Group A: Maccabi Haifa, Juventus, Bordeaux, and Bayern Munich
Surprise Team: Maccabi Haifa because they will be hard to beat in Israel and feel like they have something to prove (and gain monetarily). I still doubt they will advance, but they could ruin some dreams.
Set to Disappoint: Bayern Munich because they have had their worst start in 43 years domestically.
Best Match-up: Bayern v. Juventus due to the tradition and each team knows they have something to prove this year.
Teams to Advance: Juventus and Bordeaux
Group B: Man U, CSKA Moscow, Wolfburg, Basiktas
Surprise Team: Basiktas since they Turkish league champs know they have a little bit to prove.
Set to Disappoint: Not to keep with the German theme, but... Wolfsburg is most likely to not advance out of the three domestic champs (Moscow is not).
Best Match-Up: Wolfsburg v. Basiktas because they are two champions that a lot of people might not give the respect they ought to get.
Teams to Advance: Man U and Basiktas
Group C: AC Milan, Real Madrid, FC Zurich, Marseille
Surprise Team: FC Zurich just because people give no respect to the Swiss league and they have to be hungry to prove themselves.
Set to Disappoint: Real Madrid but only because I feel like they will not finish first, they still have so much talent that even if Ronaldo can't play with Kaka too well, they are still going to be good.
Best Match-Up: AC Milan v. Real Madrid well, duh.
Teams to Advance: Milan and Real
Group D: Chelsea, Porto, Atletico Madrid, APOEL
Surprise Team: Atletico because they are for real and are not regulars nor are they from Cypress, so it seems like the obvious choice.
Set to Disappoint: Porto, while they won the Cup a few years ago, I feel like with this group they might get trapped. I could be totally wrong though.
Best Match-Up: Atletico v. Porto not only because this is an Iberian Peninsula bragging rights match-up but also will determine who advances.
Teams to Advance: Chelsea and Porto (again, I can be wrong)
Group E: Liverpool, Lyon, Fiorentina, Debrecen
Surprise Team: Fiorentina (see Atletico)
Set to Disappoint: Lyon. If this was the EPL, it'd be Liverpool. However, Rafa's club loves the Champions League
Best Match-Up: Liverpool v. Lyon the English hate the French and visa versa. Also, this is going to directly affect the pecking order and teams who will advance.
Teams to Advance: Liverpool and Fiorentina(again, I can be wrong)
Group F: FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Dynamo Kiev, FC Rubin (who?)
Surprise Team: Dynamo (your welcome Kvyat) because they could do serious damage to the top dogs.
Set to Disappoint: Inter, who did not perform too well in the US (though they did not play all their guys) but Barca is better, so they have to be the choice.
Best Match-Up: Barca v. Inter... iBrah v. Eto'o, should be good.
Teams to Advance: Barca and Inter
Group G: Seville, Rangers, Stuttgart, Unirea (wtf?)
Surprise Team: Stuttgart (see Atletico)
Set to Disappoint: Seville (eh) There is not a clear choice here since Seville and Stuttgart are a toss up.
Best Match-Up: Seville v. Stuttgart... probably will decide who advances.
Teams to Advance: Rangers and Stuttgart
Group H: Arsenal, Standard Liege, Olympiakos, AZ Alkmaar
Surprise Team: Liege, because you have no idea what to expect. I would pick Olympiakos, but I despise them (thank you basketball)
Set to Disappoint: Arsenal, they have not been as good as before, though they dominated Celctic.
Best Match-Up: Alkmaar v. Liege... the Belgians are always second fidle to the Dutch in soccer, and they share a border, regional rivalries are always fun.
Teams to Advance: Arsenal and Alkmaar
No comments:
Post a Comment