Soccer Uefa Champions League

A day after rival Liverpool was knocked out of the 2009-10 Champions League, its long time rival Manchester United suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Besiktas at Old Trafford Wednesday.

However, unlike Liverpool which dropped into the second-tier Europa League, Manchester United is still through to the knockout, but it has to wait until the final matchday on Dec. 8 to win the group. United need at least a point when it plays at Wolfsburg to place first, which could be important with the possibly of a knockout Round of 16 match against teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona or Inter Milan.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) - Liverpool defeated Debrecen 1-0 in the Champions League but failed to qualify for the knockout stage as Fiorentina secured the last qualification spot in Group E with victory over Lyon.

"I'm very disappointed because we had chances in all the games," said Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez. "We have to be disappointed but at least we won. We did our job today."

BUDAPEST -- The photo above was taken from my seat at the Debrecen-Olympique Lyon UEFA Champions League game three weeks ago. I was not credentialed as a member of the press. In fact, I wasn't even in the stadium legally, and this seat was never sold for reasons that are pretty apparent.

Join FanHouse UK's Jeremy Campbell as he hosts a live chat covering Tuesday's Champions League matchup between Liverpool and Lyon.

Lyon currently stands in first place in Group E through two matches, while Liverpool is in third.

The match kicks off at Anfield at 2:45 PM ET. Join FH UK then for complete, up-to-the-minute coverage.

---

---

Let's face it, the European method of pulling names out from the proverbial hat to determine the pairings for its knockout competitions is, well, a foreign concept. About the only Stateside comparison is the selection committee drawing up the NCAA Tournament brackets every March.

To whit, Thursday in Monaco, UEFA staged its annual gala to determine the groups for the 2009-10 Champions League replete with glitz, glamor and the former Miss Switzerland pulling balls out of pots. Certainly a far cry from a group of middle-aged men sitting together in a hotel room discussing RPI.

Can every living creature on Earth except Americans be wrong about something? Wednesday seemed like a great opportunity to find out.

It was the UEFA Champions League final. That's a soccer match, which means this is a soccer column.

HOLD ON!

Watching the 2009 Champions League final unfold a sense of déjà vu washed over me. In a lot of ways it was like watching the final of Euro 2008 all over again. Instead of Spain defeating Germany 1-0 last June, Wednesday it was Barcelona defeating Manchester United 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

The biggest game of the 2009 world soccer calendar kicks off Wednesday night at Rome's Stadio Olimpico when Manchester United and FC Barcelona meet for the UEFA Champions League final. It's a true soccer lover's dream, pitting the champions of the Premier League and La Liga for club soccer's premier trophy.

Will it be Cristiano Ronaldo leading the Red Devils to their second consecutive Champions League crown? Or will it be Lionel Messi heading the Catalan giants to their second trophy in four years?

The game kicks off at 2:45 PM ET, and we'll be live-blogging shortly beforehand.

Manchester United ... Barcelona ... the UEFA Champions League final. What more really needs to be said?

Wednesday night in Rome (ESPN, 2:25 PM ET) the best team in Europe will be crowned in a contest pitting the champions of what are considered the two top professional leagues in the world -- the (English) Premier League and La Liga. Oh right, there's the juicy subplot between two of the world's best players, too, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi squaring off at the Stadio Olimpico.

Throughout the history of team sports, spectators have probably joked about causing bodily harm to an umpire or referee. In the wake of Barcelona's last-minute Champions League semifinal victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, this sort of thinking has become no laughing matter as the match's official -- Tom Henning Ovrebo -- has been forced into hiding after receiving numerous threats.

The Norwegian denied Chelsea, what the Blues felt, were three possible penalty kicks -- the first when Dani Alves dragged down Flourent Malouda in the box in the first half and the next two on possible handballs on Barcelona players Gerard Pique and Samuel Eto'o. The second call, which would have gone against Eto'o in injury time, has already sparked numerous YouTube parodies featuring Chelsea's Michael Ballack's over the top reaction.