I followed today the draw for the group stage. As the song says, 'shivers down my back bone'.
Groups A and B are simple bets. Chelsea and Roma, Inter and Bremen to go through.
Group C is ridiculous for Barcelona, and I see Shakhtar (with all their second-rate Brasileirão rejects) pipping Sporting to the second place.
Group D is tough, but exciting. October 22 - Liverpool x Atlético, Torres's return to Vicente Calderon, is the most anticipated match for me. I think they'll both qualify, anyway.
Group E looks like certain that will fall in to the hands of Man United and Villareal. Celtic did scrape through last year, when they also were in United's group. I wouldn't put money on them repeating the feat with such a well-round Villareal side here.
Group F looks the toughest to me, and I think the matches will be the hardest-fought, but I don't realistically see Fiorentina or Steaua qualifying.
Group G may come as a surprise to Arsenal. Fener are the same team from the quarterfinals last year, less Kezman, plus Guiza - i.e. a better side imo. I fancy them to go through first with Arsenal second.
Group H looks awesome - three very hungry teams with a point to prove. And poor BATE debuting against their neighbors in a local derby from Soviet times. My take? Real first and Zenit second.
Btw, the new uefa.com site is quite good. Looking forward to Fantasy Football.
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