UEFA Champions League 2012/2013 Group Stage Draw ~ Coverage

[Cam]

I wonder if City will be more impressive this season with their big club, despite being in the group of death. I feel they still need more experience in the Champions League though. Madrid is a sure pass.

United and Barca have an easy group to get through, but I wouldn't rule out the smaller teams just yet, seeing United's disappointment last season.


PSG will be interesting to see with their high increase of top players lately.

[Michael92]

Real, City and Dortmund... This will be very interesting indeed. And again, Man U get an easy group for the 8th year or so in row O_____o Looks to me like this is becoming a trend, and with City in a group of death 2 years in a row.

Barca also got it easy this time around it seems, while Chelsea and Juventus will play each other to the maximum I think.

On a different note, Europa League Group draws:

Group A:
Liverpool
Udinese
Young Boys
Anzji Makhatsjkala

Group B:
Atletico Madrid
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Viktoria Plzen
Academica

Group C:
Marseille
Fenerbahce
Borussia Mönchengladbach
AEL Limassol

Group D:
Bordeaux
Club Brugge
Newcastle
Maritimo

Group E:
Stuttgart
FC København
Steaua Bucuresti
Molde

Group F:
PSV Eindhoven
Napoli
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
AIK

Group G:
Sporting Lisboa
Basel
Genk
Videoton

Group H:
Inter
Rubin Kazan
Partizan Beograd
Neftchi Baku

Group I:
Lyon
Athletic Bilbao
Sparta Praha
Hapoel Kiryat Shmona

Group J:
Tottenham
Panathinaikos
Lazio
Maribor

Group K:
Bayer Leverkusen
Metalist Kharkiv
Rosenborg
Rapid Wien

Group L:
Twente
Hannover
Levante
Helsingborg

@*Escorp - Feel free to add this in your first post.

[ReLax -]

Besides Lille and to some extent, Marseille or Lyon, I don't see the other teams playing offensive football against Paris. It'll take time for them to adjust to this continuous defensive schema set against them. They might struggle for a first season.

Well, they need a trophy. If they do, a better squad will most likely follow. Speaking of squads, I'm gonna talk on transfers in the Debates thread tonight since it closes in less than 24 hours now.

Well, Nasri did step up against Southampton when Silva was out of shape. In the match against Liverpool, well, mostly all City players were bad. I wanna wait some more match to decide whether they just had a bad day or they felt awkward with Manicini's formation changes or they actually struggled. Tevez and Aguero got the 2 strikers' starting spot since some time now. It's mostly Ballotelli and Dzeko who need to prove their worth in absence of Aguero.

Speaking of Liverpool, is it me or Suarez is developing more and more like Robben in terms of attitude? He's ultra-talented like Robben but he's becoming more and more of a soloist player. He tried 5 passes during the City match and missed 3 of those. He scored a wonderfully freekick in his own but he still *****es a lot on the field. With him being often tagged as cheater, arrogant or even racist by some people, he's somewhat following on the inglorious path of Robben.

Dortmund lost players since they do form great players. The good thing is that Gotze is coming back. Had he not been injured, I think, he'll already have courted somewhere else. But, Kagawa did wonderfully in Gotze's absence and now that he's gone, it's time for Gotze to get back his shape. Frankly speaking, if Gotze gets back his shape, we won't see much drop in Dortmund's performances.

Martinez will struggle a lot in the beginning if you ask me. He can be a success but he'll need to fight a lot imo. Mainly because there'll magnanimous media pressure on him, given his price. He's young, he's talented but now he's also over-priced; thanks to his release clause. With that, he'll need a big mental strength to show his mettle despite the pressure.

Vidic is not really injury-prone though. If we remove this past severe injury, I rarely saw him getting injured. Touch-wood, I hope he doesn't take any more. The good thing is that Fergie didn't rush his return despite the defensive crisis. He played 6 matches (includ. pre season) since his return and I didn't saw him complaining of any pain in either of those matches. That's quite re-assuring. Moreover, he seemed to have a good physical preparation if we saw his weight loss. It's amazing how much Vidic, Tevez and Y.Toure lost weight in mere months though.

I think they will need to play defensively eventually also.

True. I'm more concerned were Llorente is going Arsenal/Liverpool/Juventus? Or will he stay, but won't get a welcoming party from Bilbao fans.

Yes, but Nasri has his off/on games, he rarely shows consistency, which I'd like to see from him if he wants to take France/City far.

