Champions League Draw Recap E to H
It’s that time of the year again when all eyes turn to Europe’s premium football tournament, the UEFA Champions League. Barely three months after Lionel Messi stole the show in the Eternal City, the magic is back, and this time it’s looking a whole lot different…
Group E: Liverpool (Eng), Lyon (Fra), Fiorentina (Ita), Debrecen (Hun)
Cream Cracker: Fiorentina v Liverpool – 29 Sep 2009. European masters Liverpool rule the nest at Anfield. But away from home Benitez’s men have suffered. In Adrian Mutu, La Viola possesses a newly bankrupt, super striker still eager to prove a point to English football.
Tricky Tie: Debrecen v Lyon – 29 Sep 2009. The Hungarian champions easily saw off the challenge of Levski Sofia 4-1 in the qualifying round and now find themselves playing at the top table. Determined to make a mark at the first attempt, Debrecen know that the departure of attacking inspiration Karim Benzema leaves Lyon there for the taking.
Fun Fact: The smallest stadium in the competition, Debrecen’s Stadion Oláh Gábor Út seats10,200 supporters – if you’re a Fiorentina, Liverpool or Lyon fan you better start searching ebay for tickets.
Lisandro Lopez - The new face of Lyon post-Benzema.
Group F: FC Barcelona (Esp), Inter Milan (Ita), Dynamo Kyiv (Ukr), FC Rubin Kazan (Rus)
Cream Cracker: Inter Milan v FC Barcelona – 16 Sep 2009. The highlight of the Group Stage. Ibrahimovich and Eto’o face their former employers barely a month into their new assignments. In front of an unforgiving San Siro crowd, craving European success, what does the Special One have in store for the little and large combination of Messi and Ibrahimovich?
Tricky Tie: FC Rubin Kazan v FC Barcelona – 4 Nov 2009. A banana skin awaits the cup winners. The newly crowned Russian champions will be hoping this mid-winter fixture puts the freeze on Barca’s sunshine skills giving way to what could prove to be the biggest upset of the competition.
Fun Fact: Forgotten man of European football, Andrei Shevchenko recently rejoined his first professional club Dynamo Kyiv. Voted the 1998-99 UEFA Champions League Best Forward during his final season with Dyanmo, Sheva will be hoping a successful return to his homeland will provide a fitting swansong to a once glorious career now in tatters.
Andrei Shevchenko - Rolling back the years with Dynamo.
Group G: Sevilla (Esp), Rangers (Sco), Stuttgart (Ger), Unirea (Rom)
Cream Cracker: Rangers v Stuttgart – 24 Nov 2009. Walter Smith’s Scottish champions take on a skilful Stuttgart outfit led by recently recruited, former Arsenal midfielder, Alexandre Hleb. Hoping to secure passage to the knockout stage for only the second time in Scottish football history, the forced departure of inspirational club captain Barry Ferguson puts the Glasgow side on the back foot from the get go.
Tricky Tie: Unirea v Sevilla – 24 Nov 2009. Anyone fancy a trip to Romania? Former Chelsea wing-back and current Unirea manager Dan Petrescu will be hoping the free-scoring duo of Luis Fabiano and Jesus Navas leave their scoring boots back home in the sun by the time this fixture rolls around.
Fun Fact: Unirea’s ticket on the money train has come in the blink of an eye. Arriving in Romanian top flight football in 2006, fresh faced coach and national icon Dan Petrescu led the club to the title two years later and the rest is history.
Dan Petrescu - Bringing instant success to Unirea.
Group H: Arsenal (Eng), AZ Alkmaar (Hol), Olympiakos (Gre), Standard Liege (Bel)
Cream Cracker: AZ Alkmaar v Arsenal – 20 Oct 2009. Another Champions League new boy, AZ, led by Dutch international prospects Stiijn Schaars and David Mendes da Silva, in front of home support, will fancy their prospects against their more illustrious countryman Robin van Persie.
Tricky Tie: Olympiakos v AZ Alkmaar – 16 Sep 2009. AZ’s chances of advancing to the knockout stage will rest on how well they do against the Greek champions. With Matt Derbyshire and Raul Bravo adding foreign spice, the real star for the Greek side is their obsessive support – turning match days into a cauldron of hostility.
Fun Fact: Not just your Standard champions. Along with recent domination in the league, Liege has produced three out of the last four Belgian Football Players of the Year. Most recently, Axel Witsel overcame the challenge from teammate Milan Jovanovic to win the coveted Golden Shoe award.
Liege's Axel Witsel - The man grabbing all the headlines
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Link to Champions League Draw Recap – E to H
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