“Autumn is my favourite time of year. The weather starts to get cooler, the leaves change colours and all that nonsense, but the main reason is clear: the group stages of the Champions League begin. It is a time when hope is high, a time when people will walk into school or to work and brag about how they know that their team will go all the way this year, and claim Europe’s biggest prize. Of course a lot of banter will follow; especially after those first day jitters get out of the way and your team, let’s say Chelsea, succumb to a home defeat for their first game against FC Basel. But that is the fun, and beauty, of the tournament. In the beginning, every team has a chance; every team has that hope, however realistic or utterly unimaginable it may be, that they will make a good run of the tournament. This season, some new faces come into the Champions League, some new, and some very familiar. I will take a look at what we can expect to see this year in Europe’s most prestigious club competition.” backpagefootball