Now It Begins: A Look Into the UEFA Champions League 2007-08

Now It Begins: A Look into UEFA Champions League 2007-08
by rick olivares






Liverpool FC manager Rafael Benitez has often been scored for his constantly changing starting elevens. Aside from having one of the English Premiere League’s strongest line-ups yearly thanks to huge financial backing, the Spaniard like most of his contemporaries, looks beyond the domestic leagues for football glory and its corresponding riches. So matching up his players and keeping them fresh for the various competitions they take part in every season is another challenge. His club is built to challenge for several cups with the priority being ending their domestic drought (Liverpool hasn’t won since 1990) and recapturing the world’s most prestigious club championship, the UEFA Champions League. With the just concluded draw, the competition has shifted to a higher gear.

Trimmed down to its final 32 teams, the draw provides no new surprises other than the appearance of former winners and traditional powers looking expectedly advance deep with some grudge matches that can’t wait to be played out.

Group A
Liverpool (England)
Porto (Portugal)
Olympique Marseille (France)
Besiktas Jimnastik (Turkey)

When Liverpool made it to the finals after beating Chelsea in penalty kicks in the semi-finals, they had a golden opportunity to salvage what had been a lackluster season. And once they got to Athens, they ran out of time for another miraculous comeback against AC Milan who avenged their painful 2005 loss in Istanbul. This year, England’s most decorated club looks reinvigorated with fresh acquisitions who have given them much needed scoring sock. Look for them to lead this group and advance deep.

Portuguese title-holders Porto should never be underestimated despite losing Pepe to Real Madrid. Team captain Pedro Emanuel leads a side that has been reinforced with the intention of making greater headway into the Champions League.

Marseille has been seeded by many to unseat Lyon for the Ligue 1 title. But the loss of Franck Ribery to Bayern Munich has told much more on this club that they initially realized.

Besiktas as of the moment is tied with Galatasaray for the Turkish League lead and this club is out to show everyone that they’ll be no pushovers.

Moving on: Liverpool & Porto


Group B
Chelsea (England)
Valencia (Spain)
Schalke 04 (Germany)
Rosenborg (Norway)

Chelsea has gotten off to a slow start in the EPL mainly because of nagging injuries to Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard. If Andriy Shevchenko or Michael Ballack (who is now temporarily shelved because of an ankle injury) don’t step up, they’ll have plenty of problems not just in England but also in their group. Valencia and Schalke 04 looked to challenge for their respective domestic cups last year until injuries and nerves got the better of them. And now both clubs are healthy so expect them to give everyone a challenge. More so for Valencia who lost to Chelsea on a last-minute goal by the Blues’ Michael Essien. Rosenborg is back after a brief absence but don’t expect them to give anyone fits more so since promising young striker Michael Kleppe Jamtfall suffered a serious injury.

Moving on: Chelsea and Valencia


Group C
Real Madrid (Spain)
Werder Bremen (Germany)
Lazio (Italy)
Olympiakos (Greece)

Despite losing the Spanish Cup to start the season, Madrid under Bernd Schuster has been looking good early on dominating foes with all their new recruits fantastically chipping in. No doubt, everyone from Barca in the La Liga to the other teams in their ECL group has taken notice.

Werder Bremen has made significant progress over the last few years climbing up the Bundesliga standings. But how much of a loss is Miroslav Klose to Bayern Munich? Frank Baumann, Torsten Frings, and Hugo Almeida look to help their cause.

The farthest Olympiakos has gone in the ECL is the quarterfinals of 1999 when they were beaten by Liverpool in aggregate score. But without two of their leading scorers from last year, Rivaldo and Nery Castillo, they’re hoping that their new recruits will more than compensate.

Moving on: Real Madrid and Werder Bremen


Group D
AC Milan (Italy)
Benefica (Portugal)
Celtic (Scotland)
Shaktar Donetsk (Ukraine)

The defending champions, Milan look to have drawn the lightest group and their inspired play dating back to the last Champions League all the way to the current Serie A is an indication of their resolve.

Benefica has had some good showings in the Champions League, but most recently they need a late signee, returnee Jose Antonio Camacho help the Encarnados eke out a 1-0 win against FC Kobenhavn to advance.