Well the thing is Robben played with top sides like Madrid/Chelsea/Bayern and his country Netherlands, which has been a dominate side for the past 4-5 years. Suarez played good with Ajax and Uruguay, but he has become a soloist with Liverpool because their isn't much support. Most his goals come from his solo effort and last year despite missing 15+ games he was the top scorer for Liverpool. This is why we see him becoming like this, every player has an attitude problem in somewhat way or form. Suarez played well as a team with Ajax and Uruguay, but Liverpool don't have support for him his first season he played well as a team, but no one else played too good and most his created chance were becoming useless.

Yes, but within a year or two City/Madrid/Bayern/Arsenal/Milan/Juventus may coming knocking for Gotze. I do admire his playing style and he's still young.

Yes, I read that most spent on a transfer to Germany, his development their will also benefit Spain if he can

We never know what happens. The games get rough and the test will start when they start playing league games/FA/CL etc.

Real, City and Dortmund... This will be very interesting indeed. And again, Man U get an easy group for the 8th year or so in row O_____o Looks to me like this is becoming a trend, and with City in a group of death 2 years in a row.

Barca also got it easy this time around it seems, while Chelsea and Juventus will play each other to the maximum I think.

I wouldn't say easy, as Benfica and Celtic will give Barcelona a run for their money. United will face Braga would did reach the finals of Europa two years ago and a tricky Galatasaray side.

It will also depend on the tactic both sides deploy and if the miss key players due to injury.

[kmrasengan]

i'm so happy my team(Benfica) got in the same group as barça. i know we're weaker but i'll definatly gonna watch the game at the stadium, but still we have great chances of finish second.

[ReLax -]

i'm so happy my team(Benfica) got in the same group as barça. i know we're weaker but i'll definatly gonna watch the game at the stadium, but still we have great chances of finish second.

I know it was a friendly, but they did beat Madrid 5-2, so wouldn;t say their weak, but rather underestimated.

[Escorpiius]

Real, City and Dortmund... This will be very interesting indeed. And again, Man U get an easy group for the 8th year or so in row O_____o Looks to me like this is becoming a trend, and with City in a group of death 2 years in a row.

@*Escorp - Feel free to add this in your first post.

Well, United got the merit to complicate things with easy groups anyways. In a way, it doesn't really matter. Also, English clubs in Pot 1 are lucky enough since they were sure not to get Man.City which was THE real danger to form a group of death. At worst, Arsenal/Chelsea/United will have inherited both Dortmund and Juventus to form a Group of Death but it was too improbable.

Also, we tend to underestimate Portuguese clubs. United always tend to get one and people just jump on the wagon that we got an easy group. Sure, the group is largely favorable to us but still, Braga are no pushovers. Neither will Benfica be against Barca imo.

I think they will need to play defensively eventually also.

True. I'm more concerned were Llorente is going Arsenal/Liverpool/Juventus? Or will he stay, but won't get a welcoming party from Bilbao fans.

Yes, but Nasri has his off/on games, he rarely shows consistency, which I'd like to see from him if he wants to take France/City far.

Well the thing is Robben played with top sides like Madrid/Chelsea/Bayern and his country Netherlands, which has been a dominate side for the past 4-5 years. Suarez played good with Ajax and Uruguay, but he has become a soloist with Liverpool because their isn't much support. Most his goals come from his solo effort and last year despite missing 15+ games he was the top scorer for Liverpool. This is why we see him becoming like this, every player has an attitude problem in somewhat way or form. Suarez played well as a team with Ajax and Uruguay, but Liverpool don't have support for him his first season he played well as a team, but no one else played too good and most his created chance were becoming useless.

Yes, but within a year or two City/Madrid/Bayern/Arsenal/Milan/Juventus may coming knocking for Gotze. I do admire his playing style and he's still young.

Yes, I read that most spent on a transfer to Germany, his development their will also benefit Spain if he can

We never know what happens. The games get rough and the test will start when they start playing league games/FA/CL etc.
.

We'll see.. It depends on the improvement of Paris too.

There are already quite some movement today. On second thought, I'll resumes the big transfers of this season tomorrow night. It's a bit too confusing right now.

Can't say no but he improved in last part of the season. There were also many fights at many positions in City last year for starters position: Aguero v/s Dzeko, Balotelli v/s Tevez, Silva v/s Johnson, Nasri v/s Milner, Barry v/s De Jong, Kolarov v/s Clichy, Richards v/s Zabaleta, Lescott v/s Toure. As season reached its culmination, Mancini got his starting team. Somewhat all the winners fought to be among those and Nasri is one of them. Perhaps, many of those players are now slacking since there's no more that competition threat. I think, his inconsistency can be blamed on that. Though, you're harsh with Nasri in France though. There are many factors that is wrong with France squad besides Nasri's inconsistency.

