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Champions League 09/10
Topic Started: Jul 23 2009, 05:46 AM (4,908 Views)
libero
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I think Juventus got a very difficult group with Bayern Munich and Bordeaux. Bayern may be getting off to a slow start but we all know they have a talented roster, then there is Bordeaux with Gourcuff, Cavenaghi and Chamakh in attack, the current French champions. Juventus will have to be sharp from the start of the group.

Group D with Chelsea, Porto and Atletico Madrid also looks difficult, remembe rlast eyar Porto and Atletico played in the 2nd round, now they ar egrouped togetehr with a team who were semifinalists last year and beaten finalists the season before that. A very difficult group. The Barcelona-Inter and Madrid-Milan groups have two big teams each but I don't think either one has as many good teams as Groups A and D.

Groups G and H look to me like the easiest.
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Merengue
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Barceona will soon find out what Real Madrid already knows, don't piss off Samuel Eto'o! Those two Barcelona-Inter games will be a lot of fun to watch.
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Hector
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No complaints from me about Sevilla's group. All I can say is Sevilla's play in Europe these last few seasons was good enough where it, and not Real Madrid or Inter Milan, was a seeded team! :D
iPuerta amigo, Sevilla esta contigo!
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Manzanares
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It is time to get the groups started, here is Tuesday's set of matches:

Juventus v Girondins de Burdeos
Maccabi Haifa v Bayern
Wolfsburgo v CSKA Moscú
Besiktas v Manchester United
FC Zürich v Real Madrid
O. Marsella v Milan
Chelsea v Oporto
Atlético Madrid v APOEL Nicosia

My attention of course will be on Ateltico Madrid's match at home against Cyprus' APOEL Nicosia. Afetr a lackluster league start, hoepfully the return to Europe can lift Atleti and with the fans not happy with the club's coaching or management, a good result will be needed to prevent the discontent from growing into something more.

Chelsea-Porto, Juventus-Bordeuax and Marseille-Milan look to me like the best matchups of the day although I suspect Manchester United won't welcome their trip to Turkey to play Besiktas.
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Simon
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And Wednesday's for good measure:

Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Liverpool v Debrecen, Gp E, 19:45
Lyon v Fiorentina, Gp E, 19:45
Dynamo Kiev v Rubin Kazan, Gp F, 19:45
Inter Milan v Barcelona, Gp F, 19:45
Sevilla v Unirea Urziceni, Gp G, 19:45
VfB Stuttgart v Rangers, Gp G, 19:45
Olympiakos v AZ Alkmaar, Gp H, 19:45
Standard Liege v Arsenal, Gp H, 19:45
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I didn't think the group stage draw was as exciting as it could have been this year, and there aren't many groups that look especially unpredictable. A lot depends on how competitive some of the lesser lights are going to be - we've got used to the eastern bloc contingent spending big money and then getting lousy results. We've also unfortunately seen a trend whereby Lyon, Bayern and Porto are the only competitive teams from their respective countries, while no-one from Holland has been any good in the past few seasons. It would help the interest levels if teams such as Bordeaux, Marseille, Stuttgart and Alkmaar can raise their game this year, but I'm not sure that they can.

The only game on free-to-air TV in England this week is Liverpool's probable comfortable win at home to Hungarian opposition, which doesn't exactly appeal to this United fan. I'm going to try and get the Inter-Barca game, which is clearly the match of the week. My local pub will fortunately be showing United's game, which could be tricky away in Istanbul. Trips there are always tough and United fans still break out into a cold sweat thinking about the, shall we say 'controversial' circumstances of our 0-0 draw and elimination against Galatasaray.
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Mr. Pither
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Quote:
 
We've also unfortunately seen a trend whereby Lyon, Bayern and Porto are the only competitive teams from their respective countries, while no-one from Holland has been any good in the past few seasons. It would help the interest levels if teams such as Bordeaux, Marseille, Stuttgart and Alkmaar can raise their game this year, but I'm not sure that they can.


An excelelnt point and that is why tonight's Juventus-Bordeaux, Besiktas-Man United, Marseille-Milan and tomorrow's Lyon-Fiorentina and Olympiacos-Alkmaar matches will i think be important because they can establish if the clubs Simon mentioned are capable of becoming contenders to advance out of their respective groups.

