Preview of the CL Games to day (Group A-D)

[tanuhmah.livejournal.com]

And so begins the long road to London.
For the first time since 1992, the UEFA Champions League final will be played inside Wembley stadium. There is a special connection between Wembley and Champions League. Correction: There is a special connection between old Wembley and the Champions League’s forerunner, the European Cup.
Old Wembley was one of European soccer’s grandest stages, and underneath its famous twin towers, five memorable finals were played.
Sir Bobby Charlton earned his knighthood with a two-goal performance that gave Manchester United its first European Cup in 1968. Johan Cruyff’s Ajax danced across the hallowed field in 1971. And in 1992, Ronald Koeman’s extra time winner allowed Barcelona to lift its first European crown.
Conversely, the cavernous new Wembley is a taxpayers’ nightmare, and its field is one of the most hated. But a glorious European story is about to be written under that magnificent steel arch.
Inter Milan enter this season’s edition as title holders, but Rafa Benitez’s side is far from the No. 1 contender. Real Madrid always expect. Barcelona always believe. And Manchester United always dream.
But this might be the year a team from England’s capital wins the trophy with the big ears for the first time. It’s surely won’t be Tottenham and it probably won’t Arsenal. Chelsea, above all, looks poised to win the only honour it doesn’t have on display at Stamford Bridge.
Each team plays six games in the group stage, and the best two in each group advance to the knockout stage. Here is a rundown of Groups A to D, which kick off on Tuesday (we’ll preview Groups E to H tomorrow):

GROUP A

Inter Milan Every important player from last season’s winning team is back, but the quest for a repeat will be tougher without mastermind Jose Mourinho.
Key man Wesley Sneijder: The Dutch midfielder wants to be involved in every offensive push, and his sharp passes can manipulate the flow of the game to suit his pace.

FC Twente The departure of defender Ronnie Stam, forward Blaise NKufo and midfielder Miroslav Stoch means this squad is a shadow of last season’s Dutch champ.
Key man Bryan Ruiz: A forward who is lethal inside the penalty area, his 24 league goals last season were instrumental in Twente capturing its first Dutch title.

Werder Bremen Thomas Schaaf has been Bremen’s manager since 1999, and the team never deviates from a pragmatic passing game.
Key man Torsten Frings: The defensive midfielder is the backbone of his team, and he moves endlessly from box-to-box for 90 minutes.

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham’s foray into Europe’s biggest competition will a difficult test, but this young, talented squad should be competitive in the group stage.
Key man Gareth Bale: Bale is not the new Ryan Giggs, but he is a exciting left-sided midfielder who shoots whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Best of six Inter knows how to win in Europe now, and Tottenham is the best of the rest.
GROUP B

Benfica Although Benfica lacks depth, Portugal’s top dog is always difficult to beat at home.
Key man Oscar Cardozo: Sure, Cardozo missed a crucial penalty for Paraguay against Spain in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but last season the tall striker led the Portuguese league with 26 goals.

Hapoel Tel Aviv The Israeli champion pours men forward, and will doubtlessly concede goals against Group B’s more talented sides.
Key man Vincent Enyeama: The Nigerian was one of the best goalkeepers at the World Cup, where he made a number of jaw-dropping stops.

Lyon This Lyon squad is not as good as previous versions that won seven-straight Ligue-1 titles, but the team is good enough to make it to the knock-out round.
Key man Kim Kallstrom: Kallstom is an incredibly gifted player who has, unfortunately, never fulfilled his potential.

Schalke Schalke has yet to win a league game this season, but it has too much talent (goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, defender Christoph Metzelder and forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar) to be dismissed.
Key man Jefferson Farfan: The Peruvian midfielder doesn’t need to worry about outmuscling defenders — he has lightning pace to beat most of them.

Best of six Lyon and Schalke will advance from the competition’s weakest group.
GROUP C

Bursaspor Bursaspor shocked the Turkish league last season with its quick counterattacks and dangerous set-pieces.
Key man Omer Erdogan: A pugnacious centre back who loves to make himself a target for corner kicks.

