14 DAY TRIAL // The UEFA Champions League has finally chosen its clashes for the autumn. Either we like it or not, some of the best teams in Europe's recent history are going to play each other in the early group stage. Is that good or bad? As the fans are concerned, it's probably great news that they'll get to see Barcelona meet Chelsea or Inter Milan play against Bayern Munich this autumn.
Still, it would have probably been better for those teams to meet later in the tournament. Imagine that two of the 4 teams that I've just mentioned will leave the competition after the first knockout round. I personally would have wanted them to meet later in the competition, since the higher the stake, the higher also the emotions and spectacle.
But anyway, the purpose of this article is to take each group at a time and evaluate the teams' chances for the upcoming Champions League season. Therefore:
Group A:
Barcelona will have to defend its CL title from last year. Make no mistake about it; the Catalan side is as powerful as it has been last season, despite other clubs transferring important players. Barcelona transferred Zambrotta, Thuram and Gudjohnsen in the process. Larsson was the only man to have left the squad this summer. All together, the squad is pretty much the same, with more footballers to set up competition for the starters.
Chelsea bought a bunch of players this summer (like any other in the last 3 years) and may very well get some more. Andryi Shevchenko and Michael Ballack seem to be the most important players to have signed with the Blues, but also Khalid Boulahrouz, Kalou and (maybe) Ashley Cole. With two Premiership titles in hand, time has come for another challenge as far as Jose Mourinho goes.
Werder Bremen ended last year's Bundesliga on 2nd place and almost hit the jackpot in the Champions League Last 16 knockout round. They were 4-3 on aggregate against Juventus, but allowed a 90th minute goal to leave the competition.
Levski Sofia won the Bulgarian League last season and managed to exit the UEFA Cup group stages. This season, they managed to get pass Chievo Verona in the qualifying round, beating the Italian squad 4-2 on aggregate.
Group B:
Inter Milan is probably the best Italian team of the moment, despite winning the Scudetto on an Italian Football Federation decision. Mancini will now have plenty of players in the offensive, starting with Hernan Crespo and ending with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Vieira.
Bayern Munich is apparently out of form, since they lost Michael Ballack this summer. They had to go through a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in a friendly played last weekend. The club officials are also trying to keep Owen Hargreaves from leaving Munich.
Sporting Lisbon. Their latest impressive European performance came in 2005, when they reached the UEFA Cup final (CSKA Moscow beat them in the final). They ended the Portuguese League in second place last year and automatically qualified for the Champions League.
Spartak Moscow ended last year's Russian League season second and had to go through 2 qualifying rounds to enter the CL groups. They first beat Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova (1-1 on agg. - they qualified on away goal) and Slovan Liberec of the Czech Republic (2-1 on agg). They are currently 2nd in the 2006 Russian League season, 3 points from leaders CSKA.
Group C:
Liverpool had to go through a qualifying round to get into the group stages, since Rafa Benitez' side finished 3rd in the Premiership last season. Their best transfer this season was Dutchmen Dirk Kuyt from Feyenoord. They beat Maccabi Haifa in the CL knockout round (3-2 on agg).
PSV Eindhoven won another Dutch League title - its 2nd consecutive title in the Guus Hiddink era. Their coach is also training Russia's national team this season. PSV qualified for the group stages automatically. They didn't make any major transfers this summer.
Bordeaux is on its first UEFA Champions League participation in the last decade and managed to finish the French Ligue 1 on second place. Last season was a true battle for a CL spot, since 5 teams could have clinched it in the final 3 rounds.
Galatasaray. Although they won the Turkish league in the final round, they still had to go through a qualifying round to get into the group stages. They easily beat Mlada Boleslav 6-3 on aggregate.
Group D:
Valencia managed to get Fernando Morientes from Liverpool and have just closed the deal on Betis Seville's midfielder Joaquin. Although they lost their first leg of the CL qualifying round against Salzburg (1-0), the Spanish club earned a spot in the groups by beating the Czechs 3-0 in the return leg.
AS Roma entered the Champions League despite their 5th place in Serie A last season. With Juventus, Milan and Fiorentina sanctioned for their match-fixing wrongdoings, Roma automatically qualified for the group stages. The Roman team managed to keep Romanian defender Cristian Chivu and Frenchman Mexes at Olimpico, despite bids from Real Madrid.
Olympiakos Pireu won another Greek League title last year, so they automatically qualified for the group stages. Their only star of the team - Brazilian Rivaldo - decided to leave Europe and return to South American football. They won their Greek League opener against Xanthi, 2-1.
Shakhtar Donetk won the Ukrainian League last year, after beating Dynamo Kiev 2-1 in a knockout match. Even if they won their domestic title, Mircea Lucescu's team had to go through a qualifying round to reach the group stages. They beat Legia Warsaw 4-2 on aggregate.
