need to know ‘45’ +2’ The referee blows for half-time’ is a moot point
Follow the action If you can’t watch your team in the flesh or on television, you can subscribe to Uefa’s Live and On Demand service. A variety of packages allow you to buy individual matches, highlights, previews, goals or key moments. Prices range from £1.50 for the action from an individual game, including preview, extended highlights and a full match re-run, to £29.95 for full access to the uefa.com video section, including all match packages and match-night round-ups What else has it got? The site also has a Fanzone, which will be opening for business with the first group games this week and features a quiz and a ‘fanatical fan finder’. There is also a results predictor competition that could win you tickets for the Champions League final in Athens next May. However, be aware that you’ll be up against the rest of Europe’s football fans, so weigh up those decisions carefully.
Finally, there is an interactive map that allows you to fly around Europe and swoop down on the grounds that will host this year’s competition, all lovingly displayed in accurate detail. Great fun — and, who knows, it might even prove useful some day Where else to go? To check out British clubs’ rivals in greater depth, you can always try the individual teams’ websites. Werder Bremen have an English site at www.werder.de, where among other things one discovers that their Brazilian midfielder Diego’s hobbies includes, intriguingly, billiards.
Liverpool fans who will be travelling to Eindhoven this week can take a virtual tour of the PSV stadium at http://english.psv.nl, while the only notable feature of Hamburg’s website (www.hsv.de) is that it records on a ticking counter how long the club has been in the Bundesliga (43 years, 16 days and counting, in case you’re interested).
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You will find football news with a somewhat tougher edge than that provided on the Uefa site at www.soccernet.espn.go.com. Also worth checking out are www.news.bbc.co.uk/sport as well as www.worldsoccer.com and, of course, www.timesonline.co.uk