FC Barcelona (ESP)
Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)
FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
pep's opinion:
over the last years i thought we always had quite tough draws but since the beginning of this year (celtic, schalke), our luck seems to have turned. shakhtar could probably be the most difficult opponent, certainly away. guess guardiola and his new team can have a smooth adaptation to the competition before the real work starts next year.
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9 comments:
p at all, shaNot a bad group at all...Shakhtar away game is certaily crucial, but barca must not forget about sporting, a team that can play behind the ball and fire fast counter attacks...exactly what harm barcelona high defence most. But as pep said, its a good group to warm up, and test the team before serious business.
Real madrid group is not hard, but its tricky, juve and zenit are not easy, so its more likely to create a surprise there than in barcelona group.
well, i agree with you pep, BUT, because of the relatively hard groups we were drawn in, the knock-out rounds summoned us easier games.
My fear is that this time it will be the opposite.
Anyways, good luck to us :)
I am so happy for Real Madrid. It will be very tough to get through the groups stage. We saw what Zenit did to Bayern in the UEFA Cup and Juve, I believe, will finish top of the group. There is no way Real will better Juventus so it will be a battle for second and then it will be a 5th year in a row when Real will fall in the round of 16, when they meet someone like Liverpool or Man U or Chelsea or Inter. That's what they deserve. Forza Barca.
No complaints here. I think Shakhtar Donetsk might be a tough nut to crack away but if Barcelona can score at least two goals at home without conceding an away goal to them in the process I think we should be alright.
The key to me in this tournament has always been not conceding ANY away goals. Because if you stop and think about it each "away" goal really counts as two goals. It effectively breaks the tie breaker.
So instead of coming out firing on all cylinders Barcelona should concentrate instead of constructing a rock solid defense in their home matches. That way if they don't allow any goals at home and manage to score one or two in the process they should be home free. At worst they may need to score one on the road for good measure. But to me that's better than a 3-2 or 2-1 win at home taking the risk that all the opposition needs is to score one goal at home in order to advance.
It's a tricky balance because it's always harder to score goals on the road, that's true for every team. But Barcelona simply can't allow any away goals in any of their home matches in this round, especially to Shakthar.
Here's a quick listing of the groups:
Group A
Chelsea (ENG)
AS Roma (ITA)
Bordeaux (FRA)
CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU)
Group B
Internazionale (ITA)
Werder Bremen (GER)
Panathinaikos (GRE)
Anorthosis Famagusta (CYP)
Group C
FC Barcelona (ESP)
Sporting Lisbon (POR)
FC Basel (SUI)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Group D
Liverpool (ENG)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Marseille (FRA)
Atlético Madrid (ESP)
Group E
Manchester United (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP)
Celtic (SCO)
Aalborg BK (DEN)
Group F
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Bayern Munich (GER)
Steaua Bucharest (ROU)
Fiorentina (ITA)
Group G
Arsenal (ENG)
FC Porto (POR)
Fenerbahce (TUR)
Dynamo Kiev (UKR)
Group H
Real Madrid (ESP)
Juventus (ITA)
Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)
BATE Borisov (BLR)
Just from initial observation Groups D,F, & G look to be the toughest. The committe certainly didn't do Liverpool or Arsenal any favors.
In Group D Liverpool could easily be nudged out, (especially if they continue to perform like they did last night against Standard Liege.) Liverpool and Atletico Madrid seem like the pick here but Marseille might have something to say about that.
Lyon, Bayern & Fiorentina. One of them is not going to advance in Group F. And playing at Steaua Bucharest is no picnic either.
Although Arsenal have looked very impressive so far playing at Fenerbahce (who possibly have the most passionate fans in the world) and travelling to face Dynamo Kiev is a trip that most would like to avoid. Oh by the way, Porto won the Portuguese Liga last season as well.
All in all Barcelona may have come out with the easiest draw and shouldn't have any trouble winning their group....provided they show up to play and play to their full potential.
easy group...we should easily advance
Group D really looks very balanced. Tough luck for Atletico though. Now they finally get in the Champions and they have this draw. Their unexperience could kill them although they should be able to be up there based upon real class.
Liverpool didn't deserve to go through (Standard also got a valid goal -ball over the line, linesman said not- annulated in the first game) but they always get away with that kind of things.
Madrid will probably struggle a bit but go through in the end, like they did last year in the group with Lazio and Werder.
Villareal should fight it out with Celtic and Crosas to go through with Man United.
And Barcelona should get that first spot so they avoid some strong teams in the 1/8 finals (although you can't really say, last year we also could have got Liverpool instead of Celtic in the first knock out round).
as in 2006 the group c can bring us luck.:)
God was with us because this is just a too easy group!!!
Dont you guys agree.
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