UEFA Champions League Thread [Archive]

[DQuaN]

And here is the draw!!

GROUP A
Bayern Munich
Juventus
Club Brugge
Rapid Vienna

GROUP B
ARSENAL
Ajax
Sparta Prague
Thun

GROUP C
Barcelona
Panathinaikos
Werder Bremen
Udinese

GROUP D
MAN UTD
Villarreal
Lille
Benfica

GROUP E
AC Milan
PSV Eindhoven
Schalke
Fenerbahce

GROUP F
Real Madrid
Lyon
Olympiakos
Rosenborg

GROUP G
LIVERPOOL
CHELSEA
Anderlecht
Real Betis

GROUP H
Inter Milan
Porto
RANGERS
Artmedia Bratislava



Great group for Arsenal


But who the hell are Thun

 

[Dave A]

Liverpool won't berat Chelsea again, I'd put a lot of money on that. I think it#s bye bye Liverpool in the group stage this year.

 

[A_JKOS]

Apart from Chelsea in the Group (with every respect to Anderlecht and Real Betis) Liverpool should be able to get through, and who know we did it last year in the Semi-finals so why cant we do it again.

 

[Dave A]

Because last year Liverpool were lucky, they are no where near as good as Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal. Ofcourse theres the chance they'll win but it's very small, too small for me to put any money on. I think Man U and Chelsea will go furthest this year. Arsenal never do well in Europe, they play the wrong way for it.

 

[livemusic]

Two from each group go on? So I would bet in:

Group A:
Juventus and Bayern

Group B:
Arsenal and Ajax

Group C:
Barcelona and Werder Bremen

Group D:
Manchester and Benfica

Group E:
Milan and PSV

Group F:
Real Madrid and Lyon

Group G:
Chelsea and Betis

Group H:
Internazionalle and Porto

 

[Smallhorses]

Nah, Man U will repeat last season, cruise their way out of an easy group and then stumble at the first hurdle with tough opposition!
Chelski have a great team on paper, but just because their average player costs 20 million doesn't make them that great! They struggled against Wigan!
Liverpool will face much tougher opposition from them this time around but its not beyond our capabilites to beat them.

 

[Dave A]

Chelsea are the best team in the Premiership right now, Man U don't normally fall at the first tough fight, we usually play better in the tougher games, last year was a dissapointment, Wigan played to their credit very well and Chelsea had a bad day, but for Liverpool to have any chance they'll need to catch Chelsea on a bad day. I think United will play much better this year, we don't have much choice and we'll be damned if were going away empty handed again this year.

BTW I have that same pic of that mini in your avatar on my mobile phone, it's a great little car especially how it's done up in that pic.

 

[Ruffryder27]

If Arsenal don't top the group I'll eat my hat Ajax are the main threat but have a very young team and also lost their main man Van der vaart so should be ok.

 

[Dave A]

Arsenal haven't looked as good so far this year imo, they're still playing well, passing well ect, but they seem to have lost a bit of their edge. Could easilly pick that up though at any time, I just feel they arn't playing as well as they have a season or two ago. Were playing quite well, I think when we play Chlesea we'll have to be at the top of our game to win, but theres not much in it when the top three teams pay at their best, Chelsea's larger squad allows them to play at their best more consistently.

 

[Smallhorses]

Add the European Super Cup to Liverpool's trophy cabinet, again! Beat CSKA Moscow 3-1 aet. Nice.

 

[Touring Mars]

Unconvincing start by Arsenal, but atleast they won...

What can you say about Wayne Rooney... he's a great player, super-talented, but he has all the most obvious signs of becoming a real PITA prima-donna who could swiftly become a liability, especially at such high levels of competition as International football and the Champions League....

Watched both the Betis v Liverpool and Chelsea v Anderlecht matches simultaneously the other night... went to a pub that is shaped like an L with a big screen at each end, and we got the sofas right on the corner of the L, so we were able to watch both games at the same time... Chelsea started off really well, but were largely unconvincing as well, but I reckon the have a couple of extra gears that they just didn't use....

