CL Group Stage draw

I love how everyone is making it out like Liverpool won't make it through the group! Let's take a look at our last results against PSV and Marseille (in the last 2 seasons) 4-0 and 4-1 on agg. And then there's the choker's chokers Atletico. I'd far less prefer to be in Lyon or Real Madrid's situation.

Ade wrote:Sympathy vote perhaps

Well, Terry & Lampard I can understand, but Cech kept 7 clean sheets in the CL last season (and saved Ronaldo's penalty ).

Have no real problem with the Cech one, how many times has how won that? 3.. 4?

Thought Rio would win best defender for sure though.

3

Jaime wrote:BATE for us.

I don't understand why we couldn't draw Bate when only them and Shakhtar were in it. Why were they allocated automatically to your group and then Shakhtar to us?

Ade wrote:

Thought Rio would win best defender for sure though.

Please be realistic.

Very interesting draw, good matchups in each group. And for the first time this year I think we saw an oddity in that there were some very weak teams in Pot 4, mixed with 2 potentially Pot 2 teams in Atletico and Fiorentina.

Most of the big boys will be fairly happy with their draws. The really big favourites like Chelsea and Man. Utd. got easier draws than the "smaller" favourites.

It's difficult to say which group is the "toughest" because that depends on which team's perspective you are thinking from...but overall, in terms of how equally the teams are matched, I'd rank it like this, from "hardest" (most evenly matched) to "easiest" (clear gap between 1 or 2 teams and the others):

F
G
H
D
C
E
A
B


My thoughts on each group:

Group A:
Chelsea have it very very easy. Roma are trying to make late signings but otherwise appear weaker than last year. Bordeaux and Cluj won't put up much opposition...maybe points at home.

Final standings: Chelsea, Roma, Bordeaux, Cluj

Group B:
Again, no problems here for the top speed. Mourinho's Inter will bore their way to 1-0's against the other teams and qualify easily. Bremen should really get 2nd place without problems, though maybe Ten Cate's Pana can cause some havoc in their home games.

Final standings: Inter, Bremen, Panathinaikos, Famagusta

Group C:
Good draw for Barça, our style works well against Portuguese teams, and Basel and Shakhtar are not top quality. The latter are reasonably strong though, so Sporting better win their home games if they want to confirm qualification.

Final standings: Barça, Sporting, Shakhtar, Basel

Group D:
May look tough on paper, but it's actually a very reasonable group for Liverpool. Going by their past record though, they'll make a real meal of it. PSV are not the team of the last 3 seasons, but Atletico are suddenly looking ominous after the self-belief boosting 4-0 against Schalke. Marseille ensure that the battle for 2nd/3rd will be very very tight.

Final standings: Liverpool, Atletico, Marseille, PSV

Group E:
Easy for Man. Utd. They got their usual Scottish 4 or 6 points, and though Rossi will def. score against them, I don't expect Villarreal to be as strong in the CL as their league finish may suggest. Celtic will do the standard job of winning their home games and surprisingly qualifying when nobody expects it.

Final standings: Man. Utd., Celtic, Villarreal, Aalborg

Group F:
Most intriguing group of all. Anyone can go through, and it may well be low scoring since all 4 will take points off each other. Lyon to edge it IMO, with Fiorentina struggling a bit. But it could go either way with them...I'm with bluenine - they'll either be a big success, or a total flop.

Final standings: Lyon, Bayern, Steaua, Fiorentina

Group G:
My predictions here will cause the most controversy. Porto are strong as ever, and have kept Quaresma, while Fenerbahce now have Guiza who's a quality striker that scores for fun. I also can see Arsenal's young team struggling big-time in Turkey. The key to this group will be whether Fenerbahce can get points away from home, esp. in Kiev and Portugal.

Final standings: Porto, Fenerbahce, Arsenal, Dynamo Kiev

Group H:
Hmm, certainly a tough group for Madrid, but Zenit have struggled in the league after their highs last year, while Juve have quite possibly the world's most defensive and uncreative central midfield. That may be ok for the CL though. BATE making up the numbers obviously, but hopefully the other two can force Madrid into turmoil.

Final standings: Juve, Real Madrid , Zenit, BATE

Happy with the draw

I guess it depends how quickly it takes us to start playing. Losing to marseille at home then thrashing them away was just weird last year

There are no poor teams which keeps it interesting

Luis Garcia back at anfield

Im sorry but Luckypool DONT even deserve to be in that draw!

I spoke to an Arsenal fan and a Chelsea fan - and BOTH agreed Luckypool disgraced themselves last night!

Contes!!!

Dick Grayson wrote:Im sorry but Luckypool DONT even deserve to be in that draw!

I spoke to an Arsenal fan and a Chelsea fan - and BOTH agreed Luckypool disgraced themselves last night!

Contes!!!

If you score more goals than the other team then there is a fair chance you will end up in the draw nutty

It is complicated I know, but I'm sure a man of your wisdom can figure it out

Ade wrote:Thought Rio would win best defender for sure though.

It might have something to do with the him having a bus parked infront of him for KO games and where he fouled Eto'o in the box and should have been sent off in the final for fly kicking J.Cole.
:CL refs:

shazlx wrote:

Ade wrote:Thought Rio would win best defender for sure though.