Valencia Even without David Villa, Valencia is still a formidable team with players such as forwards Roberto Soldado and Aritz Aduriz, defender Ricardo Costa and midfielder Joaquín.
Key man Juan Manuel Mata: Possibly the best midfielder in Spain not playing for Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Manchester United Last year’s quarter-final loss to Bayern Munich burned everyone at Old Trafford, but United isn’t any better this season.
Key man Edwin van der Sar: On Oct. 29, United’s goalkeeper will become the world’s best 40-year-old soccer player. He is the reason the team’s defence is still one of the best in Europe.

Rangers The class of Scotland, but unfortunately that reputation isn’t worth much on the European stage.
Key man Kenny Miller: Whenever Rangers need a goal in league play, Miller obliges

Best of six United should have no problem with this group. Look for Valencia to finish second.
GROUP D

Barcelona Although Inter Milan revealed Barca’s weakness to opportunistic counterattacks, Pep Guardiola’s side can still deconstruct most defences with myriad dazzling passes.
Key man Lionel Messi: Say what you will about his form for Argentina at the World Cup, when Lionel Messi plays for Barcelona the superlatives — and goals — abound. In the last three seasons, the wunderkind has scored 23 times in the Champions League.

Panathinaikos Did you know, notable players such as Luis Garcia, Sidney Govou, Djibril Cisse and Gilberto Silva play for the Greek champions? Now you do!
Key man Cisse: The Frenchman said he would come to Greece and be one of the league’s top goal scorers. True to his word, in 2009-2010, Cisse was the best with 23 goals in 28 games — 12 ahead of the runner-up.

FC Copenhagen Consistently one of the best sides in Denmark, but always one of the also-rans in Europe.
Key man Jesper Gronkjaer: A skilled attacker who never found consistency with Chelsea, Atletico Madrid or Stuttgart, he finally blossomed in Copenhagen.

FC Rubin Kazan Rubin Kazan’s offence is its strength. But the long journey to — and the temperature in — central Russia gives the team a unique home advantage.
Key man Christian Noboa: Noboa will trail behind defenders and pounce on open space with superb agility.

Best of six Barcelona will dominate Group D without exerting itself much, Panathinaikos will follow behind.

Matchday 1 games you can’t miss

1. Rangers at Manchester United, Tuesday, 2:45 p.m. TSN
This is not just a battle of Britain — United fans have a bubbling animosity toward Rangers supporters. After Rangers lost the 2008 UEFA Cup final in Manchester, thousands of disgruntled Scotsmen decided to take their anger out on the city’s downtown core. A week later, the city’s council cancelled United’s Champions League winning parade.

2. Panathinaikos at Barcelona, Tuesday, 2:45 p.m., TSN 2
The marquee matchup of this group. The Greek champions probably won’t win at the Nou Camp — especially with the home side still smarting from a shocking league loss to Hercules — but their pace and skill could catch Barcelona off guard.

3. Tottenham Hotspur at Werder Bremen, Tuesday, 2:45 p.m., Setanta
Tottenham’s first Champions League game is a collector’s item, and an important match. Inter Milan will win this group, and the runner-up will come from this pair.

Read more: http://sports.nationalpost.com/2010/09/13/champions-league-preview-pt-1-london-calling/#ixzz0zTlTVEqO

Who's excited? Who is forming prayer circles? Who is hoping rival teams fall in a hole and never come back?

Comments

[danielachan.livejournal.com]

Go Hapoel!

[danielachan.livejournal.com]

btw I'm so happy UEFA let us play in our stadium!
btw2 I'm so happy my hubby Dani Bondar will probably start!

[pnylove415.livejournal.com]

Who is hoping rival teams fall in a hole and never come back?
That would be this girl.

[overratedashell.livejournal.com]

LOL, me too. RIGHT HERE! [:

[stole-thetv.livejournal.com]

i'm going to be driving straight home from school like a maniac to catch these. only to drive back right after they're done. ohhh football

[pnylove415.livejournal.com]

lol, this is my life. Or bringing my laptop in and watching streams - what professor? Of course I was paying attention to your tangential anecdote!

