Champions League - Preview of the British sides (Part 2)
Group F:
Chelsea are the form team in UEFA Champions League this season and also many pundit’s favourite to end the trophy drought in Europe and finally win a title that has so far eluded them. Chelsea’s performances on the pitch this season in Europe have been pretty
convincing as they sit at the top of the group table with two convincing wins.
On match day 1, Chelsea opened their campaign with a flawless 2-0 win over French giants, Marseille and then they backed it up with another convincing 4-1 thumping of MSK Zilina on match day 2.
Tonight, the English league leaders will travel to Luzniki Stadium in Moscow to take on Spartak Moscow in an eagerly anticipated clash. The beauty of this tie is the fact that both the sides have a 100% record in the competition so far and another win for
either will see them in pole position for qualification into the next round. So, all will be at stake in tonight’s encounter.
Spartak are also on the back of two convincing wins in the competition as they beat Marseille 1-0 and thrashed Zilina by 3 goals to nil on match day 2. But their opponents tonight will be an entirely different cup of tea as they host Carlo Ancelotti’s slick
goal scoring machine.
The other match in group F will also be a high stake encounter with Marseille hosting Slovakian minnows and Champions League debutants, MSK Zilina. A defeat for either side will all but doom their competition to disaster as they face a daunting task to progress
to the next round.
A loss may not be all that bad for the Slovakian side considering that this is the first time in their history that they are rubbing their shoulders with the continent’s elite while a loss for the 5-time French champions will be nothing short of a calamity.
Group H:
The group H of Champions League plays host to another English side, Arsenal. The gunners may not be firing on all cylinders in the English Premier League but in Europe, they have come out of the blocks all guns blazing with 2 wins out of two and in the process
thumping 9 goals past their oppositions.
Arsenal opened their campaign with a goal glut against Braga at the Emirates, beating the Portuguese giants 6-0 and they backed it up with another performance of note in Serbia, beating Partizan Belgrade 3-1 on match day two.
Tonight’s match at the Emirates will hold an emotional quotient as ex-Arsenal striker, Eduardo will return to Londin with the mega rich Ukrainian side, Shakhtar Donetsk, only three months after leaving the English capital.
Both Arsenal and Shakhtar like to play their football at high tempo and tonight’s game is expected to be a feisty encounter, given the wide array of attacking talent on display.
If Arsenal win tonight they will all but make sure of their progress to the next round and the same will hold true for Shakhtar.
In the other encounter of group H, two teams will hope to open their account in the competition as both Braga and Partizan Belgrade are pointless after two games. Another loss for either of the sides can prove to be fatal and both will be aware of that.
Usually 10 points from 6 group games are enough for any side to progress to the next round and with both the teams on zero points, it will be mighty difficult for either side to go through. For Braga, who are making their debut in the competition, perhaps
a third place finish would suffice as it would give them a chance to play in the Europa League while Partizan will push hard to stay in the Champions League.
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