In response to UEFA Groups

Well Tom, looking at the the groups, its clear that Chelsea shouldn't have a hard time advancing from there group. Valencia and Schalke 04 come from the Spanish and German Leagues, respectively, and either one of those two can take the second spot to advance to the round stages. Rosenborg, a Norwegian football team, won there league title but are most likely going to end up as the bottom feeders in this group.

The group that I'm worried about is Group E, which I call "The Group of Death". Which features Barcelona, the team I am still taking to win this group but it will have it's hands full with the other competition. Others include, Olympique Lyonnais a.k.a. Lyon for short which has won the French Division 1 Title the past 7 years!!! Stuttgart, the winner of the German Bundesliga and Glasgow Rangers, runners up in the Scottish Premier League, 2nd to Celtic...heh.

And my opinion on Celtic is this, they have a great chance of advancing from Group D, if they can BEAT Benifca. A.C. Milan will be the group leader which means the last spot will be up for grabs. Benfica is a very good offensive team that will not stop from attacking and Shakhtar Donetsk, um.....maybe next year?... :D.

The follow is how I think the groups will play out... :)

*UEFA Champions Cup
**UEFA Cup

Group A

*Liverpool

*Porto

**Marseille

Besiktas

Group B

*Chelsea

*Schalke 04

**Valencia

Rosenborg

Group C

*Real Madrid

*Lazio

**Olympiakos

Werder Bremen

Group D

*AC Milan

*Celtic

**Benfica

Shakhtar Donetsk

Group E

*Barcelona

*Lyon

**Rangers

Stuttgart

Group F

*Manchester United

*Roma

**Sporting Lisbon

Dynamo Kiev

Group G

*Inter Milan

*PSV Eindhoven

**CSKA Moscow

Fenerbahce

Group H...I will wait for the winner of the Sevilla/AEK Athens game until making a prediction.

Arsenal

Sevilla/AEK Athens

Steau Bucharest

Slavia Prague

Champions League Group Draw

Group A
Liverpool
Porto
Marseille
Besiktas


Group B
Chelsea
Valencia
Schalke 04
Rosenborg


Group C
Real Madrid
Werder Bremen
Lazio
Olympiakos


Group D
AC Milan
Benfica
Celtic
Shakhtar Donetsk


Group E
Barcelona
Lyon
Stuttgart
Rangers


Group F
Manchester United
Roma
Sporting Lisbon
Dynamo Kiev


Group G
Inter Milan
PSV Eindhoven
CSKA Moscow
Fenerbahce


Group H
Arsenal
Sevilla/AEK Athens
Steau Bucharest
Slavia Prague

What do you think of your teams chances jeebus? I was talking to some people who know way more about European Club Football than I, and they seem to think Celtic can get out of the group they are in in 2nd place (behind the powerhouse AC Milan). That seems exciting to me!

Your Opinions?

TomC