It might have something to do with the him having a bus parked infront of him for KO games and where he fouled Eto'o in the box and should have been sent off in the final for fly kicking J.Cole.
:CL refs:

United were awful to watch last season

It's no surprise they barely won any of the awards but LAMPARD

kas wrote:
Group B:
Again, no problems here for the top speed. Mourinho's Inter will bore their way to 1-0's against the other teams and qualify easily. Bremen should really get 2nd place without problems, though maybe Ten Cate's Pana can cause some havoc in their home games.

Final standings: Inter, Bremen, Panathinaikos, Famagusta

I wasn't impressed with Panathinaikos last night against Sparta, I wouldn't be surprised with Famagusta doing better than Panathinaikos at home. Champions League will feel a power of Lukasz Sosin .

shazlx wrote:

Ade wrote:Thought Rio would win best defender for sure though.

It might have something to do with the him having a bus parked infront of him for KO games and where he fouled Eto'o in the box and should have been sent off in the final for fly kicking J.Cole.
:CL refs:

COTR wrote:

Dick Grayson wrote:Im sorry but Luckypool DONT even deserve to be in that draw!

I spoke to an Arsenal fan and a Chelsea fan - and BOTH agreed Luckypool disgraced themselves last night!

Contes!!!

If you score more goals than the other team then there is a fair chance you will end up in the draw nutty

It is complicated I know, but I'm sure a man of your wisdom can figure it out

Dont get smart Cotter - it doesnay suit ye!

That $h!t excuse for football team of yours is UNWORTHY to partake in this comp....and YOU know it!

Great draw. No big team, no clear favorite. My prediction:

Bayern
Lyon
Steaua
Fiorentina

borocooper wrote:Where are all these made up teams from?

Cluj? Aalborg? Bullshit.

Don't know : haven't got a Cluj....

kas wrote:Very interesting draw, good matchups in each group. And for the first time this year I think we saw an oddity in that there were some very weak teams in Pot 4, mixed with 2 potentially Pot 2 teams in Atletico and Fiorentina.

Most of the big boys will be fairly happy with their draws. The really big favourites like Chelsea and Man. Utd. got easier draws than the "smaller" favourites.

It's difficult to say which group is the "toughest" because that depends on which team's perspective you are thinking from...but overall, in terms of how equally the teams are matched, I'd rank it like this, from "hardest" (most evenly matched) to "easiest" (clear gap between 1 or 2 teams and the others):

F
G
H
D
C
E
A
B


My thoughts on each group:

Group A:
Chelsea have it very very easy. Roma are trying to make late signings but otherwise appear weaker than last year. Bordeaux and Cluj won't put up much opposition...maybe points at home.

Final standings: Chelsea, Roma, Bordeaux, Cluj

Group B:
Again, no problems here for the top speed. Mourinho's Inter will bore their way to 1-0's against the other teams and qualify easily. Bremen should really get 2nd place without problems, though maybe Ten Cate's Pana can cause some havoc in their home games.

Final standings: Inter, Bremen, Panathinaikos, Famagusta

Group C:
Good draw for Barça, our style works well against Portuguese teams, and Basel and Shakhtar are not top quality. The latter are reasonably strong though, so Sporting better win their home games if they want to confirm qualification.

Final standings: Barça, Sporting, Shakhtar, Basel

Group D:
May look tough on paper, but it's actually a very reasonable group for Liverpool. Going by their past record though, they'll make a real meal of it. PSV are not the team of the last 3 seasons, but Atletico are suddenly looking ominous after the self-belief boosting 4-0 against Schalke. Marseille ensure that the battle for 2nd/3rd will be very very tight.

Final standings: Liverpool, Atletico, Marseille, PSV

Group E:
Easy for Man. Utd. They got their usual Scottish 4 or 6 points, and though Rossi will def. score against them, I don't expect Villarreal to be as strong in the CL as their league finish may suggest. Celtic will do the standard job of winning their home games and surprisingly qualifying when nobody expects it.

Final standings: Man. Utd., Celtic, Villarreal, Aalborg

Group F:
Most intriguing group of all. Anyone can go through, and it may well be low scoring since all 4 will take points off each other. Lyon to edge it IMO, with Fiorentina struggling a bit. But it could go either way with them...I'm with bluenine - they'll either be a big success, or a total flop.

Final standings: Lyon, Bayern, Steaua, Fiorentina

Group G:
My predictions here will cause the most controversy. Porto are strong as ever, and have kept Quaresma, while Fenerbahce now have Guiza who's a quality striker that scores for fun. I also can see Arsenal's young team struggling big-time in Turkey. The key to this group will be whether Fenerbahce can get points away from home, esp. in Kiev and Portugal.

Final standings: Porto, Fenerbahce, Arsenal, Dynamo Kiev

Group H:
Hmm, certainly a tough group for Madrid, but Zenit have struggled in the league after their highs last year, while Juve have quite possibly the world's most defensive and uncreative central midfield. That may be ok for the CL though. BATE making up the numbers obviously, but hopefully the other two can force Madrid into turmoil.

Final standings: Juve, Real Madrid , Zenit, BATE

After watching the highlights of Fener's qualifying game, I change my mind about them. They played really poorly against some $h!t opposition.

Nice of Chris De Burgh/Tommy Lee-Jones to drop by...