Posted on 08/28/2003 9:32:45 AM PDT by 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
Glad to see you're posting over here on this site, too.
Who says you can't buy success...?
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.
Beckham scored a goal yesterday off a header, that should shut up the Spanish media for a bit.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
< bracing > They'll be along shortly....
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