This season’s Champions League is turning out to be one of the best ever. Unfancied teams are beating or holding the big guns, a number of past winners are struggling and some new names have cropped up to give the tournament a much needed breath of fresh air.

So, as the competition starts to hot up, we’re giving you the chance to pick the best XI from all of the current squads.

Based on Matchday Four, Footy Boots editor Andy Kay has complied our fantasy side and to say it’s controversial is putting it mildly.

Players from Rubin Kazan and CSKA are in while plenty of big names such as Lampard, Essien, Rooney, Benzema, Pato, Hulk and Ronaldinho are not.

Do you agree with his selections or has he got it wildly wrong? And if so, what would be your best XI? Let us know by commenting below.

Goalkeeper

Victor Valdes – Barcelona

It can’t have been easy for the Spanish stopper, standing around watching his team mates in temperatures of around -7c. But the mark of a good goalkeeper is being able to pull out all the stops after long periods of inactivity. Valdes more than did this with a number of crucial saves which allowed his side to take a vital point from the game.

Victor Valdes wears Nike Tiempo Air Legend II football boots.

Defenders

Cesar Navas – Rubin Kazam

Like Valdes, Navas was another Spaniard to shine on a freezing cold night in Russia. The Rubin Kazam defender had to be on his game throughout as Barcelona mounted attack after attack. It’s been a good competition so far for Navas who, but for a foot injury, could have been playing with English Championship side Ipswich Town this season! Who said metatarsal injuries were always a bad thing?

Cesar Navas wears adidas adiPure II football boots.

Hilton - Marseille

The Brazilian didn’t have too much to do at the back as FC Zurich were a bit powder-puff but a central defender who scores goals is worth his weight in gold. Hilton did just that as the French team moved to within a point behind AC Milan and Real Madrid.

Hilton wears adidas Predator X football boots.

Ashley Cole - Chelsea

It wasn’t an entirely comfortable night for the Londoners in Spain but Cole put in another solid display at left back. He was blameless for the host’s two goals and did little to damage his reputation as one of the best left backs in the world. The simple fact is that Cole is capable of performing live week in, week out. Unlike his Mrs!

Ashley Cole wears Nike CTR360 football boots.

Dario Dainelli - Fiorentina

The Fiorentina captain was relatively solid at the back but gets the nod (excuse the upcoming pun) because of his incredibly brave header which gave the Viola a 2 – 1 lead which they eventually turned in to a 5 – 2 win. Despite getting a face full of the Debrecen goalkeeper’s fist, Dainelli still managed to guide his header in to the net as the home team went second in Group E, a point behind Lyon but more importantly, 5 in front of third placed Liverpool.

Dario Dainelli wears Bikkembergs Tirosegno football boots.

Midfield

Cesc Fabregas – Arsenal

Is there nothing this man can’t do at the moment? Fabregas is in the form of his life and he prompted his Arsenal side to a convincing 4 – 1 win over AZ Alkmaar at the Emirates Stadium which puts the English team on the brink of qualification. Not only that but he’s scoring goals for fun lately and added a couple more in this game. Just brilliant.

Cesc Fabregas wears Nike CTR360 football boots.

Kaka - Real Madrid

Kaka pulled all the strings as he return to his former club, a sure sign of his commanding display was how quickly his warm reception turned to jeers as Madrid dominated the early proceedings. And it was from Kaka’s shot that Madrid were to take the lead as Benzema knocked in the parry from Dida. Just the kind of performance required by the Spaniards on what could have been a difficult night at the San Siro.

Kaka wears adidas adiPure II football boots.

Milos Krasic - CSKA Moscow

He may also be in the running for worst haircut of the week, but the Serbian international more than showed off his footballing credentials against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Any thoughts that Krasic and his CSKA team mates were going to be overawed were laid to rest as they raced in to a 3 – 1 lead, Krasic scoring one of the goals. Although United pegged them back to 3 – 3, Krasic will have enjoyed his 25th birthday.

Milos Krasic wears PUMA v1.06 football boots.