Celtic managed its first penalty shootout victory over Spartak Moscow (largely through the great performance by their keeper Artur Boruc) to advance. In spite of losing Neil Lennon, their side was bolstered with Scott Brown, Chris Killen, Scott McDonald, and Massimo Donati they’ll be a handful.

Ukrainian 2006-07 runners-up Shaktar Donetsk round out this group. The addition of Cristiano Lucarelli and Nery Castillo (from Olympiakos) will surely make their second appearance in the group stage more memorable.

Moving on: AC Milan and Celtic


Group E
Barcelona (Spain)
Olympique Lyonnaise (France)
VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Rangers (Scotland)

Imagine what one pick up – a very key one indeed – does for a team like Barcelona. The addition of Thierry Henry is frightening and overkill when you think they already have Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, and Sam Eto’o. But early on it’s still their Brazilian superstar who has been inflicting the damage.

Ronaldinho’s compatriot, Juninho, who changed the fortunes of Lyon with six straight domestic titles, will lead his side that has had a tough time fending off challenges from teams ready to pounce on their manpower losses and internal strife.

Look for the much-maligned German football to make a statement when Bundesliga champs VfB Stuttgart as led by Mario Gomez, Cacau, Roberto Hilbert, and Raphael Schafer advance over Lyon and Scotland’s Rangers which is still in its rebuilding phase.

Moving on: Barcelona and VfB Stuttgart



Group F
Manchester United (England)
AS Roma (Italy)
Sporting Lisbon (Portugal)
Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)

One of the most interesting results of the draw finds Manchester United and AS Roma once more in the same aggregate. The Red Devils annihilated Francesco Totti and company on the field (7-1 on goals), but saw their fans bloodied by Italian fans and police in the Stadio Olimpico. Manchester manager Alex Ferguson may have lost Wayne Rooney for several months but that allows Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo to make hay and lead their side deep into the competition.

You can never count out the Italians as I expect their sides along with the English and Spanish teams to make it a three-country affair when the tough gets going. AS Roma will no doubt be looking for revenge while the English players will remember Totti’s scathing remarks about their brand of football. Roma has plenty of incentive as they’ve had Italian champs Inter Milan’s number for awhile now including the recent Italian Supercup win that preceded the start of the Serie A. With Totti, Daniele de Rossi, Christian Panucci, and Simone Perrotta back in harness, they’ll be every bit dangerous.

The champions of the Ukrainian Premier League, FC Dynamo Kiev are back for the third time in the ECL Group Stage (where they’ve never advanced past their initial stage), and head coach Anatoly Demyanenko hopes the third time will be the proverbial charm.

Moving on: Manchester United and AS Roma



Group G
Inter Milan (Italy)
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
CKSA Moscow (Russia)
Fenerbahce (Turkey)


Inter Milan and AC Milan greatly benefited from Juventus’ demotion last season and their pick up some of Old Lady’s key players really helped their respective campaigns. Inter Milan picked up the Serie A title that was surrendered two seasons ago in the wake of the Calciopoli and won the last Scudetto last year while Juve was making mincemeat out of Serie B. Although as of late they seem to be stumbling the Serie A’s early goings, look for Inter Milan to get going when it really matters.

CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce all recently received a massive power surge – Brazilian style when they signed up (four of Brazil’s current national players in) Jo, Vagner Love, Daniel Carvalho, and Dudu and Alex, Roberto Carlos, and Deivid respectively, but the Russian club definitely has the better team.

Moving on: Inter Milan and CSKA Moscow


Group H
Arsenal (England)
Sevilla (Spain)
Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)

Without Thierry Henry, Arsenal will struggle for a while until Cesc Fabregas and company finally realize that an era has ended. While the Gunners are still a plenty good team, they’ll struggle but eventually advance in this group.
Moving on Arsenal and Sevilla.

Sevilla, depending on a positive outcome of its internal implosion, should rule this group. But that’s a huge if.

Giant-killer Slavia Prague is one of the current competition’s overachievers after having knocked out Dutch champion Ajax Amsterdam. Except that now, they won’t be taking anyone by surprise.

Moving on: Arsenal and Sevilla