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Italian Clubs in the CL Groupstage Preview

August 28th, 2008 | By: Julian | 25 Comments »

As I type this, the draw isn’t even done yet for all the teams, but all 4 Italian teams have been placed in groups. Here’s an overview of the groups and how I think each team will fare.

Group A:
Chelsea
Roma
Bordeaux
CFR

Roma have a tough group. Chelsea are the favorites to finish first in the group after making it all the way to the final last year. Roma doesn’t have the best of track records against English opposition (Man U in the CL, ~~Everton~~ Tottenham in a summer friendly this year), so it’s gonna be tough. Bordeaux are a solid contender, and I know zilch about CFR. Roma should be gunning for AT LEAST second place. First might be tough to get but they should finish second comfortably.

Group B:
Inter
Bremen
Panathinaikos
Anorthosis

Definitely one of the easiest groups. Inter should finish first very comfortably or questions are gonna be asked of Mourinho. The CL is his specialty and if he can’t top this… I’d be stunned. A very straightforward draw on paper.

Group F
Lyon
Bayern
Steaua
Fior

This is probably the toughest draw for any Italian team. Inter has it easy, Roma should at least finish second, and Juve have a tough draw (see below), but this is brutal on Fior. They have the 7 time French champs and Bayern in their group. They wanted the CL and now they’re being christened by fire. On paper they’ll likely finish third, but if anyone can get past a tough group, it’s probably Prandelli.

Group H:
Real Madrid
Juve
Zenit
BATE

From an objective point of view this should be the most entertaining group. There’s 3 huge teams here, but that’s not good news for Juve. Juve-Madrid is HUGE and Zenit is a tough cookie, considering they just won the UEFA Cup. But this is Juve, who are the Italian CL experts now that Milan aren’t involved. They should be fighting for the top spot in this group imo.

Tags: Champions League, Fior, Group E, Inter, Italy, Juve, Roma

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Comments

By calisi | August 28th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

That’s cool Toni vs Fior

Posted from United States

By calisi | August 28th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

And Canna against Juve

Posted from United States

By OSMANI | August 28th, 2008 at 12:36 pm

that’s a good team

Posted from Cuba

By OSMANI | August 28th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

the world cup has only a name ITaly

Posted from Cuba

By MAD | August 28th, 2008 at 1:11 pm

I think that you mean, Roma vs. Tottenham, unless Roma played Everton as well and I missed it.
http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/reportspursvroma100808.html

By Bashar | August 28th, 2008 at 1:54 pm

No.. it was Tottenham this summer. West Ham last summer. Man Utd beat us 3 times in a row in England. I do not recall the last time we won on English soil actually.. We have a terrible record over there. I think this year won’t be any different. As long as we don’t embarrass ourselves at Stamford Bridge I’m happy.

Posted from United States

By OSMANI | August 28th, 2008 at 1:59 pm

I THINK ALL YOU ARE CRAZY,I SAY italy CHAMPION

Posted from Cuba

By Julian | August 28th, 2008 at 2:53 pm

Sorry guys I meant Tottenham. I edited the post to show the right team

By gianfranco | August 28th, 2008 at 4:01 pm

Viola got effed, but Toni and Canna coming home should be good TV…

Posted from United States

By alessio | August 28th, 2008 at 4:52 pm

Bah, CL experts? I think not. Juve has “epic fail” written all over it in the CL, whether it be Capello falling flat on his face or losing the 2nd most finals. Blah. But I think we can do well this year.

And Roma’s group tough? No chance. Bordeaux, while great domestically last year have virtually no European experience and if Roma fail to take 2nd there must be serious questions asked. Similar to Juve’s group, except who’s harder? Zenit or Bordeaux? Zenit, certainly.

Posted from United States

By JP | August 28th, 2008 at 4:58 pm

I think Fiorentina are right on the same level as Lyon. And after watching Bayern Munchen implode in the UEFA Cup qtrs, (and also struggle throughout) as well as fail to add any significant players, I think Bayern may not have it as easy as we/they think. I see Fiorentina really making a push for top-spot, but finishing comfortably in second ahead of Lyon.

By DeGuilio | August 28th, 2008 at 5:05 pm

Sure Fiorentina has it tough but what else should anybody expected, they were in Pot 4. Replace the 4th team with Fiorentina and the viola still have it hard. truthfully all things considered it was a pretty ok draw. sure Bayern is one of the toughest from pot 2 but Lyon is the worst from pot 1.

Posted from United States

By sam | August 28th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

hey julian, not related but just wanted to say its great to have a fully functioning italy blog with regular well thought out posts again on the offside!

