It's back -- and back more than ever. Thanks to the midseason World Cup, the Champions League group stage wraps up early this year, ending on Nov. 1. That means we've got Champions League action in six of the upcoming 10 weeks, including this week and next.
So, before the flurry begins, let's set the stage. I've ranked all 32 teams based on three separate factors: 1) their betting odds to win the whole thing, 2) the rating from the consultancy Twenty First Group, which takes player quality into account, and 3) the rating from ClubElo.com, which ranks teams purely based on their historical results. Here's how things look heading into matchday one.