[epouvante.livejournal.com]

i'm gonna try to see this in a bar, werder bremen will probably make me wish for a few drinks. tbh i think it'll be a ridiculous game spurs will lose, but like, 4-3 or something.

my prayer circle is intense rn.

[prettypuyol.livejournal.com]

Get your fecal matter together, Barca!

[kitty69lover.livejournal.com]

lol ILU

[con-clase.livejournal.com]

I very much like this short rundown of all the teams! I won't be able to watch any of these since I'll be in class but most of the teams I care about play on Wednesday anyways.

[juunanagou18.livejournal.com]

...So the Panathinaikos vs Barca game is coming on at *7 am* my time? (US Central) Dammit!

[verses.livejournal.com]

5 FOR ME, FML

[zengarden.livejournal.com]

ARGH, I have to miss the Tottenham-Werder Bremen game tomorrow! DDD:

[bleeding-dry.livejournal.com]

Oh wow I can't believe it! They're actually gonna show Barça's game on a TV channel I have! One match day without those fucking streams, oh yes!

[leinyan.livejournal.com]

I know Rangers fans are gonna have a police escort but lol still paranoid :/

[elementarystars.livejournal.com]

LOL, tell me about it. :/

[walker-sarah.livejournal.com]

Go Bursaspor!

I can't wait for Barça's game. After the Hercules accident I'm sure they play awesome and we'll see lots of goals*cross fingers*

[cojos-revenge.livejournal.com]

Go Manchester!

[vintage-dg.livejournal.com]

so the barca vs panathinaikos match is on at 3 am. i have to get up at 5 30 am for school. my sleeping schedule is going to be so fucked up this year woooooooooo.

[neecule.livejournal.com]

DAMN I know how you feel, girl. My alarm clock better not fail me.

[kappaerre.livejournal.com]

Go Benfica!

[lovelyeli.livejournal.com]

Barca&Mutd <33333

im gonna be recording both because im not gonna be home!

FUUUUUUUU LIFE OMG

[elementarystars.livejournal.com]

Ridiculously nervous. But hey, apparently Rio will be back.

Can't stand Rangers, daddy is a Celtic fan, but I have far too many Rangers cousins who will be happy to phone me and gloat. Please don't choke, United.

[anais-molko.livejournal.com]

C'MON VALENCIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my mancs friends should be happy about this

[anais-molko.livejournal.com]

Ever Banega is out for a month i can't even ugh.

Re: my mancs friends should be happy about this

[verses.livejournal.com]

This is totally OT, but do you remember the name of the site that posts photos from matches ridiculously quickly? I swear to God it's like something "life"...

Sexcited

[niddlez.livejournal.com]

My gap year is finally paying off. Yay late night football!

[ghost-busting.livejournal.com]

I wonder if Rangers fans can be trusted to keep it classy...

That's probably a big ask though.

[neecule.livejournal.com]

EXCITED FOR BARCA VS PANATHINAIKOS MATCH! The blaugrana's hungry to WIN after what happened in the last game.

Prayer circle for Tottenham ....... For a win and an injury-less game. If we get another injury, I'm gonna cut some bishes!

[wall-upper.livejournal.com]

i had a dream that lyon won 3:0 yesterday


cardozo bb please get all your goals out of your system against tel aviv and schalke so you dont score against Lyon, por favor
ilu but if you score against lyon i will be upset

[noamjen.livejournal.com]

I am seriosuly terrified of the Lyon - Schalke match today.

It's like everyone is sure their team will lose and I just really need Schalke to win a game, any game.

[yaoiwhore9.livejournal.com]

This. They're breaking my heart too much. T_T

[overratedashell.livejournal.com]

eek omfg. tottenham at werder <3
vdv against my second favorite club. i cant even

they better show it on tv tonight or i'll flip shit

[hey-larry.livejournal.com]

Go Schalke and Werder! ASKLDFJSAF so excited!