Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Milan again drawn in Real’s group for Champions League
New Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho will get a quick return to the San Siro but instead of facing former club and champions Inter Milan, it’s another double header with AC Milan for the Spaniards like last year.
Chelsea’s Didier Drogba can look forward to a trip to old haunt Marseille and Arsenal will have a speedy reunion with ex-striker Eduardo who now plays for Shakhtar Donetsk.
Holders Inter, who can boast UEFA keeper of the year Julio Cesar, defender of the year Maicon, midfielder of the year Wesley Sneijder and forward of the year Diego Milito, have been drawn with Werder Bremen and debutants Tottenham Hotspur.
A battle of Britain between Manchester United, of course managed by a Scot, and Rangers promises some fireworks while Barcelona will probably be the happiest of the top seeds with their easy-looking group.
What do you reckon? Group G is probably the proverbial “group of death”. How many European Cups between Milan, Real and Ajax?? Come on, put that calculator away!
The other groups are somewhat low-key but there’s bound to be some cracking surprises like always.
Champions League draw … Kaka, Ibrahimovic back to Milan
The draw for the group phase of the 2009-10 Champions League has just finished in Monaco and it’s thrown up a couple of groups to savour especially.
Real Madrid getting drawn in Group C means they will face AC Milan … and that means a return to the San Siro for Kaka, who made the switch over the close season. Likewise, Barcelona’s big signing Zlatan ibrahimovic will be on his way back to Milan, after Inter joined the holders in Group F.
Plenty of other intriguing match-ups … Any of them catch your eye?
Group A: Bayern Munich, Juventus, Girondins Bordeaux, Maccabi Haifa
Group B: Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Besiktas, VfL Wolfsburg
Group C: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Olympique Marseille, FC Zurich
Group D: Chelsea, Porto, Atletico Madrid, APOEL
maid, you’re right. that was like pulling teeth, that draw. sky sports news was showing it live and it was a struggle keeping it going.
Arsenal v Celtic in play-offs. Is this what Platini wanted?
The draw for the Champions League final qualifying round raises the question whether Michel Platini and UEFA have done the right thing by giving teams from Europe’s less heralded leagues a better chance of reaching the money-spinning group stage.
On one hand, restructuring the qualifying campaign has opened the group stage doors to Latvian champions Venstpils, Cypriots APOEL Nicosia, Hungarian title holders Debrecen and Moldovans Sheriff Tiraspol.
On the other, it has pitted former European Cup winners Celtic against 2006 finalists Arsenal, with the loser confined to taking part in the Europa Liga, the continent’s second tier competition.
The new formula means the Champions League lucrative group stage will now have more champions from obscure countries on Europe’s soccer map at the expense of third and fourth-placed teams from the top leagues.
It gives unfancied teams a chance to boost their finances and close the gap on wealthier rivals, but it also runs the risk of depriving Europe’s premier club competition of some of its glamour.
Would you rather watch both Celtic and Arsenal in the Champions league proper or draw pleasure from seeing a pack of underdogs take centre stage instead?
And crucially, will the new qualifying format last long enough for the new arrivals to establish themselves as regular campaigners?
I’m so glad the underdogs are finally granted what is rightfully theirs! Debrecen,Apoel Nicosia etc. are CHAMPIONS, and that means they should campaign in the CHAMPIONS League, full stop… why should these sides be left behind? After all, the likes of Berbatov, Vidic, Yaya Toure etc. were refined by so called smaller clubs. So are we saying that some clubs are only good for producing players and that’s where their work ends? Well Done Mr. Platini, at least UEFA has a man favouring fairplay as president!
All the Euro 2012 qualifying Games will be streamed live at http://www.WorldCupTV.org 12:22