Yoann Gourcuff - Bordeaux

As boos rang around the Allianz Arena, Bordeaux playmaker Yoann Gourcuff and his team mates walked off the pitch safe in the knowledge that they had booked a place in the last 16 whilst also leaving Bayern Munich four points off send place in Group A. Gourcuff scored his side’s opening goal, could have had another and ran a tight ship in midfield when the German’s looked to get forward. Another good night’s work by the current French player of the year.

Yoann Gourcuff wears adidas adiPure II football boots.

Forwards

Sergio Aguero - Atletico Madrid

You won’t see two better strikes from one player in a game for a long time. The second half substitute rammed home a superb volley to give Atletico Madrid the lead against Chelsea then stepped up to plant a late free kick past the despairing Petr Cech to earn the home team a 2 – 2 draw. That’s what you call making an impact from the bench and the volley was worth the entrance money alone.

Sergio Aguero wears Nike CTR360 football boots.

Didier Drogba - Chelsea

Mind you, Aguero didn’t have it all his own way at the Vicente Calderon Stadium. Didier Drogba marked his return to European action with two goals of his own. The first, a pretty routine header and the second, a fantastic solo effort that perfectly demonstrated his pace and power. Will need to keep it up if Chelsea are to go all the way this year. Much more helpful to his team when standing up as opposed to writhing around on the deck for no apparent reason.

Didier Drogba wears Nike Vapor Superfly football boots.

Now that the BBC has celebrated it’s annual Sports Personality of the Year shindig (and well done to all the current footballers who were shortlisted – all none of you) it’s time to get down to the real thing as we publish the  Footy Boots Xmas Awards 2008, otherwise known as The Studdies.

Congratulations to all the winners, commiserations to the also-rans and please remember, it’s just for fun so don’t get arsey if we have a pop at you.

Most embarrassing football boot moment of the year - Umbro

Even after all these months, it’s hard not to still feel sorry for John Terry. A more honest pro it would be hard to find and he also seems to have cleaned up his act off the pitch too. So it’s doubly painful to recall his dreadful experience in the Champions League final against Manchester United. There he stands, with a penalty to win the trophy…he runs up and whoops-a-daisy, his Umbro SX Valor’s let him down and he ends up on his backside as his spot kick hits the post. The Umbro hierarchy must have been choking on their prawn sandwiches at that point. The Luzhniki Stadium bar probably did a roaring trade in finest Russian vodka that night as sorrows were drowned.

Best football boot launch of the year - Bikkembergs

As the actor Christopher Lambert says in Highlander “There can be only one.” And indeed there is. Take a bow Dirk Bikkembergs. His new football boot was launched at the Stazione Leopolda, Florence. In true Bikkembergs tradition, the Tirosegno was displayed sixtyfold on top of black lacquered columns and overlooked by 10 gigantic pictures. These pictures were at first hidden by black curtains in an even darker room. The guests received a torchlight and discovered the reflective qualities of the Tirosegno while walking amidst the columns. One by one, the pictures were uncovered during a countdown, at the end of which the room was totally lit up by a set of dazzling stadium lights coming from behind a stage packed with 100 male models wearing the new boot. Pure class.

Most cringing football boot quote of the year – Nike & Niklas Bendtner

Oh dear, oh dear oh dear oh dear. A few days after the launch of the Nike Mercurial Vapor Berry, the Arsenal striker came out with this little gem. “I love it. I always wanted to play in a pink boot ever since I was young. I never saw anyone play in a boot like it. I think it’s an outstanding colour and looks amazing.” Nothing about winning a World Cup, scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final or even becoming a better player. No, not for Niklas. His dream – to play in a pink boot. What’s next on the Bendtner list of things to accomplish? Buying a family bucket from Kentucky Fried Chicken perhaps?

Best performance in a new boot

There have been players who have scored when wearing a boot for the first time, midfielders who’ve bossed a game and defenders who have singlehandedly kept the opposition at bay. But this year’s award goes to a player who lost the match in which he debuted his new footwear. Playing in goal for Real Madrid isn’t easy right now but Iker Casillas was in inspired form when he lined up against Barcelona just the other day. The Spanish international produced a string of world class saves in his Reebok Valde Pro’s and even kept out a penalty before he was beaten at the death by Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi.

