Champions League Soccer Thread

UEFA | August 28 | n/a

[jjbrouwer]

The draw for the 2003/2004 Champions League has been made with Chelsea and Manchester United earning favourable groups.

Arsenal and Celtic have a tough task though and Rangers are in Man U's group.

This year it goes to a straight knockout after the first group stage. This should suit Chelsea (now the world's richest club) as they are more of a cup team. They are surely worth a flutter at odds of 16-1 for the tournament.

Champions League draw (British teams in CAPS):

Group A
1. Bayern Munich
2. Lyon
3. CELTIC
4. Anderlecht


Group B
1. ARSENAL
2. Inter Milan
3. Dynamo Kiev
4. Lokomotiv Moscow

Group C 1. Deportivo La Coruna
2. PSV Eindhoven
3. AEK Athens
4. Monaco


Group D
1. Juventus
2. Galatasaray
3. Olympiakos
4. Real Sociedad


Group E
1. MANCHESTER UNITED
2. Panathinaikos
3. RANGERS
4. VfB Stuttgart


Group F
1. Real Madrid
2. Porto
3. Marseille
4. Partizan Belgrade


Group G
1. Lazio
2. CHELSEA
3. Sparta Prague
4. Besiktas

Group H
1. AC Milan
2. Celta Vigo
3. Ajax
4. Club Brugge

Championship Betting

Real Madrid 7/2

Man Utd 5/1

Juventus 8/1

Bayern Munich 8/1

A C Milan 9/1

Arsenal 11/1

Inter Milan 14/1

Dep La Coruna 16/1

Chelsea 16/1

Celta Vigo 25/1

Lazio 28/1

Porto 40/1

P S V Eindhoven 40/1

Galatasaray 50/1

Celtic 50/1

Ajax 50/1

Real Sociedad 50/1

Lyon 50/1

Rangers 66/1

Panathinaikos 66/1

Marseille 80/1

Monaco 80/1

Stuttgart 100/1

Sparta Prague 100/1

Olympiakos 125/1

Dynamo Kiev 125/1

Besiktas 125/1

Anderlecht 125/1

Partizan Belgrade 150/1

Club Brugge 150/1

A E K Athens 150/1

[babaloo999]

Soccer/futbol bump

Glad to see you're posting over here on this site, too.

[jjbrouwer]

*PING*

[dogbyte12]

So, ya putting money on Chelski? Bayern Munich, ManU, and Real Madrid have pretty good draws I think. Arsenal might have a tougher time of it. Should be fun.

[jjbrouwer]

Not sure how many footie fans there are here but it's worth a try. Should be a great year for the boys in blue. We have a new Russian owner who has already spent about 170 million dollars on new players.

Who says you can't buy success...?

[dfwgator]

How delicious would a Real Madrid-Manchester United match be?

[jjbrouwer]

Man United and Real are always safe bets to get to the late stages but they do occasionally falter. Juventus have been thrashed by Man U on more than one occasion lately and Bayern are pretty ordinary.

I'm thinking by the time it gets round to the semi-finals our boys will have fully blended and could even be the favourites.

They might be worth a flutter as an each-way bet. That means you win something even if they just get to the semis.

[jjbrouwer]

I'm quite sure Real will meet Man U at some stage. It would be great to see Beckham knock Man U out with one of his free kicks.

[dfwgator]

By what criteria do the teams qualify for the tournament?

[dogbyte12]

Ryan Giggs has scored two class goals on free kicks, once in pre season, and once against Bolton opening day. It would be even more ironic if Giggs hits one to beat Real Madrid, and Beckham hits one off the post.

Beckham scored a goal yesterday off a header, that should shut up the Spanish media for a bit.

[babaloo999]

Soccer threads usually get pummelled pretty good over here.
I'm really only interested in the English leagues, but
I think I'll be glad to watch some this if I get a chance.

[jjbrouwer]

The Spanish press will go overboard on Beckham, either eulogising about him or slagging him off.

He hadn't played badly until yesterday, he had just been pretty ordinary. But if he scores a few more flashy free kicks they will hero worship him.

[1rudeboy]

I'll take AC Milan at 9 to 1. I like long-shots.

[jjbrouwer]

By what criteria do the teams qualify for the tournament?

Though it is called the "Champions League", second and third placed teams in each European country's national leagues are sometimes also eligible.

In the old days when Liverpool and Nottingham Forest used to win it, only the national champions and the winners of the previous year's tournament were eligible.

[Sam's Army]

OK, this is great---just be prepared for the "Soccer's for wimps" crowd to come out of the woodwork anytime now.....

Chelsea is a decent pick for a lot of reasons this year--

PSV Eindhoven may make a surprisingly good run as well---they have looked sharp in the Eredivise so far.

[jjbrouwer]

If I was going for an Italian team I'd pick AC Milan or Inter Milan. The funny thing is AC Milan are actually the champions but everyone has written them off.

Juventus got to the final last year to everyone's surprise - after they'd been beaten twice in the group by Manchester United. Then they got thrashed 4-1 by Man U in the American pre-season tournament.

[dogbyte12]

The Brittish home office rejected Bobby Convey's transfer to Tottenham today. They slagged on him too. He isn't eligible to reapply for another 12 months.

Claudio Reyna is signing with Manchester City today. Fulham is pissed, they put up a statement, kinda slagging Sunderland for holding out on them, until Manchester City came up with the better offer. Something north of 2 million pounds I have heard.

[Sam's Army]

That's interesting---I had heard that Reyna was linked w/Everton.

Too bad on Convey, but really---there's no shame in missing out to (maybe) go to Germany or elsewhere to cut your teeth.

Guy I played with years ago got ditched via the work permit route by Sheffield United---he was in some pretty good company though as a Brazilian got the same treatment as well (can't remember the Brazilian's name).

[stainlessbanner]

"Soccer's for wimps" crowd to come out of the woodwork anytime now.

< bracing > They'll be along shortly....

[Sam's Army]

uh oh....