Posted from United States

By asem | August 28th, 2008 at 6:22 pm

you guys are right Roma should comfortably get 2nd. chelsea is a good team, but i think roma have the capability to beat them at least once. 2nd place shouldn’t be a problem.
inter’s group is BY FAR the easiest. that’s an automatic ticket to the next round. werder bremen MIGHT cause some problems. though the only player i know on that team is diego haha.
i think Fiorentina’s group (F) and Liverpool’s (D) are the 2 groups of death. i’d be surprised if la viola can make it out of the group…
as much as zenit is a solid team, i think juve’s long-awaited return to the CL will carry them into at least the first knock-out round. they’re too good of a team not to make it. i wouldn’t be surprised if they finished atop the group either. real madrid isn’t the supreme team it used to be, and they definitely have chinks in their armor. juve can exploit them if they play their game.

does anyone know if all of these games are on ESPN360 or not?
i sure hope so. my p2p has been letting me down recently with the quality of their links. maybe its just my computer…

By Julian | August 28th, 2008 at 10:08 pm

alessio- but the mere fact that Juve got to that many finals should be a sign of things, no? They have the never-say-die mentality that’s so crucial to big games.

And JP, it’s not so much that everyone in Fior’s group is tough. It;s more that they’re all about the same level. When Fior play at their peak, I wouldn’t bet against them if they’re facing Bayern or Lyon. But the games will be tough.

sam- thanks!

asem- last campaign, espn360 had a fair amount of games on it. But considering that there’s a lot of games going on at the same time during the groupstages, I don’t know if they’ll show all of them. Does anyone have the schedule of games that espn360 shows?

By Johonna | August 28th, 2008 at 11:48 pm

For $39.95 you can buy a yearly pass at UEFA.com – that will get you all the CL games. Or, you can buy an individual game for $1.99. I know that all the prices are in Euro, but they do not use the exchange rate for dollars. It says 39.95 euro, but it is also $39.95 – go figure. The games are archived so you can watch them at your convenience. I have the yearly subscription and I love it.

Posted from United States

By alessio | August 29th, 2008 at 12:57 am

If you have ESPN360, you are set for the year, don’t buy anything. They just acquired more rights to Serie A, so they are broadcast 7-8 games per weekend. Last year it was 4. They also have all rights both in English and Spanish to all Uefa competitions, they were playing the Twente-Arsenal game just the other day. Obviously it depends if your ISP carries them, but if you have them, don’t bother with anything else. The quality is excellent. I have it here at school (at home my dad has RAI and Sky) and that’s what I watch games on. You can get two simple cables to transfer it to your TV if you want.

Posted from United States

By alessio | August 29th, 2008 at 12:59 am

Last year, they had all the group stages on, so I expect the same this year. If ESPN doesn’t do the broadcast, sometimes they gank it from others. Ie- half of last years ESPN360 Serie A games were from SerieA.tv, the other half was their own staff. (Shaka Hislop commenting….priceless)

Posted from United States

By Porchetta | August 29th, 2008 at 8:14 am

why is it that each and every time, the English teams get EASY draws, again and again and again????i dont know…..
well, the great news which we have just now is that Super Mario got selected by Casiraghi in his squad for Azzurrini..Atlast, Balotelli is on the verge of being Italian player, i mean Ghana Federation president has made franctic calls trying to persuade Balotelli to say no to Azzurri and opt for his country of blood..Balotelli will have ample time and opportunities this season to show case his talent ..He will be playing Serie A matches, Champions league big flight matches and also for Azzurrini..I wont be surprised if he gets a regular place in Azzurri set up by 2009 June…Lippi must stop his infatuation with Gilardino, the guy cant even finish on one- one situations which even our 35 year old super Pippo and even the likes of Rocchi and others can score 99 out of 100 times..

Posted from Spain

By Porchetta | August 29th, 2008 at 3:18 pm

well..Zenith is already 2-0 up over chgamps Man united..iam really impressed..Zenith are totally outplaying Rio and Vidic..it might very easily have been 4-0..Juventus will have to play out of their skin and need a special effort from del Piero, trezgol and nedved..

Posted from Spain

By Andrea | August 29th, 2008 at 9:44 pm

Roma is going win the CL this year…no question about that! and when Totti is match fit we can beat anyone….
ROMA 4 LIFE

By Johonna | August 30th, 2008 at 2:03 am

True, on paper Inter look a shoe-in for Group B. But remember, we are the “choke kings” of Serie A. I think we have the talent to win the group but do we have the nerves? I sure hope so. This is supposed to be our year in europe!

Posted from United States

By alessio | August 30th, 2008 at 3:04 am

Easy to qualify for Inter no doubt…..we’ll see on the knockout rounds.

Posted from United States

By Porchetta | August 30th, 2008 at 6:59 am

Iam really worried for Juventus..After two years, they make it to the elite CL but they get a tough group…Ok, the players like Ale, Trez,Nedved are all very important, but the main trump card wll be the condition of Camoronesi..i mean a fully fit Camo is a must on the right wing and with Nedved, Camo and Marco in the midfield, i dont see Juvetus inferior to Madrid or Zenith..The most important thing wll ofcourse be the defence…melberg/Legrrotaglie , Chiellini must concentrate very hard and there is no margin for error..Juve will be hugely motivated..I think a draw in Madrid and in Zenith will be good result for Juve….

By Porchetta | August 30th, 2008 at 3:48 pm

well..well..well..to deviate from the topic a bit, the serie A matches started today..It always bewilders me why DiNatale doesnt play for the national side like he does for is club..he scored two beauties, the second one was a world class chip…Inter was again the recipient of dubious refereeing from Rossetti…How could he fail to detect the obvious handball of Zanetti in the second half????

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