Usually the Spanish giants would have to look no further than their Wunder Kind Raul for goals but his season is yet to ignite and critics believe he is still suffering from his fatal penalty miss that ultimately ended Spain s Euro 2000 dream. That considered, this is hardly the optimum time to put the burden of responsibility on his fragile shoulders and Real and Raul desperately need for another striker to stand up and be counted. If you weren t a football fan and had tuned in to the raucous celebration scenes following Leeds United 's draw in Milan, you would have thought that Leeds had already won the final. But it would have taken a foolish soul to wager that the Belgian side would finish first ahead of Man Utd, come the end of the first group phase. Five matchdays on and behold, Anderlecht have won the group and those who were once considered as fools have been vindicated as geniuses.
Football is a funny game.
Anderlecht owe a great deal of their success to one man. One mountain of a man in fact. The Czech giant Jan Koller has been the source of much torment for European defences in this Champions League campaign and some of the continents most experienced coaches have been left scratching their heads as to how to best deal with a man of such impressive stature. However, the elimination of the element of surprise does not make the task of preventing Koller from getting the ball any easier. While Koller is undoubtedly Anderlecht s ace in the hole, their soft spot is certainly their lethargic defence.