One Fool's Preview of the Champions League Group Stage (Pt 1 of 4)

by Foolsgold

I actually did these last month on my blog, but I thought I'd post them again here.  Cheers.

Is there any greater club tournament than the UEFA Champion's League? The only one I think comes close is Copa Libertadores, but still, Europe is king. What started out as 60 qualifying hopefuls has dwindled down to 16 and now they will join the 16 other clubs that have already been patiently awaiting their group stage fate. Earlier today the drawing for the group stages was held in Monaco and per usual a lot of interesting and exciting matches will be coming our way in the near future, so let's get started.

Group A - Liverpool FC, FC Porto, Olympique de Marseille, & Beşiktaş J.K.

Winner - Liverpool You had to ask? Last year's finalist and the champ from two years ago are easily a better side this time around with additions of Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun, & Andriy Voronin. Their depth is unparalleled in the group, but there is some concern on whether their backline will be able to hold up until possible January reinforcements

2nd place - It's hard to go against FC Porto, so I won't. Even though they did lose Pepe to Real Madrid and Anderson to Manchester United, they still have plenty of weapons including Ricardo Quaresma, Lucho González, Hélder Postiga, and Adriano.

Most intriguing match - Marseille at Liverpool I have a feeling Liverpool are going to drain the life out of their matches with Porto, so I'll go with Djibril Cisse and Bolo Zenden's returns to Anfield. It'll be interesting to see what kind of reception Cisse gets as his attitude was what got him pushed out there.

Getting to know the minnow - Beşiktaş J.K. finished second last season in the Turkcell Süper Lig and is the oldest sports club in Turkey, established in 1903 as their crest states. To qualify for the group stage, they easily disposed of Moldovan side FC Sheriff Tiraspol, 4-0 on aggregate in the second round of qualifying and then pulled somewhat of an upset in the third round by beating the defending Swiss Super Champs, FC Zürich, 3-1 on aggregate. Looking at their roster, their only player I recognize is Ricardinho, who played for Brazil in the 2006 World Cup, but they also feature another Brazilian named Bobô and their own Cissé. Midifelder Édouard Cissé is also French like Djibril and has played for Paris Saint-Germain and West Ham United. No word as to whether they're related or not.

Group B - Chelsea, Valencia, Schalke 04, Rosenborg

Winner - Chelsea Some people are calling this a candidate for the 'Group of Death' and I, for the life of me, know not why. Chelsea should have little trouble winning this group. Valencia will be tough, but Chelsea had to beat them at Estadio Mestalla in the second round of the knockout stages last year, which they did, 2-1. Regardless, Chelsea are on a mission this year, to say they don't care about winning the Premiership might be taking it a little far, but Europe is what they want most and there's little question they have all the answers to the conundrums that they'll encounter as they look to conquer all that get in their way.

2nd place - Valencia Sorry, Schalke, but you're not going to surprise anyone this year. You'll get more than enough respect from better squads, Chelsea and Valencia, and you're lack of experience in Europe will do you no favors. Valencia is more talented and has that crucial experience to know what to do to advance. Maybe next year.

Most intriguing match(es) - Chelsea vs Valencia II The matches last year were intense and exciting, culminating in a 90th minute strike from Michael Essien to push Chelsea through. I'm hoping Valencia is looking for revenge this time around.

Getting to know the minnow - Norwegian side Rosenborg Ballklub was formed in 1917 in the city of Trondheim and have since become the most successful club in Norway boasting 20 Tippeligaen titles and 9 Norwegian Cups. Their original name was Sportsklubben Odd as a tribute to Odd of Skien, the most successful team in Norway at the time, but changed their name to what it is now in 1928 because the Football Association of Norway would not allow two clubs to register under the same name. Their most notable players are former Norwegian international Roar Strand, former Celt Vidar Riseth, former Tottenham player Steffen Iversen, wonder kid Per Ciljan Skjelbred, who was once offered a junior contract from Liverpool, and Uruguayan international Alejandro Lago. To get to this stage they manhandled Kazakhstan side FC Astana, 10-2, on aggregate, and Finnish club Tampere United, 5-0, on aggregate in the second and third rounds of qualifying respectively. Their most famous former player still active is probably former Lyon and current Aston Villa striker John Carew.

Originally posted here