Futsal's finest ready to go

Two groups
The eight remaining contenders have been divided into two groups, with Group A taking place in Portugal and Group B playing out in Serbia and Montenegro. In each section, the first two matchdays will fall on 29 and 30 January, with the final round of games coming on 1 February. On that last day, the matches will all kick-off simultaneously to ensure teams will have no idea who they will play should they progress.

Happy memories
Group A will be played at the Pavilhão da Luz home of SL Benfica, which was used at the same stage in 2003/04. The arena will bring back happy memories for another of the pool contenders, Spain's Boomerang Interviú, who then won that year's competition at the Luz by completing a 7-5 aggregate victory, although they lost the match itself 4-3 to Benfica. Their rematch concludes the group on 1 February. Also in Group A are Belgian debutants Cristal Noir MB Morlanwelz and Kazakhstan's Kairat Almaty.

Final rematch
Meanwhile, KMF Marbo Beograd are staging Group B at the impressive Hala Pionir, with the highlight being the 30 January rematch of last season's final between holders Action 21 Charleroi and MFK Dinamo Moskva, who have since signed several players from the Belgian champions. Ambitious Ukrainian club FC Shakhtar Donetsk will also make the trip to Serbia and Montenegro.

Final date
The top two teams from each section will go through to the semi-finals, which have been introduced for the first time this season. The winner of each group will play the runner-up in the other section over two legs in March. The final will then follow on the same two-leg basis in late April and early May.