Group Stage Draw was Today

Group A

Chelsea (ENG)
AS Roma (ITA)
Bordeaux (FRA)
CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU)

Group B

Internazionale (ITA)
Werder Bremen (GER)
Panathinaikos (GRE)
Anorthosis Famagusta (CYP)

Group C

FC Barcelona (ESP)
Sporting Lisbon (POR)
FC Basel (SUI)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)

Group D

Liverpool (ENG)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Marseille (FRA)
Atlético Madrid (ESP)

Group E

Manchester United (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP)
Celtic (SCO)
Aalborg BK (DEN)

Group F

Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Bayern Munich (GER)
Steaua Bucharest (ROU)
Fiorentina (ITA)

Group G

Arsenal (ENG)
FC Porto (POR)
Fenerbahce (TUR)
Dynamo Kiev (UKR)

Group H

Real Madrid (ESP)
Juventus (ITA)
Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)
BATE Borisov (BLR)

Group H could be an interesting group.

The ManU and Chelsea should win their groups

8/28/2008 1:26:18 PM

my early favorite would have to be bayern munich. should be another good season, and i'm interested in seeing how teams like barcelona do with new management, and chelsea after last years dissapointment.

[Edited on August 28, 2008 at 3:48 PM. Reason : ]

8/28/2008 3:46:58 PM

^I like where your head is at.

Any thoughts on Liverpool, asshat?

8/28/2008 4:11:01 PM

welp, the only team that should give them any trouble in the group stage is atletico madrid, which is a matchup that i want to see: fernando torres vs his old team. they should advance, and they are ALWAYS a hard team to beat in a 2 leg format. i don't see them making the final but they could easily be on of the final four teams in the tournament, especially if players like kuyt and xabi alonso are still on top form to help steven gerrard out.

8/28/2008 4:21:29 PM

No Milan

8/28/2008 6:16:22 PM

Liverpool won't make it out of the group stages, and Rafa will be out of a job by November.

[Edited on August 28, 2008 at 7:17 PM. Reason : .]

8/28/2008 7:11:37 PM

BATE Borisov (BLR)


Poor bastards.

8/28/2008 8:15:24 PM

Yeah I don't envy them at all

8/28/2008 8:24:47 PM

match day 1 today

9/16/2008 3:37:22 PM

Chelsea go over easily on Bordeaux at the Bridge

Cluj with the huge upset beating Roma at Stadio Olimpico

Inter wins easily over Panathinaikos

Bremen and Famagusta draw

Shakhtar Donetsk beat Basel

Barca win easily over Sporting Lisbon but concede a goal

Atlético Madrid wins easily of PSV

Liverpool escape Marseille

[Edited on September 16, 2008 at 8:15 PM. Reason : .]

9/16/2008 8:15:11 PM

lol @ werder bremen

9/16/2008 9:54:22 PM

bayern munich are back in the champions league

9/17/2008 12:00:12 PM

ronaldo should be on the bench tonight for united

9/17/2008 12:01:13 PM

so Keane finally opens his account, Kuyt keeps scoring in Europe, and...

Gerrard scored his 100th in a Liverpool shirt, I fucking love him

(homo)

10/1/2008 5:25:32 PM

CFR Cluj hold Chelski to a 0-0 draw


The DJ at the game played "Glory Glory Man United" and the crowd rolled out a banner that said "United is Red, and Chelsea is Blue - My grandmother could take better spot kicks than you"





I think I've found a new team to root for

10/1/2008 6:59:30 PM

Well a 0-0 draw is not what I wanted to see. Cluj has played well but will crash and burn eventually. Chelsea will still win the group (They still lead based on GD and they haven't conceded a goal in regulation since the Liverpool game last year in the CL)

As far as Cluj being on Manure cock thats fine they can cheer for another squad they won't win the CL.

Injuries are starting to mount for Chelsea. Essien out until at least early 2009 possibly longer. Carvalho out for 2 months. Drogba goes down today granted he hasn't been very good this year. I see Scolari looking for a striker in the next transfer window.

10/1/2008 7:21:39 PM

I love it when people are too blind to be realistic.