Still, no matter your squad's teamplay, you must try to blend into it. I know Liverpool is far far from being the best in that but I don't think soloist efforts is the solution. Atleast, not a long-term answer. Let's see how his attitude changes with Sahin and Allen's arrival now. Sahin got brilliant potential and many compares him to Xabi Alonso. Allen is underrated but if you go by stats, he was the 2nd player who made the most passes in whole European clubs last season. Only Xavi did better. Few people realize that.

Well, as I said, if you asked me two seasons ago, I would have seen him to still be at Dortmund. His injury has been detrimental. Hopefully, he'll get back on tracks.

Yeah, the most expensive transfer of Bundesliga. A tag that'll become a burden on his young shoulders.

Well, obviously, no players are safe from a potential injury but I hope the best for Vidic. Though I know Ferdinand will get injured again down the line; given his frequent back-problems.

[ReLax -]

Well, United got the merit to complicate things with easy groups anyways. In a way, it doesn't really matter. Also, English clubs in Pot 1 are lucky enough since they were sure not to get Man.City which was THE real danger to form a group of death. At worst, Arsenal/Chelsea/United will have inherited both Dortmund and Juventus to form a Group of Death but it was too improbable.

Also, we tend to underestimate Portuguese clubs. United always tend to get one and people just jump on the wagon that we got an easy group. Sure, the group is largely favorable to us but still, Braga are no pushovers. Neither will Benfica be against Barca imo.



We'll see.. It depends on the improvement of Paris too.

There are already quite some movement today. On second thought, I'll resumes the big transfers of this season tomorrow night. It's a bit too confusing right now.

Can't say no but he improved in last part of the season. There were also many fights at many positions in City last year for starters position: Aguero v/s Dzeko, Balotelli v/s Tevez, Silva v/s Johnson, Nasri v/s Milner, Barry v/s De Jong, Kolarov v/s Clichy, Richards v/s Zabaleta, Lescott v/s Toure. As season reached its culmination, Mancini got his starting team. Somewhat all the winners fought to be among those and Nasri is one of them. Perhaps, many of those players are now slacking since there's no more that competition threat. I think, his inconsistency can be blamed on that. Though, you're harsh with Nasri in France though. There are many factors that is wrong with France squad besides Nasri's inconsistency.

Still, no matter your squad's teamplay, you must try to blend into it. I know Liverpool is far far from being the best in that but I don't think soloist efforts is the solution. Atleast, not a long-term answer. Let's see how his attitude changes with Sahin and Allen's arrival now. Sahin got brilliant potential and many compares him to Xabi Alonso. Allen is underrated but if you go by stats, he was the 2nd player who made the most passes in whole European clubs last season. Only Xavi did better. Few people realize that.

Well, as I said, if you asked me two seasons ago, I would have seen him to still be at Dortmund. His injury has been detrimental. Hopefully, he'll get back on tracks.

Yeah, the most expensive transfer of Bundesliga. A tag that'll become a burden on his young shoulders.

Well, obviously, no players are safe from a potential injury but I hope the best for Vidic. Though I know Ferdinand will get injured again down the line; given his frequent back-problems.

Indeed the way PSG is starting up doesn't look good, but they can still turn it around.

I list some later on and you can follow up on it later.

Yes, Nasri has improved from the start of last season to the end of that season and he is off to a decent start now. France has many problems between the players with all the fights and with their egos, but Lloris/Benz/Rib/Nasri/Cabaye/Giroud/etc they have a good team, Nasri attitude/ego is no better, so he along with a lot of the players their need to improve, but at least Nasri can start it if he wants to be a big influence. This France side did had a 21 unbeaten streak till they fall in Euros.

Your right, but at the moment we can't say he was entirely wrong, especially since his team was not clicking together. We will see how Sahin/Allen influence the game, and if they can sneak another decent signing this season.

[karol the don]

chelsea gonna defend the champions title as the first team ever HOMES

[Uchiha seeker]

did someone say Chelsea! yah! Chelsea own!!

[IzunaUchiha2]

real madrid pass not sure about city

[Ali Uchiha96]

Chelsea will face a tough opponent in the form of Juventus!!Hopefully we can repeat the remarkable feat again this year!And we have a bigger chance than we had last year!!Summer signings have strengthened the squad quite a lot!!
Disappointed by the super cup loss but hoping for the best!KTBFFH!
The group of champions is going to help other teams coz two big guns will be going out earlier than expected!