Zenit have enjoyed a wonderful year: they won the Russian league championship and, despite their season ending last November, have reached the Uefa Cup final after an excellent set of results in 2008.

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Mid-table prosperity in La Liga, two Copa del Rey finals in consecutive seasons and a memorable run in their inaugural European campaign have ensured the Getafe history books need an instant rewrite. It has been the most successful period ever for this suburban club.

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The Premier League table this year is very tight in a number of key positions: the title is pretty much being contested by three clubs and the relegation battle is as fierce as ever. But it is the battle for the European spots that will be potentially most intriguing, and Manchester City are one of the high-flying sides challenging for a Uefa Cup place, if not fourth spot and the Champions League.

With City still to play 32% of their games, I have decided to look back to see how the club have fared in previous seasons. City qualified for Europe through the league in 1968, ‘72, ‘77 and ‘78 and during those campaigns, they got between 25% and 29% of their points in the last 32% of the season’s fixtures. If you were to put that into the league table as it stands today and you will expect to get between 15 and 18 points from the remaining 12 games (giving City between 59 and 62 points) which ought to be enough for a place in the Uefa Cup next season.

I hear you all saying “But that was 30 years ago!” So let us take the last five Premier League seasons and see what percentage of City’s points were earned in the final 12 games.

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Group A: AZ Alkmaar, Zenit St. Petersburg, Everton, Nürnberg, Larissa

Everton scraped past Ukrainian minnows Metalist Kharkiv to qualify but should make it through a modest group. They face the Russians at home - never a bad thing - but will need to have assured progress before their tough final match at Alkmaar. The Dutch have not started well in the Eredivisie, but Zenit are competing for the Russian title and could cause problems at Goodison Park. Larissa were flattered by beating Blackburn Rovers and Nürnberg are the German Cup runners-up.

Group B: Panathinaikos, Lokomotiv Moscow, Atlético Madrid, Copenhagen, Aberdeen

A message to Aberdeen supporters; enjoy it while it lasts. Like Everton, they avoid a long trip to Russia, but trips to the Greek and Spanish capitals will likely prove fruitless. Two home wins are imperative; their venture to the Vicente Calderón is little more than a day out. Atlético Madrid scraped through the InterToto Cup to qualify for European football for the first time in what seems like an age but have a very strong squad including Forlán, Luis García, Maniche, Simão, Reyes, Maxi Rodríguez and Agüero. Good look Dons. Should be a scrap between the Danes and Panathinaikos for third place.

Group C: Villarreal, AEK Athens, Fiorentina, Mladá Boleslav, Elfsborg

The easiest group to predict on the face of it, but beware the disasters that have befallen Ajax, Real Zaragoza, Blackburn Rovers and Sampdoria already. The Italians have easy home matches against Mladá Boleslav and Elfsborg, but will be up against it at Villarreal and AEK. They are doing well in Serie A and should have enough to get through with the ever-impressive Villarreal and the sturdy Greeks.

Group D: Basel, Hamburg, Rennes, Dinamo Zagreb, Brann

A group that seemingly makes a mockery of UEFA seeding system. Dinamo Zagreb were outstanding in Amsterdam in knocking out Ajax (who had won the first leg in Croatia) and boast an outstanding captain in Luka Modric. Hamburg have a talisman in Rafael van der Vaart but not a lot else so Rennes, going well in the French league, will fancy their chances. Basel have a competent side but are always the bridesmaid.

Group E: Bayer Leverkusen, Sparta Prague, Spartak Moscow, Toulouse, Zürich

Toulouse’s punishment for their pathetic display at Anfield is a place in the toughest group in the tournament. Leverkusen were humiliated in the quarter finals last season, losing 3-0 at home to Osasuna, but Sparta Prague and Spartak Moscow will give little away. Spartak Moscow have the Germans at home which should make them group favourites; they have a squad bursting with internationals and something a bit special in Ukrainian midfielder Maksym Kalynychenko, who took Saudi Arabia apart in the World Cup.

Group F: Bayern Munich, Bolton Wanderers, Sporting Braga, Red Star Belgrade, Aris Thessonaliki

A glamorous draw for Bolton, including a trip to the Allianz Arena in Munich and the Crvena Zvezda stadium in Belgrade, which makes two home wins the key to progressing to the knock-out stages. Bad league form and an unconvincing display against weak opponents in the first round do not bode well, but in Nicolas Anelka they have someone with the ability to do something special. Braga play in a cave and have the best chance of taking something off Bayern, whom they host midway through the group. As for the Germans - Klose, Toni, Ribéry, Hamit Altintop, Podolski, Schweinsteiger - will they take seriously a tournament that they should be embarrassed to be in?