10/1/2008 7:35:06 PM

^^ this is seriously Liverpool's chance in England

Chelsea/United are both hurting from injuries and Arse is losing to Hull

they REALLY need to take advantage while all these teams are reeling

10/1/2008 7:40:47 PM

Liverpool's biggest problem is Rafa Benitez.


How he holds onto his job due to Champion's League performance every year is atrocious.


Liverpool have the depth and the talent to be a force in the BPL, but he doesn't know what to do to win. It's why they struggle to beat teams like Stoke, but show up for the big games.

10/1/2008 7:53:27 PM

I agree with most of that, but until Torres, they never really had a true goalscorer and were playing many players out of position. The defense hasn't been as deep as Rafa would like it to be either until this year.

No real good excuse but you can't argue with the Champions Leagues titles and to be fair, whether he or any Liverpool fan wants to admit it or not, he only obviously cared about CL and now he's supposedly putting England first, so this is his make or break year in my opinion.


I pull for Liverpool but it's pretty much 98% because of Gerrard, 1% Torres, and 1% Anfield... so it doesn't really hurt my feelings when they don't win the title. I'd just really like to see Gerrard get something in England.

10/1/2008 8:05:29 PM

kiljadn I guess you are never blindly optimistic. Anyways Cluj played a good style today Chelsea dominated possession had one more good chance but the backline played excellant for Cluj.

10/1/2008 8:07:14 PM

^^the problem is, he's won one UCL because Milan took their foot off the gas - I know that will get you riled up, but it's true - and lost another by being severely outclassed by a Milan team who refused to take their foot off the gas a second go round.

While I'll agree that there's never been a true goalscoring threat the caliber of Torres, I'll counter with the fact that had Gerrard been played in his proper position, he'd have hit 100 goals well before now. Rafa has the unique ability to minimize and/or completely destroy a striker's confidence by letting him score a hat trick one game and then not even including him in the team the next (See Peter Crouch).

He has made a joke of his position in comparison to teams like Real Madrid - this is a team that builds the class needed to be able to win their domestic league without even thinking. Even then, Madrid does not take games off in their domestic competition because they've got a UCL game coming up the same week. That is how a team should be built - win your league, win the champion's league, become a legitimate force. It's why Capello lost his job there even after hauling them up from the doldrums by the scruff of their necks - because he did not progress in the UCL.

I agree that it's make or break for Benitez this year, but it's too bad it took this long. Liverpool deserve better than what he's given them, and it's too bad that the American owners don't know what they're doing.


^Nope, I've seen my teams lose too many games they should've won to be blindly optimistic.

10/1/2008 8:30:26 PM

Quote :

"they haven't conceded a goal in regulation since the Liverpool game last year in the CL) "

it was 1-1 going into pk's in the finals. Ronaldo scored on the last good cross wes brown has served

10/1/2008 9:30:48 PM

Quote :

"the problem is, he's won one UCL because Milan took their foot off the gas - I know that will get you riled up, but it's true - and lost another by being severely outclassed by a Milan team who refused to take their foot off the gas a second go round."

True, but who expects any team to turn a 3-0 deficit around in 15 minutes, in the Champions League final? While the credit definitely goes mostly to the players and their captain, you have to give some credit to the coach for inspiring his team at halftime some how and for the decision to bring on Hamann to settle the team down. Regardless of why they won/how they fared in the final, actually making it to 2 CL finals in his time as head coach is pretty remarkable in itself.

Quote :

"While I'll agree that there's never been a true goalscoring threat the caliber of Torres, I'll counter with the fact that had Gerrard been played in his proper position, he'd have hit 100 goals well before now. Rafa has the unique ability to minimize and/or completely destroy a striker's confidence by letting him score a hat trick one game and then not even including him in the team the next (See Peter Crouch)."

I agree with all of this, especially because I am a really big Peter Crouch fan. I think he is so freaking underrated. The rotation policy Rafa has is extremely frustrating, no doubt.

Quote :

"I agree that it's make or break for Benitez this year, but it's too bad it took this long. Liverpool deserve better than what he's given them, and it's too bad that the American owners don't know what they're doing."

Chelsea has had some league success the past couple of years but ask them how bad they want to win in Europe. It's a tradeoff for sure, and what ManYoo did last year isn't the norm. And the owners aren't all bad. They gave Rafa the money he wanted to get Torres last year, and this year, they gave him money for Keane and to shore up the defense. They're annoying and all the speculation bullshit over Rafa's job security was getting old but they've made some kind of effort.