 

[barryl85]

What about Rangers Winning Against Porto? Anybody watch the match? i know there isnt much Scots here but i thought i'd ask! 👍

 

[Touring Mars]

Yes, terrific result for Rangers... still a tough group to go through, but home and away victories against Artmedia will be essential.... and as Celtic found out, Artmedia are capable of springing a surprise (or five)... It will probably come down to whether Rangers or Porto can hold Inter at home... Whoever gets the better result against Inter will be favourites to progress... On current form, I wouldn't have said Rangers would stand a chance against Inter, but they have always been pretty solid (if not hugely successful) in Europe, and their individuals (if not their team) have the experience to give Inter a run for their money. A draw at Ibrox would be a great result, especially if Porto can do no better....

 

[livemusic]

Brazilians scored lots of goals today I´ve read. Barcelona 4 x 1 Udinese, Ronaldinho Gaúcho scored 3, Deco (used to be Brazilian until a couple of years ago) scored one, and Felipe scored for Udinese.

Too bad this matches are always during the afternoon here, I´m always at work and can't watch them.

 

[Smallhorses]

Did anyone see the Liverpool vs. Chelsea game tonight, 'cos the ref obviously didn't! OK, so it wasn't a masterclass of football but even so!

Essien's "tackle" on Hamann was a disgrace, his foot was lifted way over the ball, and aimed at Hamann, way before Didi got near to the ball! Not only did Essien get away without as much as a booking, the ref actually gave Chelsea a free kick!
Perhaps Essien had bribed the ref with some of his 24 million pound transfer fee!

How Gudjohnsen got away without a booking for the late lunge on Finnan is questionable too!
Funny too, how Mour"whine"io accuses the Liverpool bench about crying over the tackle, then "conveniently" didn't actually see it when asked about it after the game!

 

[DQuaN]

Has anyone seen ManU's new sponsor?

 

[Dave A]

We were abysmal last night, we didn't deserve a draw let a lone a win. Were doing fine in the league, just balls in Europe this season.

 

[Cosmic]

Damn, I'm so dissapointed with Man U 👎

 

[el flexo]

oh well, you can always support the real reds who have just beaten chelsea to the top place in the group! No hard feelings!

and how jose 'everybody else is to blame ' mourihno
didn't see essiens, tackle(or mugging should i say) in which he should of been arrested and given 36 life sentences. although he has been charged by uefa!


serves you right! you chelsea donkey piece of **** !!!!!!!

 

[Famine]

I've watched Essien's tackle - and a similar one he did on Bolton's Ben Haim.

I don't think he was going for the player. I think he was going to block the pass by the other player and simply didn't notice Hamann (or Ben Haim) was in the way until he connected.

I'm no fan of Essien either.

 

[Dave A]

Like I heared someone say on the radio (Mickey Thomas I think) to do it once is bad but you can put it down as a simple lapse of concentration a bad mistake, to do it three times in such a short period of time though says that, that player is nasty.

 

[Famine]

I think it's something he's learned to stop the wide pass, but needs to unlearn in the English game. I don't think he's doing it to injure the player - I don't think he even saw Hamann (one camera angle makes it look malicious - the others make it look accidental) - but he needs to know that he's risking other player's careers if he keeps doing it.

 

[MagpieRacer]

What an awsome draw for the Champions league.

Heres the games that matter:
Chelsea V Barcalona
Arsenal V Real Madrid
Rangers V Villareal
Liverpool V Benfica

The rest:
Bayern Munich V AC Milan
PSV Eindhoven V Lyon
Ajax V Internazionale
Werder Bremen V Juventus

 

[el flexo]

we have a good chance of beating benfica, unlike man utd!

 

[Dave A]

^iI couldn't help but feel really, really good after that game.

I'm suprised no-ones come in here yet, especially the Arsenal fans. I wasn't sure towards the end of that game, I bet all the fans were on the edges of thier seats right upto the whistle. Real Madrid are nothing like they used to be, but still.

 

[Race Idiot]

Is all I can say.

 

[Dave A]

Yep, great goal. Mind you I didn't think Henry looked that fit during the course of that game.

 

[Dave A]

Chelsea are losing 2-1 so far to Barca.

 

[Race Idiot]

 

[Dave A]

Oh well, at least it was to Barcalona.