For the third season in a row, Chelsea faced reigning European champions Barcelona in Group A. Werder Bremen and Levski Sofia make up the foursome and it would be a huge surprise if either team progressed.
In group B they will battle Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Sporting Lisbon and Spartak Moscow. Bayern have been weakened by the loss of Ballack to Chelsea, but they should still be good enough to go through. Inter Milan have grown stronger at the expense of their scandal-ridden rivals in Italy and will be hard to beat.
Group C sees 2005 champions Liverpool return to the scene of their triumph in Istanbul to play Galatasaray. Turkish football seems to have exploded and Gala could have problems against both PSV Eindhoven and Bordeaux.
Group D includes Valencia, Roma, Olympiakos and the dangerous Shaktar Donetsk, and the top two should reach the round of 16.
Group E sees the most successful European team in history, Real Madrid against Lyon, Steau Bucharest and Dynamo Kyiv. Real start the campaign with the return of Fabio Capello and they should improve on last season’s dismal performance. Gerard Houllier’s Lyon continue to improve and should qualify.
Group F coughs up an Anglo-Scottish clash. Manchester United sent a reserve team to Glasgow just before the season began and defeated the Scottish champions 3-0. Not many give Celtic much of a chance against United’s first XI who have started the season on fire. Benfica seems dangerous again. They eliminated both United and Liverpool last season and they will have to be respected. FC Copenhagen makes up the foursome and may surprise some people.
Group G presents Arsenal, defeated finalists last year, and they face Porto, CSKA Moscow and Hamburg, a group that is not easy on paper for any of them and Arsenal will have to improve the bad initial results in his new stadium. But wait for them to qualify. No London team has ever won the European Cup/Champions League and Arsenal are desperate to beat rivals Chelsea and Spurs (they’re in the UEFA Cup this time) for that particular honour. But Arsenal have lost several notable players such as Pires, Campbell and Bergkamp and although they have rapidly improving young players such as Van Persie and Walcott, it is hard to see them picking up the trophy this time around.
In Group H, suspended but reinstated AC Milan host surprise qualifiers Lille, AEK Athens and Anderlecht. Expect AC to win the group handily and for the others to take all the points from each other.
For those who like to bet, the starting odds quoted are: Barca 4/1 favourite, Chelsea 5/1, Real 9/1, AC Milan 10/1, Man Utd 11/1, Inter 13/1, Arsenal and Liverpool 18/1 and 20/1 more in all the others. You can still get a $30 free bet at betfair.com by entering the code 6CHE3VPWJ when necessary.
So who will win the Champions League pot of gold this year? Barca have added Thuram and Zambrotta from Italy, but were upset 3-0 by compatriots Sevilla in the Super Cup, the match between the Champions League and UEFA Cup winners. Barca showed a surprising weakness in the center of their defense and John Terry and his friends at Stamford Bridge surely noticed. The best of the outsiders is the rapidly improving Lyon.
Chelsea have added Ballack and the wonderful Shevchenko, and maybe Ashley Cole too. As I have written elsewhere, I think Chelsea can do it this time. They would surely exchange the Premier League title for the Champions League. But what do I know? I am still working for a living. Make up your mind at once. Good observation.
