My tips for the group stage (from E to H)

Nice way to relax and start a new work-week. Here is the second half of the group stage prediction.

Group E:
1º Liverpool
2º Lyon
3º Fiorentina
4º Debreceni

Reason: Although an inconsistent start, Benitez’s side is always a powerful force on the CL, besides that Gerrard and Torres we’ll have another month of work; Lyon seems pretty better than last season, new signings Bastos, Lisandro and Gomis really add quality; the Italian side seems quite weaker than last year, they struggled a lot to overcame poorly form Sporting Lisbon on the qualifying and Mutu rumors about ending career cant ‘help, still against a pretty unknown Hungarian side Debreceni, they shouldn’t have problems to third place.

Group F:
1º Barcelona
2º Inter
3º Rubin Kazan
4º D.Kiev

Reason: What to say about Barcelona continuously awesome form? They defend like few and attack like none, shouldn’t have no problem winning the group; Inter last Sunday dominance against Milan makes us believe that leaving Ibrahimovic fly to the azulgrana was a good idea; doing a cool start in the Russian league Rubin Kazan is tipped to do a good campaign, but they’re not good enough to cope with Europe’s finest; athis remodeled D.Kiev should wave goodbye soon enough.

Group G:
1º Stuttgart
2º Rangers
3º Sevilla
4º Unirea Urziceni

Reason: This is probably the best balanced of the entire group stage, with the first three very close. Looking to the games played so far, Stuttgart is the most consistent to pass, good defense and new-add Pogrebniak eager to shine on front; Rangers will probably struggle a lot away, but can recover from that at home games; Sevilla doesn’t look so compact as last season, which will probably mean third spot; to Romanian side Unirea Urziceni the first participation on the group stage is more of an social experience than a competitive one.

Group H:
1º Arsenal
2º Olympiacos
3º AZ Alkmaar
4º S.Liège

Reason: The gunners have the easiest of the groups, they will probably win five games if they keep their current form; Greek fanatic fans from Olympiacos will carry their good balanced team towards the knock-out rounds; AZ Alkmaar plays a beautiful game, but the lack of experience on UEFA’s main stage will prove costly to the Dutch champions; S.Liège is a nice team, but just that – to nice to put out any real threat.

My tips for the group stage (from A to D)

Cool exercise to try and guess the final line up on each of the groups.
Here is my tip:

Group A:
1º Juventus
2º Bordeaux
3º B.Munich
4º M.Haifa

Reason: Juventus new signings Diego and Felipe Melo are the adds they needed to produce consistent and top form football; Bordeaux with Gourcuff and Chamack on cool form and good defensive ability is a force to fear; Munich needs a couple of months to really connect with Van Gaal tactics (let’s hope they’ll give him the time); and Haifa, well they come from no football threat Israel.

Group B:
1ª Man.United
2º Wolfsburg
3º CSKA Moscow
4º Besiktas

Reason: Obviously as a Premier League side the red devils are super-favorites to win this phase; Wolfsburg are German champions and produce an awesome offensive football, with Misimovic, Dzeko, Grafite and sub Martins really connecting; CSKA as a couple of Brazilian offensive players that can help them to beat de Turkish side Besiktas on trying to get to the Europa League.

Group C:
1ª AC Milan
2º Marseille
3º R.Madrid
4º Zürich

Reason: Milan a stable and top of the world club, with Pato achieving maturity and Ronaldinho truly back on the pitch; Marseille keep their key figures and bought experienced Argentineans Lucho and Heinze; Madrid will probably struggle in the first ‘new galactic’ year, and locker room problems are in order; what to say about Zürich, is nice to reach this stage, enjoy!

Group D:
1º Chelsea
2º Porto
3º Atl. Madrid
4º APOEL

Reason: Stability on the first eleven and new added Carlo Ancelloti to the bench are blues real achievement’s for 09/10; alongside with Man.Utd, Porto is the club with most presences on the group stage, experience counts and watch out for Hulk; Madrid kept Agüero and Forlán, but defense keeps on looking pretty unstable; Cyprus continues is emerge on CL scene, for second year in a row they’ve got a team, well done.

Champions in the CL

Well, Platini’s ‘A game’ is back! The frantic UEFA’s leader as got his way and we see all kind of exotic clubs roaming towards the group stage. From Cyprus to Hungary, passing thru Switzerland or Israel, Platini’s dream to enlarge the influence of the Champions League is at the moment a success. The champion’s path assures that there is at least one National Champion in each group.
Three things pop into one’s mind. First the 7.5 million Euros for entering the group stages will do miracles for teams like Maccabi Haifa or Debreceni, but this might mean that national competition will be extremely unbalanced – like the difference from the big four BBC’s agreements and all the others Premier League teams – on the other side we might see national interest towards football increasing. What a dream for Hungarian’s to welcome Liverpool or for Cyprus fans to do the same with the blues.
Second, will any of those teams produce real performances? Can they mount a real threat or dream about reaching the knock-out stage? Or even get to the new found Europa League? Frankly? NO! But that’s why this is the beautiful game. On any day, any team can win!!
Third, it makes me think about the times when the Champions League were the right place for Champions, when winning was everything and teams across Europe wouldn’t compromise to became champions. Nowadays we hear the boards saying the most important thing is to assure a CL presence. At least in countries like Hungary, Israel, Romania… this is no longer so.
Well, I know, things would look quite gray with only one English, Italian or Spanish. But to have four or five from the stronger nations, shouldn’t we just create a European Premier League?

Notts County big boost?

Well, first of all I’m happy to be writing again to my beloved blog, but somehow sad that beach and Sun are over for me this year.
Let’s play some football. Talking to some friends, we were analyzing Notts County effort to get back on the mainstream Premier League. How can a League Two club have the ambition to sign players like Figo or Zidane? Simple put: history and a lot of nerve!
The oldest club in the world is still living in the idea of those powerful early years and is with that feeling and passion that Sven-Goran Eriksson is trying to get some of the most talented players of the late XX century. Some cynical might say Figo or the confirmed Sol Campbell are as old as the club himself, but on the other side experienced and talented players are the real base of any major win, simple put that’s why we see Giggs or Scholes rising trophies every season and Fabregas or Van Persie just weaving goodbye to them.
But, the team that once gave Juventus their bianconeri equipment needs more than a couple of old timers to get back, or technically have their debut, on the Premier. Stronger sides need good players, awesome supporters, extreme rivalries and lot’s, lot’s of stability. With Eriksson at the helm they at least assure a lot of media exposure, what by the XXI century is almost the same as playing in the major fields… just not quite the same. Well go luck to them, at least it’s an ambitious project.