UEFA Champions’ League Group Stage Draw Held Today
By Sam McPhee
UEFA held their group stage draw today in Monaco for Europe’s most prestigious continental club tournament, the Champions’ League. There’s the usual tough “group of death” group & some particularly interesting groups drawn together.
Group A (Inter-Milan, Tottenham Hotspur, FC Twente Enschede & Werder Bremen)
Group A sees defending Champions’ League & reigning Italian champs, Inter-Milan, drawn with German side Werder Bremen & ECL newboys, Spurs. Holland’s somewhat surprising champions of last year, FC Twente Enschede, round out Group A. Spurs & Harry Redknapp will have an EPL rivalry rekindled with Liverpool’s recently departed manager, Rafa Benitez, who is now managing Inter. Inter will likely be favorites to win the group with possibly Spurs & Bremen expected to battle it out for the remaining knockout spot but don’t sleep on FC Twente.
Group B (Benfica, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Olympique Lyonnais & Schalke 04)
Group B is a pretty interesting group as perennial Champions’ League underachievers, Olympique Lyonnais are drawn with traditional Portuguese power Benfica, Germany’s Schalke 04 & Israeli side Hapoel Tel-Aviv. Hapoel Tel-Aviv’s group stage appearance marks only the second time in history that an Israeli club has reached the ECL group stages following Maccabi Haifa’s dismal appearance last year. Lyon & Benfica will be expected to qualify from this group.
Group C (Brusaspor, Glasgow Rangers, Manchester Untied & Valencia CF)
The giants of Manchester United find themselves heading a Group C that consist of Valencia of Spain, fellow British side, Glasgow Rangers of Scotland & Turkish club, Bursaspor. Manchester United’s trip to Turkey will be interesting as Turkish venues are notorious for their rabid supporters that can at times intimidate even the most hardened veterans. The Red Devils will still be expected to win this group with Valencia odds-on to finish second & garner the other qualifying spot.
Group D (FC Barcelona, FC København, Panathinaikos & Rubin Kazan)
Spanish giants Barcelona were handed what on paper is a group they should win fairly easily in Group D. Although Greek side Panathinaikos are no strangers to European competitions & the trip to Russian side Rubin Kazan can be no easy task if the fixture with them comes during the start of the Russian winter. Danish side FC København (Copenhagen) finishes up the group. The last qualifying spot from Group D will likely be a tough battle for the remaining clubs.
Group E (FC Basel, Bayern Munich, CFR Cluj & AS Roma)
Last year’s Champions’ League runner-up, Bayern Munich heads Group E & is joined by Italian capital city side, AS Roma, Swiss side FC Basel & Romanian club CFR Cluj. The Bavarian giants & the Romans will no doubt be expected to easily qualify from this group with the Swiss & Romanian sides as rank outsiders.
Group F (Chelsea, Olympique Marseille, Spartak Moscow & MŠK Žilina)
Group F is another interesting group as Chelsea, who have started on absolute fire in the EPL with back-to-back 6-0 wins to start their league season are drawn with current French champions, Olympqiue Marseille who just recently signed reigning Ligue 1 goalscoring leader, André-Pierre Gignac, to bolster their attack. Group F is rounded out with Russian club Spartak Moscow & their artificial pitch & potential frozen fixtures & Slovakian club MŠK Žilina. Chelsea & Marseille are the likely favorites to advance with Spartak as an outside shot & Zilina as the “no-hopers.”
Group G (Ajax Amsterdam, AJ Auxerre, AC Milan & Real Madrid)
Group G brings us the arguable “Group of Death.” While Groups A & B look to be tough groups of well, Group G has two clubs that have the most & second most ECL titles to their names in Spanish giants, Real Madrid, & Italian power, AC Milan, respectively. They are drawn with four-time ECL winner Ajax of Amsterdam & French side, AJ Auxerre. Milan & Real will likely be the favored candidates to advance but Ajax can beat anyone on their day & Auxerre’s continental inexperience may be the only thing stopping them from putting up a serious fight in this group. But at the end of the day, I think all four from this group have a shot to advance to the knockout rounds with Real & Milan favored as mentioned above.
Group H (Arsenal, Partizan Belgrade, Shakhtar Donetsk & Sporting Braga)
The final group brings my boys at Arsenal drawn with a tricky Shakhtar Donetsk club, Portuguese side Sporting Braga & Serbian club Partizan Belgrade. The trip to Donetsk in the Ukraine, like trips to Russia, can be harder than they look if Mother Nature sends snow & ice but Arsenal in theory should walk this group & have too much quality for the remaining Braga & Partizan. Arsenal will most likely be one of the two qualifiers with the other knockout round qualification spot arguably up for grabs amongst the other three.
Champions’ League group play starts on match dates September 14th & 15th.