Most over blown, over hyped nonsense of the year – Nike Mercurial Vapor Berry

Franck Ribery starred in a video promoting them and, as mentioned above, Niklas Bendtner’s dream came true when he played in them. But 24 days after they were first shown to the world, the limited edition pink Berry’s took a major back seat in the final round of group matches in the Champions League as Ribery, Bendtner and a host of other Nike players all turned out in the new Vapor Citron. 24 days! That’s not limited. That’s virtually extinct.

Best football boot video of the year – Puma v1.08 Pink

We’ve seen some fantastic CGI this year, some amazing trickery and interviews and an astonishing range of intricate and wonderfully creative ideas. But this video has loads going for it in spades. First off, there’s a gorgeous model, wearing only a pink bikini, socks and high heels. And she’s talking French. Sexily. Not bad. But the clincher is that Nicolas Anelka, the pink v1.08 ambassador, is in shot the entire time, tied to a chair and gagged, which means he doesn’t utter a word. What more do you need in a video?

Best football boot competition of the year – Nike

A brilliant idea this, getting fans to design a pair of boots to be worn by Nike’s contracted players in the Premier League clash between Arsenal and Manchester United. The competition produced over 15,000 entries with the winners treated to a VIP day out at the game itself to see their creations being worn on the pitch. Theo Walcott received more designs than any other player so hats off to Ben Pricthard who came up with the winning Vapor boot. The Footy Boots favourite was Cesc Fabregas’s Tiempo by Jan Szabala.

So, thats our list. If you think any brand or particular football boot deserves an award, then use the comments section below for your suggestions.

Happy Christmas.

Dodo cartoon from www.urmstonartcompany.co.uk 

Introducing Dirk Bikkembergs latest football boot, the Tirosegno.

We love the way Dirk Bikkembergs launches his football boots. Conformists suggest that you should get a handful of famous footballers together doing a few keep uppy’s, perhaps even talk about the football boots in a press conference when you launch a football boot. Not Dirk.

The new football boot was launched at the Stazione Leopolda, Florence. In true Bikkembergs tradition, the Tirosegno was displayed sixtyfold on top of black lacquered columns and overlooked by 10 gigantic pictures. These pictures were at first hidden by black curtains in an even darker room. The guests received a torchlight and discovered the reflective qualities of the Tirosegno while walking amidst the columns. One by one, the pictures were uncovered during a countdown, at the end of which the room was totally lit up by a set of dazzling stadium lights coming from behind a stage packed with football players wearing the football boot, 100 in total! Now that’s a launch!

Tirosegno

Dirk Bikkembergs has launched his second generation football boot, the Tirosegno (the last football boot was called Bix). The name Tirosegno, was named to reflect the significance of the radiating circles found on the football boots, and should be read as a combination of the words ‘tiro a segno’. This means ‘target practice’ or more symbolically ‘launch’, ‘kick’, ‘to score’ or ‘signal’. We’re not sure what relevance ‘signal’ is, but the others are pretty apt.

The new football boot aims to be the number one designer football boot with top performance qualities and fashion upbringing. Four versions of the Tirosegno are available, soft ground, firm ground, astro turf and indoor.

Testing was done by Dirk Bikkembergs’ own football team (how cool is that?), F.C. Bikkembergs Fossombrone and more conventionally by Italy and Juventus stopper, Giorgio Chiellini.

The upper is a one piece micro fibre, blended with a reflective 3M material. The result being an alternating reflective and non reflective array of circles on the football boot. The 3M material makes the football boots very visible with even a low amount of light hitting the Tirosegno football boot.

Dirk Bikkembergs said of the boots:

“The Tirosegno reflects the essence of the two worlds I stand for. It is the result of a unique project in which I confronted the exclusivity of fashion and the universe of football in the right proportion. What you will see is a fashion jewel with top performance qualities. What does a player want more?”

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Bikkembergs - FC Fossombrone

Bikkembergs FC Fossombrone is the football team bought and sponsored by the Belgian designer Dirk Bikkembergs. Playing in the Italian amateur leagues, FC Fossombrone’s goal is to get into the Serie D. What’s unique about this club is the way that they are sponsored by Dirk Bikkembergs design company.