Group E:
Real Madrid managed to change its squad completely after last season's disaster. After new president Ramon Calderon appointed Fabio Capello as head coach, the Spanish side managed some impressive transfers. Cannavaro, Emerson, Ruud and Diarra are only a few footballers set to lead Real Madrid to a new European title. Gravesen and Woodgate are the only casualties of Capello's coming on Bernabeu.
Olympique Lyon. Basically, their only challenge now is to win the Champions League. They won the Ligue 1 title for the last 5 years and reached the CL quarterfinals for the last 3 seasons. Diarra was the only important player to leave the squad, since he signed a deal with group rivals Real Madrid.
Steaua Bucharest. The Romanian side will begin its first Champions League campaign in the last 10 years. Steaua is the only Romanian team to have played in the UEFA Champions League in the group-stages format. They reached the UEFA Cup semifinals last year and had to play 2 qualifying rounds to enter the competition. NK Gorica (5-0 on agg) and Standard Liege (4-3 on agg) were their victims along the way.
Dynamo Kiev. Although they lost the Ukrainian title in only one decider, the Kiev side is one of the most experienced teams in the Champions League. Their best performance in the competition was reaching the quarterfinals against Juventus Turin 6 years ago.
Group F:
Manchester United is top of the table in the Premiership and will try to get their revenge in the Champions League after last year's fiasco. They made an early exit from Europe in the group stages last season, but are a much better team this year. Although they sold Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Alex Ferguson's side has shown a remarkable form this start of the season. Michael Carrick is Man U's only important transfer for the summer.
Celtic Glasgow is very much suffering this start of the season. They missed the CL last year, after being eliminated in the qualifying round. Celtic lost to Hearts their Scottish League opener and don't seem to recover from Roy Keane's retirement.
Benfica finished 3rd in last season's Portuguese league and had to go through a qualifying round to book a place for the CL group stage. They beat Austria Vienna 4-1 on aggregate.
FC Copenhagen. They are not one of Champions League current presences, but the Dane club managed an outstanding performance in the 3rd CL qualifying round. After beating MyPa of Finland in the 2nd round, the Nordic side eliminated Ajax Amsterdam of the Netherlands. After losing the 1st leg 2-1 at home, they managed to squeeze a 2-0 away win and qualify for the group stage.
Group G:
Arsenal. Although they had to go through a qualifying round to get here, last season's finalists are one of CL favorites this year. Ashley Cole may be their only loss for the upcoming season - alongside retired Dennis Bergkamp. On the other hand, Arsene Wenger strengthened his offensive line by transferring Tomas Rosiky of Dortmund.
FC Porto are a common presence in the Champions League year after year. Their best performance was, no doubt about it, winning the competition 3 seasons ago, when the team was coached by Jose Mourinho. They won the Portuguese League and automatically qualified for the CL group stages.
CSKA Moscow is becoming the sole rulers of Russia after Roman Abramovich decided to invest in the club. They won last year's Russian League by a comfortable margin but had to beat Rozumberok of the Czech Republic (5-0 on agg) to book a place in the CL groups. Their most recent accomplishment is winning the UEFA Cup in 2005.
Hamburger SV was the only team in Bundesliga to beat Bayern Munich 2 times last year. As for their European campaign, the Germans had to go through a tough Osasuna side to clinch a place in the Final 32. Last year, Hamburger was eliminated from the UEFA Cup by Rapid Bucharest, in the Last 8 round.
Group H:
AC Milan earned the right to play in the Champions League through the Italian Appeal Court. Being involved in the Calciopoli scandal, the Milanese side was docked 30 points for last season and 8 points for the upcoming one. The Italians played former Champions League winners Red Star Belgrade in the qualifying round and beat the Serbians 3-1 on aggregate. As compared to the last season, their only loss is Andryi Shevchenko. The Italian side is yet to make a transfer for the upcoming season.
OSC Lille had to go through a pretty comfortable qualifying round to reach the Champions League groups. The French team finished last season's Ligue 1 on 3rd, 2 points clear of Lens. They beat Rabotnicki of Macedonia 4-0 on aggregate and are now 4th in the French League, 1 point behind leaders Marseille.
AEK Athens managed to clinch their UEFA Champions spot by beating Hearts of Scotland 4-1 on aggregate. They qualified for the CL qualifying rounds on goal-difference, in front of the other Greek "giants" Panathinaikos Athens, and only 3 points behind winners Olympiakos. AEK drew its Greek League opener 0-0 against PAOK.
Anderlecht Brussels won the Belgian league last season thanks to a poor second-half run by Standard Liege. They automatically qualified into the Champions League this season. They are currently on top of the 2006/07 Jupiler League (domestic championship), with 9 points out of 3 matches.
