Continental Championships Preview, Wrap-Up: UEFA, Copa, AFC, CONCACAF

Tuesday sees the return of UEFA Champions League, the world's marquee club soccer competition.  Two teams return home with 2-1 deficits and significant absences undermining their abilities to turn their ties around.

We'll get to that more in a moment.

Why Tuesday mornings are a time for WSDigest to reflect on impending UEFA Champions League action, such single-minded focus can be seen as a disservice to great football taking place in other corners of the globe.

True, the CONCACAF Champions League carries little (or none) of the prestige of its UEFA counterpart, but it's still a competition worthy of consideration.

Likewise the AFC Champions League and the South American equivalent, the Copa Libertadores.

I've made it a point to (try to) keep everybody talking about Copa, but I've neglected Asian Champions League, a neglect I hope will not continue, let alone influence how I approach the CONCACAF's tournament.

I am not an expert on any of these tournaments, but that does not mean we can't all help bring each other up to date.

After the jump, we start going through Tuesday's action in these four competitions.

UEFA Champions League:  Tuesday's two matches will crown the competition's first quarterfinalists, each match carrying a good chance of going to penalty kicks.

Much of the English-language press has focused on the match at the Emirates in London, where Arsenal hosts Porto, trailing 2-1 after last month's match at the Dragão.  The silver lining of that Arsenal cloud says each goal given up in Portugal was freakish in nature.  But clouds are much more than their linings, and the body of this nimbus floater notes Cesc Fabregas will miss this match.

A 1-0 will take it to kicks, but my feeling is that Porto - a club not as strong the the incarnations we've seen over the last seven years - wins this one, making Arsenal the second English club knocked out of Champions League.

I also like Internazionale to beat Chelsea.  If that happens (which it won't), only one English club could be in a quarterfinal stage that has gotten used to seeing four Premier League sides.

In Italy, Fiorentina can go through with a similar 1-0 win against Bayern Munich, but they will have to do it without Massimo Gobbi (suspension), Alessandro Gamberini (injury) and Adrian Mutu (Mutu-ness).  While Fiorentina has played well in Champions League (including in the tie's first leg in Munich), it is not enough to say that this struggling Serie A side is just better in Champions League. 

La Viola is in tenth in Serie A though they are legitimately trying.  With their Champions League group (with Liverpool and Lyon) now not looking as strong as once thought, so we have reason to think it likely that La Viola can replicate their Munich performance.

Copa Libertadores:  Estudiantes was embarrassed the last time they ventured out of Argentina, losing 4-1 in Peru to Alianza Lima, Walter Aguierre scoring three goals.  Of greater concern may be El León's domestic performance, which has them goalless over the last 180 minutes.

I doubt the holders have anything to worry about against Bolivia's Bolivar.  The Bolivian sides are a step below most in this competition, so unless Estudiantes replicates their Lima performance, it will be difficult for Bolivar to break through a still strong Estudiantes defense.

Bolivar is at the bottom of Group 3 with a 1:5 goal ratio through two matches.  Estudiantes is second, better on difference than Juan Aurich.

Cerro Porteño is supposed to compete with Independiente Medellín for second place in Group 1 behind Corinthians.  Through one round of the group, that story has held, though Cerro's draw in Paraguay against Independiente means they have little margin for error in Uruguay against Racing Club, with a trip to Colombia still on their schedule.

Racing Club is a distant fourth in terms of quality in Group 1.  They had lost four matches in a row before defeating Danubio 3-2 this weekend in Primera Division action.  That match featured four read cards and saw Racing Club get the tying goal late, while up a man.  Danubio is 2-1-4 this season - not the best resumé.

Going on the road in international competitions is always difficult.  It's easy to see even a struggling Racing Club getting a point.  However, if Cerro can't get three - even if Independiente loses to Corinthians on Wednesday - they will have fallen behind.

AFC Champions League:  Yesterday, China's Changchun Yatai got a 9-0 win over Indonesia's Persipura Jayapura.  Reason to scoff?  I don't know.  To me -- somebody observing from a distance - it makes me more curious.  One thing I do know, and it will be reflected in other scores throughout this competition:  There are federations, leagues within Asia that are still developing, and when it comes to this international competition, those leagues will be exploited.  Yesterday, Gao Jian and Johnny Lambert had hat tricks in exploiting Persipura, who have a 1:13 ratio through two matches.

Japan's Kashima Antlers are at the head of that group - Group F - having previously beaten Changchun and recording a 2-1 victory today at Korea's Jeonbuk Motors.  Yasushi Endo had a stoppage time, tie-breaking goal for the visitors.

Group E also finished their matches earlier today, with Korea's Seongnam Ihwa Chunwa getting a 2-0 win at A-League's Melbourne Victory while China's Beijing Guaon beat Japan's Kawasaki Frontale, 3-1 in Japan.  Australian Joel Griffiths are two goals for Beijing, who are perfect - tied with Seongnam - after two rounds.

Group A - one of the west Asian groups - saw Iran's Esteghal move to the head of the quartet with a 0-0 draw against UAE side Al Jazira.  Ongoing as I write, Qatari side Al Gharafa will host Saudis Al Ahli with the chance to move to six points and the head of the group (as I write, it looks like Al Ahli is up 3-2 in the match's final minutes, with Al Gharafa having just threatened for an equalizer down their right flank).

The other group in action today is Group B.  Uzbek power Bunyodkor - of Luiz Felipe Scolari and Rivaldo fame - got two goals from Brazilian striker Denilson in beating Al Wahda, 2-1.  A stoppage time goal from the UAE team made the score more flattering than the match played, with the Uzbeks controlling much of the play.  

The result pushes Bunyodkor to the top of Group B.  Iranian side Zob Ahan, at Saudi power Al Ittihad later today, could draw even on points with a win.

CONCACAF Champions League:  Major League Soccer is back in action today in one form, with the Columbus Crew hosting México's Toluca.  MLS has had a poor record against their neighboring league, and with Columbus suffering through a number of injuries and suspensions, hopes are not high for the MLS side to reverse the trend tonight.  

Toluca is off to a slow start in México's Bicentenario and may take it easy on Tuesday, knowing next week's return leg will give them another chance to advance to the tournament's semifinals.  However, as we saw in group stage, Méxican sides in cruise control can still perform well in this competition.

The absences to players like Guillermo Barros Schelotto (suspension), Chad Marshall (injury) and Frankie Kejduk (suspension) means Columbus may be happy with a draw.

Use the comments section to follow your matches throughout the day, as I will be checking back often.