Group G: Anderlecht, Tottenham Hotspur, Getafe, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Aalborg Boldspilklub

Tottenham finish with Anderlecht away, but if they haven’t already qualified by then they barely deserve to progress. Getafe have gone downhill fast and have not yet won in La Liga, a trip to Tel Aviv shouldn’t be as tricky as it sounds as they are only Israel’s fourth best team and AaB at home should be three points wrapped up with a pink ribbon. The Belgians showed little resistance against Liverpool or Chelsea in the Champions League two season ago, but have a good mix of youth and experience, with Belgian internationals Jelle van Damme, Mbo Mpenza, Bart Goor and keeper Silvio Proto among the ranks.

Group H: Bordeaux, Austria Vienna, Galatasaray, Panionios, Helsingborgs

Mmm. Doesn’t exactly whet your appetite for European football, does it? Galatasaray are the glamour name in the group, although Bordeaux are top seeds after last season’s brief flirtation with the Champions League. The Ali Sami Yes stadium in Istanbul is not a pleasant place to visit, with one of the most vocal, partizan home crowds in Europe. As for Austria Vienna, Panionios and Helsingborgs, take your pick. The Autumnal Henrik Larsson is still dangerous, and could help the Sweden bely their status as the lowest ranked team left in the competition.

So, who will end up at the City of Manchester Stadium on Wednesday 14th May? Difficult to say as we don’t know who will drop out of the Champions League - although there could be a big casualty or two with Werder Bremen, Liverpool and Lyon making poor starts. Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid are the obvious choices. They have true strength in depth but Bayern may not take the tournament that seriously - you can bet they won’t be in it next year - and Atlético Madrid are as erratic and inconsistent as ever. Tottenham Hotspur and Everton have a sporting chance for England, while clubs like Galatasaray, Fiorentina, Villarreal, Spartak Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen and Dinamo Zagreb will fare well if they can turn their home stadia into fortresses.

It seemed as if the Italian game had recovered from the infamous Calciopoli scandal after AC Milan surged to Champions League glory last May; Serie A also thrived with a higher goal average than both La Liga and the Premier League. Yet with an exodus of young Italian talent over the summer and a lack of transfer pull from top-flight clubs, including big guns Inter and AC Milan, the league has suffered – and accordingly results on the continent have been poor.

In the Champions League, Inter have made their customary sluggish start to the campaign. The likes of Luís Figo have demanded long-awaited success in Europe this season, but the perpetual underachievers again look destined to struggle to mount a challenge. They fell to a humbling 1-0 defeat at Fenerbahçe on matchday one and although they triumphed 2-0 over PSV at the San Siro on Tuesday, more disciplinary problems look set to further harm their chances of ultimately claiming the coveted silverware, Chivu and Suazo both seeing red, adding to the list of suspensions which have been carried forward from last season’s mass brawl at Valencia.

“Italy will have just one team in the Uefa Cup group stages with three sides surprisingly crashing out - that’s as many as Scotland”

Their bitter city rivals are hardly faring much better. An unconvincing 2-1 victory at home to Benfica put a miserable start domestically behind them, but a tame defeat at the hands of unheralded Celtic heaped the pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti and made qualification for the first knockout stage look problematical. Shakhtar Donetsk have already claimed six points from two matches and Celtic sit behind them in second with three, and a trip to Benfica promises to be a tough test of Milan’s credentials. It’s not all bad on the Champions League front, however – Lazio claimed a draw at home to Real Madrid to follow up a point in Greece against Olympiakos, and Roma look set to qualify despite a greatly unfortunate defeat at Old Trafford where they dominated for large parts.

The lack of depth in the Italian game is even more worrying, demonstrated by results in the Uefa Cup on Thursday. Spain had three representatives in the Uefa Cup semi-finals last season; England had three at the same stage of the Champions League, but Italy will have just one for the group stages as three sides surprisingly crashed out. That’s as many as Scotland – Aberdeen having edged through against Dnipro – and two less than both Spain and England.