FC Fossombrone have been completely decked out in Bikkembergs kit, from football boots, to team kit, training gear and casual after game clothing. Bikkembergs has developed the apparel with extreme detail, for instance each kit is carefully crafted and unique in its cut, just like a haute couture garment. The post match wear is also interesting. Discarding the traditional blazer and tie look, in favour of jeans and leather jackets, made to look like a tracksuit top.

Bikkembergs Bix football boots were developed with the assistance of the FC Fossombrone team, who tested the football boots and gave feedback during the research and development phase.

Dirk said “What’s been going on at Fossombrone has attracted the attention of a lot of young people, who now see me as their hope for a serious future as a professional in this sport. I’ve begun to dream of one day organising a multi-ethnic world cup for young non-professional players”.

The Bikkembergs Bix football boots, are a traditionally built pair of boots, with a modern design.

Bikkembergs Bix football boots are a uniquely styled football boot, available in silver and blue, or silver and red colourways, for the current season. They also have two versions, one with 12 bi-density polyurethane moulded studs, the other with 6 screw in studs.

Performance: The upper is made of Kangaroo leather, as always, durable and good for the touch. The Kangaroo leather is water repellent helping the football boot to resist water and reducing weight during competitive play. The lacing cover provides a clean strike surface and increases sensitivity to the ball. The leather tongue, with the elastic band gives the neck of the foot more wrapping and protection. The silk screen which is found on the circle design, not only provides aesthetic value, it carries a practical function of enhanced ball control due to the grip print that was used in its application.

Comfort: The shape of the Bix football boot follows the anatomy of the foot, with a glove style cut making it a very comfortable. The shell protecting the heel is made of natural thermoform rubber and was designed to eliminate the problem of blisters. With the inner lining made of antibacterial nylon 420.

Players: Ludovic Giuly and the entire FC Fossombrone team.

Price: Approximately £160 (240 Euro’s).

Verdict: As this is not a mainstream football boot, the Bikkembergs Bix football boot will certainly help you stand out from the crowd. A nice fusion of traditional build with modern design. The price tag will prevent the football boot from being a regular in the amateur leagues.

Using his artistic design flair ,and the experience of a specialist company. Dirk Bikkemberg has designed a football boot to help young fooballers on their way.

“I didn’t want to follow the current futuristic trend,but asked myself a simple question: What does a kid need to play football? Two fundamental things, studs that allow agility on the field and a football boot that covers the foot like a glove. I made some stylistic refreshments and did some psychological gymnastics and created a modern reinterpretation of the best of the beginnings of the sport”, explains the Belgian designer.

His boots though ‘deluxe’, are back to basics, no futuristic forms or hi-tech materials, just kangaroo skin and exquisite handiwork.

On sale for a year at a time ‘Bix’ the name for these football boots, can be purchased in either silver and blue or silver and red. Made in Italy, they come with a transparent sole bearing the “pupino” logo of Bikkembergs Sport and the front part of the upper with the distinctive circles, ‘a symbol of energy and power’, that characterises the kit of Dirk’s team, FC Fossombrone.

“This is my homage to my team, which we used to test the football boot throughout the twelve months of work required to produce it. But for me, this project is also a challenge and a ticket to make my entrance on the actual field of play. I want to show the kids that my interest in the sport is real and I wanted to make something they can really use”.

Bikkembergs Football Boots - Bix

He may be better known for his fashion designs, but Dirk Bikkembergs is actually the man behind a new football boot.

Although it is not a main stream brand in the UK for football boots, the Bikkembergs brand is strong in the fashion world. The football brand has a strong following in Belgium, Italy, Holland and Germany and is likely to gain strength in other areas of Europe too.

It is perhaps in fashion where many will have seen the unique “pupino” logo that is often adorned by celebrities and football players alike. David Beckham has been known to wear the brand and more recently Michael Ballack was wearing the T-Shirt as he strutted around Stamford Bridge at the start of this football season.

Bix Football Boots

Footy Boots will be providing a full review on the football boots over the coming days. They are currently being worn by Barcelona striker Ludovic Guily and the entire FC Fossombrone team from Italy, more on that to come too.