Anyway, time to get off the computer and watch some football!
P-I-T-H-E-R ...as in Brotherhood, but with PI instead of the BRO and no HOOD
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Winslow
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Tuesday's scores...
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Group A: Juventus 1, Bordeaux 1; Maccabi Haifa 0, Bayern Munich 3.
Group B: Besiktas 0, Man United 1; Wolfsburg 3, CSKA Moscow 1.
Group C: Marseille 1, AC Milan 2; Zurich 2, Real Madrid 5.
Group D: Atletico Madrid 0, APOEL Nicosia 0; Chelsea 1, Porto 0.

So, no real surprises on Day One, though Juve and Atletico will be annoyed that they didn't win at home. C. Ronaldo converted two free kicks for Los Superultragalacticos, who led 3-0 at halftime before Zurich scored twice to make it briefly interesting. Other two-goal scorers were Inzaghi for Milan and Van Buyten for Bayern, but the top scorer was Grafite with a hat trick for Wolfsburg. Also, Bruno Alves knocked out John Terry in a midair challenge, but Terry finished the match.
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Simon
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I can give what amounts to an overview, but all I've seen is the United game and the highlights from the other matches. Our game was pretty dreary, United dominated possession but weren't really too sharp tonight. We looked to be at our most dangerous when we we brought Michael Owen on, as he at least was playing on the shoulder of the last man and was willing to gamble on Valencia's crosses. I think we deserved a goal and the win, which we got when Nani's shot was parried and Scholes followed up with a header right into the corner, but it wasn't a game that will live long in the memory. The derby with City at the weekend is the much bigger deal, and that clearly came over during tonight's match. Wolfsburg could be dangerous though, especially with blokes like Grafite and Dzeko. A CL debut hat-trick is not to be sniffed at.

Chelsea also won, and should have won by a far clearer margin than 1-0 against Porto. The Portuguese were especially vulnerable against crosses and it may still seem likely that they will finish behind Atletico, although that was a poor result for the Spanish tonight. Let's credit the Cypriots though, after Anorthosis's heroics last season. Chelsea played within themselves ahead of their big derby with Spurs at the weekend, but they weren't greatly troubled. As for what I was saying before the matches, perhaps there are signs of life in the French contingent as Bordeaux got a creditable draw in Turin while Marseille from what I saw should have probably got something against Milan. They looked to have had the better of large spells of the game but were sunk by two nicely-taken finishes by Inzaghi, who rolled out his usual manic celebrations. At least there's a bloke who's not shy at showing he enjoys his goals. It didn't seem like Milan played too well though and they should really have been down to 10 men for a horror tackle from Flamini. Comfortable workout for Real Madrid as well, although the Swiss minnows of Zurich did bring it back to 3-2 at one point. The Swiss scored off a dodgy penalty when I didn't see that Casillas had done much wrong, but were gifted a couple of goals back - especially from two free kicks that Ronaldo hit straight at the keeper only for him to waft them in. I recall him scoring ones like that last season against Stoke, perhaps he'd say it's down to subtle movement!
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Manzanares
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A home game against the supposed minnow in the group, those are the matches you are suupposed to win but alas Atletico could not do so. I could say they may have their minds on the weekend clash with Barcelona but that should not excuse their performance. The duo of Forlan and Aguero should eb able to create and finish goals but right now they are not. I am starting to wonder how tough Panathinaikos are, because Atletico looked good in defeating them in the preliminary round but since then they've lost and drew in their two league games then drew this match at home, going scoreless against the Cypriot champions. Not good and you can imagine the reaction from the crowd at the Calderon.

Very good result for Bordeaux against Juventus. It had to have helped them that Juve's new maestro Diego was out injured, also missing was their old maestro Alex Del Piero. But Gourcuff and company look like they may be a difficult opponent in the CL.

Real Madrid are dangerous going forward and while the penalty against Casillas was bogus, I still think Madrid could be in trouble against a team that knows how to defend and can exploit Madrid's shaky defending.

