Was Michel Platini correct about UEFA Champions League all along?

Alternate headline: Holy crap! Who beat Barcelona?

Michel Platini is the reform-minded president of UEFA, European soccer’s governing body.  One of his (controversial) pet projects has been expanding the Champions League field. Which is why this year’s group stage is fairly well-stocked with teams you and I couldn’t pinpoint on a map – not even with a lot of hints in some cases.

My man Rick Steves, the walking encyclopedia of Euro tourism, might even do some head scratching on some of these clubs.

I mean, FC Rubin Kazan? Let’s face it: a lot of us thought that was a sandwich. (And g'luck deciphering that link.)

Whatever you think of Platini’s ideas of greater inclusion, you just have to be excited about a day like Tuesday, when big upsets bracketed the Champions League day. If nothing else, it was memorable.

Rubin took down Barcelona, downing the reigning Euro champs at the Camp Nou, no less! If you haven’t seen Aleksandr Ryazantsev’s fantastic strike, do so.

Elsewhere, unfancied Dutch side AZ Alkmaar held its own against Arsenal, leaning on a late strike in the 1-1 draw against the London-based EPL big boys. An anonymous club (for most of us) from Romania, FC Unirea Urziceni, went upside the head on Scotland’s famed Rangers, 4-1. And that was at hallowed Ibrox. That’s funny, because Unirea was one of the clubs this Telegraph writer used as an example of a club that didn’t belong alongside the fancy-schmancy and storied likes of Rangers.

Me? I like the changes.

Look, I’m not delusional. I don’t believe a small Greek club such as APOEL will win this year’s Champions League. But I love that they can make some serious trouble today for Portuguese heavyweight Porto.

These teams can manufacture upsets, and that’s exciting. In our little corner of the world, do we really believe that Valpo will ever win an NCAA Basketball Championship? Nah. But we love cheering the little universities in early NCAA Tourney rounds.

Europe is all about tradition, and resistance to change will always be fierce. But that doesn’t mean that change can’t be effective. So, I’m with Platini on this one.

Go Unirea! (Or whatever you call them.)