Didn't see a thread for the current Champions League season so here it goes. The CL final will be held at Wembley in London, England May 25, 2013. Teams for the group stage have been drawn and games begin Sept. 18 Group A: FC Porto - Dynamo Kiev - PSG - Dinamo Zagreb Group B: Arsenal - Schalke 04 - Olympiakos - Montpellier Group C: AC Milan - Zenit Petersburg - Anderlecht - Malaga Group D: Real Madrid - Manchester City - Ajax - Borussia Dortmund Group E: Chelsea - Shaktar Donetsk - Juventus - FC Nordsjælland Group F: Bayern Munich - Valencia - Lille - Bate Borisov Group G: Barcelona - Benfica - Spartak Moscow - Celtic Group H: Manchester United - Braga - Galatasaray - CFR Cluj Top two teams from each group qualify for the knockout round which starts in February of 2013. The draw for the knockout phase will be held on December 14, 2012. ------------------------------------------------------------------ My predictions for groups are Group A: FC Porto - PSG Group B: Arsenal - Schalke 04 Group C: AC Milan -Malaga Group D: Real Madrid - Manchester City Group E: Chelsea -Juventus Group F: Bayern Munich -Bate Borisov Group G: Barcelona -Spartak Moscow Group H: Manchester United - Braga Group D is definitely the group of death. Bate Borisov is my dark horse for the knockout phase. Real Madrid is my pick to win the whole thing.
I kinda lost my trust in German football after the CL final and EC, hope Bayern wins this year and Dortmund doesn't totally disappoint. Bad enough how Gladbach messed up vs. Kiev after completely dominating in the early phase of their home match. German football nowadays: Dominate the hell out of the other team for the first 25 minutes, miss 5 100% chances and then get completely schooled on counter attacks. Hate to be so pessimistic about it, but we need a change, German teams play too risky.
This is partly why I now very much like the acquisition of Martinez by Bayern (by the way, very nice guy). I wouldn't even mind if Kroos is the odd man out and even Müller needs to split time with Robben and Ribery, but we play with Martinez and Gustavo in defensive midfield and Basti in front of them. We'll see. But Bayern went for a defensive ace instead of a guy like Diego or something like that. That should help.
Real sure hasn't looked the same since last year.....:grin: How nice of the fans for giving Silva hand.
70 minutes of near misses for Real and City looking like they were playing for the draw and BAM!!!! 1-0 City.
