UEFA Champions League 2011-12

GROUP A

FC Bayern München
Villarreal CF
Manchester City FC
SSC Napoli

GROUP B

FC Internazionale Milano
PFC CSKA Moscow
LOSC Lille Métropole
Trabzonspor AŞ

GROUP C

Manchester United FC
SL Benfica
FC Basel 1893
FC Otelul Galati

GROUP D

Real Madrid CF
Olympique Lyonnais
AFC Ajax
GNK Dinamo Zagreb

GROUP E

Chelsea FC
Valencia CF
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
KRC Genk

GROUP F

Arsenal FC
Olympique de Marseille
Olympiacos FC
Borussia Dortmund

GROUP G

FC Porto
FC Shakhtar Donetsk
FC Zenit St Petersburg
APOEL FC

GROUP H

FC Barcelona
AC Milan
FC BATE Borisov
FC Viktoria Plzen

Group A is an absolute killer.

Edited by venessian - 8/25/11 at 8:31pm

No kidding, it seems like this every year....

With the transfer season not yet closed and the season barely (or not all) underway, it is to ridiculous to try to predict, but what the hell.
I think these are the toughest groups ranked in order of difficulty, with picks for advancing teams in CL and Europa League.

1. Group A: Absolutely the most difficult. 4 very strong teams, with Man. City and Napoli as legitimate threats. All these matches will be a treat to watch; not a weak team among the 4.
Bayern Munich, Villarreal. More difficult for Villarreal if Rossi goes, esp. to Napoli (doubtful this year, though).
Europa League: Man. City? Napoli? Villarreal?

2. Group E: At least 3 tough teams. Neither Bayer Leverkusen nor Genk are pushovers.
Chelsea, Valencia.
Europa League: Bayer Leverkusen.

3. Group G: Not because of any dominant team(s), but because the group is well balanced among 3 teams. Both Shakhtar and Zenit have experience and the home matches in bitter cold will be tough.
Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk.
Europa League: Zenit St. Petersburg.

3. Group B: Inter should move on, but CSKA and Lille can be dangerous. CSKA is always tough at home. Hopefully Inter sign Forlan or Palacio, Lavezzi, Tevez.
Inter, Lille (but CSKA instead if Hazard leaves Lille).
Europa League: CSKA (or Lille).

3. Group F: Fairly balanced with at least 3 decent teams, all of which are in some transition. Marseille and (maybe) Olympiacos can compete. Arsene, have you decided on your signees yet?
Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund.
Europa League: Marseille.

6. Group D: Real and 3 others, but between Ajax, Lyon and Dinamo Zagreb it’s tough to call.
Real Madrid, Ajax.
Europa League: Lyon.

7. Group H: Severely unbalanced group. 2 Goliaths v. 2 baby Davids.
Barcelona, AC Milan.
Europa League: Viktoria Plzen.

8. Group C: Per usual, Man. United draw an early-rounds pass. Who the hell are Otelul Galati?
Man. United, Benfica.
Europa League: Basel.

At least Inter don’t have to go against a Schalke 04 or Rubin Kazan, but CSKA....

^
I could easily see those picks too. It will be fun to watch.

These ridiculous UEFA rules....

Diego Forlan cannot play in any Champions League match for Inter until February.

In July/August he played for Atletico Madrid in their 2 Europa League 3rd qualifying round matches. AM won that round, but were not yet qualified for the Europa League group stage. AM had to win their playoff round in order to advance to the EL group stage. They did, but Forlan did not play in either match.

Inter will be playing in the Champions League group stage starting Sept. 14. Under UEFA rules, a player cannot play in EL/CL matches for one team, be traded, and play in EL/CL matches for the second team that same season if there is a chance that the 2 teams could meet.

I think this is absurd...if a team decides to trade away a player, why affect that player's participation in future matches for his new team? Does this rule exist in any other professional sport?

