Champions League Thread (the dawn of time - 2014)

[JBlues08]

Group A
Inter Milan
Werder Bremen
Tottenham
FC Twente

Group B
Lyon
Benfica
Schalke
Hapoel Tel Aviv

Group C
Manchester United
Valencia
Rangers
Bursaspor

Group D
Barcelona
Panathinaikos
FC Copenhagen
Rubin Kazan

Group E
Bayern Munich
Roma
Basel
Cluj

Group F
Chelsea
Marseille
Spartak Moscow
Zilina

Group G
AC Milan
Real Madrid
Ajax
Auxerre

Group H
Arsenal
Shakhtar Donetsk
Sporting Braga
Partizan Belgrade

What do you guys think about the Champions League group stage draw?

I think Harry Redknapp must be fancying his chances right now. Although Werder Bremen and FC Twente might be a tough opponent but I fancy Spurs to finish behind Inter Milan in the group.

The other 3 English teams got a pretty straightforward group. One or two of the teams are tricky especially with the travels to hostile stadiums but they should top their respective groups. (damn! I was hoping to get Panathinaikos and Copenhagen! )

Barcelona and Rubin Kazan are in the same group again and so is AC Milan and Real Madrid. Barcelona should exact their revenge this time around(at the Nou Camp) and top the group with ease. AC Milan and Real Madrid should be interesting but AC Milan seem to have loss their big club glamor in the past 2-3 years. So, I would back Mourinho to come out on top nicely in the group.

 

[Haarithan]

Madrid Milan and Ajax were clubs Seedorf played for and now he has got to face them all wearing a milan shirt in the group of death.
My predictions for 2nd round progressions(1st team refers to top of group followed by runner up) :
A- Inter, Bremen (mind you Marko Marin is way too good)
B- Benfica , Schalke
C- Man Utd , Valencia
D- Barcelona, Rubin Kazan
E- Bayern Munich , Roma
F- Chelsea, Sparktak Moscow
G- Real Madrid, AC Milan
H- Arsenal , Sporting Braga (beat the dangerous Sevilla both legs)

 

[Dr. Pepper]

He won't be facing Milan then.

It's the same for Huntelaar as well.

 

[Dare]

Solid group for Partizan, if they play like they did in the qualifiers they have a chance to finish behind Arsenal. But this is a big achievement for them anyways, they were here 4-5 years ago and had Real in their group. Made some good money from these champs league games.
Group A and Group G are obviously the hardest. Lets hope Rafa knows what hes doing, don't like him as coach.

 

[Haarithan]

Lets hope Rafa knows what hes doing, don't like him as coach.

Yeah true . he basically gets his tactics wrong especially when it comes to corners where he employs Zonal marking which proved to be catastrophic for Liverpool in the previous two seasons conceding too many set piece goals especially when ivanovic scored twice for chelsea from the corner at anfield in the QF stages of Champions League

 

[Dr. Pepper]

LOL don't listen to the rubbish that Andy Gray etc spout. Zonal marking has proved to be much more effective than man marking. It's one of the few things he got genuinely right! Liverpool had one of the best defensive records in the league, and zonal marking was one of the reasons why. When it went wrong it was generally because it wasn't implemented properly. And funnily enough, the magical man marking cost Liverpool a goal versus City.

 

[Dare]

I think Liverpools defense was just poor. Only one thats actually good is Carragher, everyone else is kinda ████. Skrtel is god awful and a hack, really surprised this guy doesn't get more reds but I guess because he plays in England where physical football is more accepted he gets away with it.

Rafa has better players at his disposal in Inter. He had some really good ones at Liverpool but not as many as in Inter. I just hope that it doesn't become a Spanish fiesta like it did at Anfield.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

But the thing is, Rafa excelled as the underdog, but when it came to being the favourite he always struggled. His dogged, counter attacking nature made his team excellent in Europe and he had a tendency to hammer the big teams (Real madrid 4-0, Man Utd 4-1 etc). When he was the favourite, this was his downfall. He didn't adapt to play the smaller teams and struggled to break them down.

 

[Themer]

Yeah true . he basically gets his tactics wrong especially when it comes to corners where he employs Zonal marking which proved to be catastrophic for Liverpool in the previous two seasons conceding too many set piece goals especially when ivanovic scored twice for chelsea from the corner at anfield in the QF stages of Champions League

Last two catastrophic seasons?

The season before last they had the third best defence in the league and came second. Benitez was tactically very astute to be perfectly honest.

 

[Themer]

Must say that I think we (Man Utd although I am obviously not the club itself) have what could be a difficult group. Valencia are just a very good team and what with it being Scotland vs England it could err on Rangers.

They're historically, Scottish clubs, terrible abroad but being in England could negate to some point their homesickness.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Valencia aren't the club they were a few years ago. They've lost their two top players in Villa and Silva and look a much weaker side on paper. But having said that, they can still easily pose a threat. I still expect Utd to get through comfortably. I'm tipping either Utd or Real Madrid to win the Champions League, but then again Barca could easily win it based on the quality of their players above all else.

 

[Themer]

They probably aren't the team of a few years ago but they're Spanish and if we're using sweeping generalisations and stereotyping the Spaniard will win.

 

[Dare]

Valencia has sold anyone that was good on their team. They were in some serious debt and they decided to get rid of everyone. I can see ManU making it out of the group with no loses and a few ties.

 

[Themer]

But they're Spanish!

 

[Dare]

But they're Spanish!

Yea they are but they arent those big Spanish clubs. If this was Valencia of 2 years ago then I would see your concern. This Valencia is much worse then the Vilareal that gave ManU trouble a few years ago.