The Champions League Draw

I always look forward to the Champions League draw, the prospect of months of mouth watering ties is just too much to resist. Having seen the draw I feel entirely comfortable that the English teams will qualify to the next stage. I don't think any can complain about an especially difficult draw when there were so many bigger teams they could of faced. The knock out rounds will be more difficult but I'm confident that the English teams will continue to dominate the tournament (6 of 10 finalists and 9 of 12 semi-finalists). I would of actually had preferred for them to have much tougher Pot 2 teams because then they would avoid them in the later rounds. This year I really fancy Chelsea. Barcelona will be favorites of cause but Chelsea had them beaten last year apart from the worst refereeing performance I've ever seen. Manchester United were poor in the final and never gave the Catalan giants a challenge.

Group A

Bayern, Juventus, Bordeaux, Maccabi Haifa

Bayern should breeze through this. Ribery and Robben now joining up they will cause teams problems. They also have the opportunity to get the tricky away trip to Israel out of the way early. Bordeaux were the French champions so shouldn't be overlooked but Laurent Blanc's team are new to this stage of the competition.

Group B

Man Utd, CSKA, Besiktas, Wolfsburg

I again fully expect United to go through. The main problem they have is the long away trips early in the group phase, this has the possibility of disrupting their progress in the league. I don't fancy them for the tournament this year though. They are not as strong as last year and Rooney is not in the same category as Messi or Ronaldo. I think their midfield will come up a bit short in the long run. Wolfsburg being the German champions will fight it out with CSKA for second.

Group C

AC Milan, Real Madrid, Marseilles, Zurich

This has the big names and talk of 16 titles will bring in spectators but neither AC or Real have achieved much in the last few years. Real have all the stars but there is no aurora surrounding them yet. Liverpool embarrassed them last year and I expect them to be better not I would still fancy all the English teams against them. Xabi Alonso is their most important player this year.

Group D

Chelsea, Porto, Athletico, Nicosia

I think this is a good draw for Chelsea. I do fancy them to win it this year. Drogba is playing again after missing the beginning of last year and they are the one side that have shown how to beat Barcelona. I love Porto but losing Lisandro and Lucho will be massive and I think they will struggle. Atletico will think that they should go through.

Group E

Liverpool, Lyon, Fiorentina, Debrecen

Liverpool have what Real need, a home where literally anything can happen. Some of the best games last season were at Anfield last season and although I think they are the weakest of the English teams I still think they can beat anyone at home. They are a 2 man team but it's an awesome two. Lyon are a shade of previous teams and Fiorentina are some what unknown at this level. Seeing Mutu and Gilardino could be interesting though.

Group F

Barcelona, Inter, Dinamo Kiev, Rubin Kazan

This is potentially difficult given the tough away trips to the east. Barcelona will win the champions league if they manage to avoid the English 4. I'm not a big fan of Imbrahimovic and think Inter got the better out of the deal. There are lots of Spanish - Italian match ups in the groups but I expect all the Spanish teams to come out on top. I don't think the Italian style is suitable the Champions League anymore. It cope well with the high tempo and emotional football that the knockout stages bring. Chelsea, Liverpool and even Arsenal are all likely to be in 7-8 goal chaotic matches and their style allows it. Italian need a game to be tight for them to control the midfield.

Group G

Sevilla, Rangers, Stuttgart, Unirea Urziceni

Comfortably the weakest group. I have mixed thoughts about clubs like Unirea being given an automatic place in the group. I can see how it develops the game but the gulf in class is vast. Unirea have a 7,000 home ground and will surely be beaten in every game. Is the Champions League purely to find the best in Europe or to develop the game in Europe. Surely the Europa cup is there to develop the game. If you look at the Russian and Ukrainian sides they have stepped up from being UEFA champions to the Champions League and will at least be competitive. I have no idea how this group will go I'd be surprised to see anything good from Rangers.

Group H

Arsenal, Alkmaar, Olympiakos, Standard Liege

I think this is the perfect draw for Arsenal. I don't think they are good enough to win it but with the right draw they could go to the final. The quality and experience is there but it all depends on confidence because they are likely to have 1 or 2 weeks where they lose it and go out of all the tournaments at once.


Overall I think the draw will determine this years champion. As long as the English teams are kept apart then I can't see anyone outside of Barca beating them.