However, Inter could be eliminated in the CL group stage, and be relegated to the EL knockout phase, while AM could advance from the EL group stage to the knockout phase, and so Inter-Atletico could meet each other then.... Could, could, could.

That's an awful lot of coulds, and I think unfairly penalizes teams (I suppose there may be other transferred players in this same situation, or that there have been in the past). This rule is ridiculous, and I wish UEFA would just simplify it to state that were Inter-Atletico to meet in EL knockout matches, Forlan would not be eligible for those direct matches.

So, Forlan will only be eligible to play for Inter in the CL if Inter advance to the CL knockout phase in February, thereby assuring that they will not play Atletico in UEFA tournaments this season.

I'm confident Inter will advance, that they have enough forwards to take his place in the CL group stage, and so he'll be rested for the CL knockout phase, but still this rule ....
Edited by venessian - 9/4/11 at 5:49pm

^
Apparently the "UEFA logic" is as follows:


I think it's an absurd rule. I cannot think of another professional sport that does that.

A team trades a player...that should be that. He should be able to play for his new team in whatever context. It's already hard on teams when their players get called up by national teams. I really don't see the point of this rule. It deprives the player of experience with his new team, it deprives the coach of an option, and it deprives the fans who want to see the player play.

I suppose situations like this are not so common, but they do happen. To restrict Forlan (or any player) from playing in CL on the miniscule chance that Inter might meet Atleti in EL later is just complete bs....

The rule is even more ridiculous given that, if Inter were to play AM in EL, Inter would probably not even play Forlan against them, due to being disappointed in being knocked out of CL, not giving a shit about the stupid EL, and, mainly, wanting to keep him fresh for Serie A and Coppa Italia at that point....

From this Wiki article, this is just a small list of players who have been restricted ("cup-tied") with their new teams. It's crazy.
Earl Barrett > Aston Villa to Everton, 1995.
Fernando Morientes > Real Madrid to Liverpool, 2005.
Robbie Fowler > Man City to Liverpool, 2006.
Ronaldo > Real Madrid to A.C. Milan, 2007.
Jermain Defoe > Tottenham to Portsmouth, 2008.
Andrei Arshavin > Zenit St. Petersburg to Arsenal, 2009.

Exactly!

September 13, 2011

GROUP E
Chelsea FC 2 - Bayer 04 Leverkusen 0
KRC Genk 0 - Valencia CF 0

GROUP F
Borussia Dortmund 1 - Arsenal FC 1
Olympiacos FC 0 - Olympique de Marseille 1

GROUP G
APOEL Nicosia FC 2 - FC Zenit St Petersburg 1 (that's a stunner)
FC Porto 2 - FC Shakhtar Donetsk 1

GROUP H
FC Viktoria Plzen 1 - FC BATE Borisov 1
FC Barcelona 2 - AC Milan 2 (I watched the 2nd half of this match; what a snoozer...Milan super defensive, Barca controlling but not quite enough, Milan saved by 2 minutes of offense...)

Definitely. Easiest group of the lot, along with Man. U's.

September 14, 2011

GROUP A
Manchester City FC 1 - SSC Napoli 1
Villarreal CF 0 - FC Bayern München 2

GROUP B
FC Internazionale Milano 0 - Trabzonspor AŞ 1
LOSC Lille Métropole 2 - PFC CSKA Moscow 2

GROUP C
FC Basel 1893 2 - FC Otelul Galati 1
SL Benfica 1 - Manchester United FC 1

GROUP D
AFC Ajax 0 - Olympique Lyonnais 0
GNK Dinamo Zagreb 0 - Real Madrid CF 1

Napoli and Benfica did well to tie City and United.

Inter =

I thought about that, but then I thought that the general thread might get really bloated, mainly, plus that CL is different from the regular season, more specific.. Then I searched and saw that there in fact were many CL=, Euro, WC-specific threads in the past, so I thought it was OK.

It doesn't matter to me either way; if someone can merge the 2 threads that's fine.