Sampdoria, who strengthened significantly over the close season with the introduction of Montella and Cassano up front, crashed to little-known Danish outfit AaB, who became the first club from the country to knock an Italian side out of any European competition. Empoli followed suit, losing a 2-1 lead from the home leg at the hands of underdogs FC Zürich to go out 4-2 on aggregate. Palermo made it a hat-trick against Mlada Boleslav, losing 1-0 at home to leave the tie balanced at 1-1 on aggregate, and after extra time failed to separate the sides, the Czech visitors came out victorious 4-2 on penalties. Just one side managed to make the group stages – Fiorentina, who only qualified after a penalty shoot-out against FC Groningen – a poor return for a nation engulfed in football.

Is this the start of a decline in Italian influence on the continent or merely an anomalous year? If it’s the former, the game in Italy will have to take a long and hard look at itself and question where and why it went wrong, and what can be done to combat a problem that can quickly swell. After a dumbfounding week in European competition, the Scottish league appears to be closing in on its Italian counterpart – a situation no one would have envisaged 12 months ago. So what does the next year hold in store for the home of the world champions?

Italian football in irreversible decline? Share your views by leaving a comment below.

Although these two sides dominate domestic competitions in Ukraine, any kind of progress in the Champions League would be a great success.

At first glance, it appears that Shakhtar are the likeliest to progress. Despite their tough-looking group, finishing second behind AC Milan looks like an achievable aim. Over the summer, Shakhtar broke all Ukrainian transfer records having paid €8m for Cristiano Lucarelli from Livorno, €10m for Ilsinho from Sao Paulo and €20m for Nery Castillo from Olympiacos. And yet, few in Ukraine will be surprised if Shakhtar fail to make the Champions League second round. Their fans are used to seeing the club’s owner spend more and more on transfers each year without subsequent success in Europe, although this year perhaps there is greater pressure than ever before to recoup some of the close-season outlay via unprecedented progress on the continent.
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While the Premiership is dominated by four sides, La Liga is incredibly strong throughout. This season, for instance, four sides have been in the running for the title all the way through and any of three could still triumph in the league, while the scrap for European positions continues to sides as low as twelfth position – Mallorca, eighth from bottom, are just six points from a Uefa Cup spot with five matches to play.

But perhaps the most substantial evidence comes from last Thursday’s Copa del Rey semi-final, second leg between Getafe and Barcelona. Unfancied Getafe, under the brilliant stewardship of Bernd Schuster, had lost 5-2 at the Camp Nou but they shredded their illustrious opponents to pieces in the return match, incredibly winning 4-0 in a stadium that holds only 17,000. It is the equivalent of Chelsea heading to Wigan with all their star names only to be unsentimentally banished back to London. It highlighted the depth of La Liga, something the Premiership desperately craves.

When was the last time Chelsea or Manchester United, or even the other elite clubs across Europe’s top leagues, were hammered by four goals or more by a mid-table side?

Barcelona might end this season without a single trophy now, but it is a different matter for Sevilla. The latter’s scintillating style has won many hearts and the Andalusians are on the verge of an historic treble. Juande Ramos’s side can still win the league, are in the final of the Copa del Rey after thumping Deportivo, and are favourites to recapture their Uefa Cup crown against Espanyol.

Wednesday’s final in Glasgow is Catalonia versus Andalusia. On this night, the club permanently in the shadow of neighbours Barcelona have their very own opportunity for a night of glory, although a year ago they did triumph in the Spanish Cup – the reason they are in Europe this season. Espanyol are unlikely to qualify for the Uefa Cup again via their league position, but the focus is entirely on Wednesday, and Sevilla.

The two sides are nineteen points apart, but that will not bear much influence come the final, especially as any La Liga side seems capable of beating another. Espanyol might benefit from having a far less hectic schedule being in just one competition and having the luxury to rest most of their squad for Saturday’s match at Real Madrid while Sevilla played almost a full side against Recreativo Huelva.

There is also the possibility that they will want victory more. Sevilla have already had their moment of success, and may underestimate their opponents.

Do not think Espanyol are simply turning up for the spectacle. They have proved a joy to watch, scoring 32 goals in just 14 matches on the continent, beating the likes of Benfica and Werder Bremen – the latter being the long-term favourites – in stunning fashion.

So can they take the final step and add their names into the history books come Wednesday? Will they be bold and attack Sevilla? The money is on a closely fought encounter with goals highly probable, but the braver team will be the one that ultimately victors.

Can Espanyol shock Sevilla? Share your views by leaving a comment below.