10/1/2008 10:35:06 PM

back today

man utd and celtic on espn2
juve and real madrid tape delay on espn classic

I am a united fan but would like to have these games switched

10/21/2008 1:51:41 PM

post the times of the games

10/21/2008 2:31:08 PM

watching The Bhoys right now...go Celtic!

10/21/2008 2:59:30 PM

Arsenal up 3-1 25 minutes in lol

10/21/2008 3:15:24 PM

ManU up 1-0 on an offsides goal

10/21/2008 3:24:08 PM

Most goals in one Champions League day set

10/21/2008 4:43:22 PM

epic 2 offsides goals for bebatLOLv

10/21/2008 7:35:48 PM

Liverpool really blew it today...gave up a goal in the 83rd minute and ended up tying Atletico Madrid 1-1

[Edited on October 22, 2008 at 4:36 PM. Reason : .]

10/22/2008 4:36:07 PM

Yep and Madrid had the goal called off for offsides, but he looked onside.

10/22/2008 4:44:47 PM

yeah, and unlike the Celtic game yesterday, that missed call could have changed the outcome

[Edited on October 22, 2008 at 6:27 PM. Reason : .]

10/22/2008 6:21:43 PM

The liverpool game was pretty awful. I think both teams should have had an add'l goal due to bad offsides calls. Also, they both had questionable non-penalties. Disappointing finish though, liverpool had control most of the game.

10/22/2008 7:10:18 PM

As much as i love Celtic, they were never going to go to Old Trafford and get a point. They've lost 19 out of the past 20 away UCL games.

They're playing for a UEFA cup spot now, and they'll have to play top-drawer with the way Villareal's playing.



I can't believe how shitty Roma is this year - they're saying Spalletti will be out of a job if they do anything less than shellac Udinese this weekend.

Funny how Claudio Ranieri was in the same boat at Juve until they won v Madrid this week.

10/24/2008 9:49:44 PM

lolverpool get a late late penalty decision to tie that game, i thought it was a little dubious seeing how gerrard made one of his patented reckless runs into the box and was definitely looking to draw a pk more than actually playing the ball

atl madrid's goal in the first half was nice though

11/4/2008 4:52:43 PM

that Liverpool PK was a BS call. I love how Chelsea lost to Roma.

11/4/2008 5:19:16 PM

Quote :

"Ronaldo gerrard always makes made one of his patented reckless runs into the box and was definitely looking to draw a pk more than actually playing the ball"

fyp

[Edited on November 4, 2008 at 6:07 PM. Reason : and mine]

11/4/2008 6:06:53 PM

Crazy day. I can't believe Pana beat Bremen 3-0 in Germany

11/4/2008 6:23:18 PM

VUCINIC!!! roma looked great today...chelsea surely liked being dominated by a team with 10 points through 7 matches on the domestic front

decLoL

11/4/2008 6:53:34 PM

liverpool scared the shit out of me today. what a shitty game.

i think im still laughing over the penalty call, but ill take it.

it really bothers me they cant finish off lesser teams. they always play close games (score, regardless of control). i dont think theyre going to win the title until they start dismantling lesser teams (ala fc oil money and manure)

11/4/2008 8:29:20 PM

Another poor day from the Gunners

11/5/2008 4:42:25 PM

juventus looking scary good...in europe at least

oh, and boo ryan giggs

11/5/2008 10:08:38 PM

I was actually cheering for Celtic today - I was sad that Giggs scored. Celtic is playing for a UEFA cup spot now, I just hope they will get it.

11/5/2008 10:15:43 PM

^ mcdonald's goal was so excellent, compared to the rest of the sloppy play on both sides. man u should've won it at the end there (and ferdinand's point-blank miss), but glad they didn't.

11/6/2008 2:14:35 AM

final games of group stage starting back up tomorrow

11/24/2008 11:46:39 PM

HOP ON THE YELLOW SUBMARINE

let's go roma too!

11/25/2008 12:53:01 AM

Yes United, yes Celtic - fuck all the rest.

11/25/2008 7:53:38 AM

Arsenal plz2win

11/25/2008 9:47:58 AM