Watch out for Thomas Mueller, 20 years old, he scored twice last week in the league for Bayern and yesterday did the same in the Champions League.
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Mr. Pither
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Mueler is a fast learner and is part of Louis van Gaal's attempt to bring some young players into Bayern's side. Obviously Mueller is showing he belongs. Also note how the past few weeks Hans Jorg Butt has solidified himself in goal at the expense of the shaky Michael Rensing. Bayern are starting to get what van Gaal wants.

I agree with Manzanares that Diego's absence had to have helped Bordeuax but from what I saw of the match, they played well in Italy and put Buffon to work in goal. I get the feeling Buffon is headed for a big season after a season or two where he was not quite his ordinary superman self. But Bordeuax are quick and skillful and have a big time player in Gourcuff. Backup goalie Rame came on when starter Carrasso got injured and it was Rame's mistake which let Juventus score. Although Plasil's late equalizer for Bordeuax might have been offside.

Armin Veh went for it against CSKA Moscow, playing Dzeko, Grafite and Martins together from the start. And it paid off with Grafite's hat trick. Not a abd way to start your club's first ever Champions League game. After Wolfsburg's killer Bundesliga schedule I think they were just happy not to have to face a German team.
P-I-T-H-E-R ...as in Brotherhood, but with PI instead of the BRO and no HOOD
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raconteur
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In the Serie A discussion we Milan fans have been anguishing over who should be the playmaker with Ronaldinho struggling. Well last night we may have found our answer as Clarence Seedorf played behind Inzaghi and Pato while Ronaldinho sat. And Seedorf with two lovely passes which Inzaghi put away for the 2-1 Milan win. I'm not sure why both teams were wearing their 2nd choice uniforms but in the rain in Marseille, the home team's uniform looked like the trash bags I have in my backyard!

Looking forward to tonight's Barcelona-Inter matchup. Not only two of the better clubs in the competition but with the added bonus of their Eto'o-Ibrahimovic swap. Should be a fun one to watch.
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Yogi
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Seedorf's play was encouraging but again he too is several years past his 30th birthday so can Seedorf be relied upon to be Milan's playmaker over an entire season? I doubt that and he too is also known for inconsistent play. Right now I think the club's best hope is playmaker by committee, use Ronaldinho, Pirlo and Seedorf, depending on who is in form in the role. Pirlo and Seedorf of course can also play other roles in midfield when ot acting as the playmaker.

Buffon did make some key stops for Juventus against Bordeuax and while Plasil's tying goal for the French club may have been marginally offside, Juve still had a chance to win it but Marchisio's shot went off the woorwork. With Bayern Munich looking strong in the same group, Juve's loss of 2 points at home could be costly down the road.

Like fans everywhere I too am looking forward to tonight's Barcelona-Inter matchup. It is the type of game which is why the Champions League was set up.
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Winslow
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Wednesday's scores...
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Group E: Liverpool 1, Debrecen 0; Lyon 1, Fiorentina 0.
Group F: Dynamo Kyiv 3, Rubin Kazan 1; Inter Milan 0, Barcelona 0.
Group G: Sevilla 2, Unirea Urziceni 0; Stuttgart 1, Rangers 1.
Group H: Olympiakos 1, AZ Alkmaar 0; Standard Liege 2, Arsenal 3.

And that's all I know about today's play, thanks to an ill-timed visit to the barbershop. It's taking me too long to get into the UEFA swing of things...
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raconteur
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Here I was all excited to watch Inter-Barcelona and it turned into a snoozer. Now I enjoy watching tactical game sbut this just seeme dlike an early season match where neither team wanted to show too much of their cards. An neither new signing, Ibrahimovic or Eto'o had much effect on the game. Lucio, however, was a beast in defense for Inter. hard to believe Bayern let him go without much of a fight.

Didn't see the game but give the Hungarian club credit for sticking close to Liverpool. Arsenal were 0-2 behind after 5 minutes in Belgium but came back to win while Rangers obtained a potentially valuable draw in Stuttgart.
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Pique
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Inter-Barcelona did not live up to it's billing as caution was the word for both teams but I thought Barcelona played better even though it was in Milan. raconteur mentioned Lucio, and he did play very well at the back for Inter but 'll also add my namesake, Pique had a fine game in Barcelona's backline. Lucio and Pique were two big reasons neither club really threatened the other's goal much.
Esas son las leyendas de futbol mexicano,
En todo Mexico hay un Chiva hermano!
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