One Fool's Preview of the Champions League Group Stage (Pt 2 of 4)
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by Foolsgold
Group C - Real Madrid, Werder Bremen, Lazio, Olympiacos
Winner - It's hard to tell how good Real Madrid will be this season. They've had so many additions and subtractions to their squad, there's no telling if they'll be able to function as a cohesive unit on the pitch or whether they'll lack the team chemistry needed to be successful. I guess only time will tell, but on talent and experience alone they should be able to win this group. The only other club that I think has a chance is Werder Bremen, but I'm not so sure the experience, leadership, and output of Miroslav Klose will be so easily replaced.
2nd place - Werder Bremen Even without Klose, they are still a better squad then either Lazio or Olympiacos. Let's face it, the only reason Lazio are here is because of more severe point deductions suffered by AC Milan and Fiorentina. Olympiacos are no minnow by any means and if not respected are certainly capable of pulling an upset, but they just aren't on the same level as Werder and certainly not Real.
Most intriguing match - Almost all of them This might be the funnest group to watch go at it as I can foresee almost every match to be somewhat exciting. Certainly Real's occasional lapses on defense will make all their ties interesting.
Interesting note - Both Lazio and Olympiacos have Argentinian midfielders named Cristian Ledesma on their squads.
Group D - AC Milan, SL Benfica, Celtic FC, & FC Shakhtar Donetsk
Winner - Outside of Milan, the other three are surprisingly all pretty evenly matched squads. If Milan underestimates any of them, especially at their respective homes, they could be heading back to San Siro with no points to show for their effort. With that said though, I don't see them losing any ground at home and should do enough to top this group. They just have too much firepower, especially with the slimmer Ronaldo 2.0 eligible to play for them this year.
2nd place - Err, this one is going to be tough. Would it be insane to pick Shakhtar Donetsk? I mean, they barely got out of third round qualifying, needing two second half goals to beat Red Bull Salzburg, 3-2 on aggregate, but it's not as if they don't have the horses. They have added Cristiano Lucarelli and Mexican international Nery Castillo to an already decent side, not to mention they know how to play dirty at home. Benfica lost their captain and leading scorer from the season before when Simão Sabrosa jumped ship to Atletico Madrid and I just don't see how they're going to make up for the loss in experience and leadership. Celtic, on the other hand, hasn't lost anyone that they can't replace from the squad that Milan needed extra time at San Siro to eliminate in the first knockout round of last year's competition. For some reason, the Celts are taking their time getting it together this season, but I have a feeling they'll have figured things out in time enough to advance past the group stage.
Most intriguing match(es) - This is also tough to call as well as all the ties could end up being quite entertaining. I could say the rematches between AC Milan and Celtic, but that would just be boring. I fully expect it to be extremely tough for teams to go outside of their own stadiums and earn points. A draw on the road could end up being a very positive result. Let's just do baby steps and say Shakhtar's opening match at home to Celtic FC on September 18th might set the tone for this group the rest of the stage.
(I don't consider any of these clubs minnows by any means.)
Originally posted here
