Champions League Draws – Part 4
In a replica of last years' draws, the top two teams in UEFA Champions League - AC Milan and Real Madrid - will face each other in the same group. Consequently, this particular group is considered to be the “group of death” without any doubt.
AC Milan is going to face Real Madrid. It’s “déjà vu” for both the teams. Last year, the two clubs were paired in the same group and AC Milan was the one who came out on top at home in a stalemate against Real Madrid in Santiago Bernabeu. However, both of them had to face defeat in the next round as Real Madrid went out because Lyon and AC Milan were up against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.
The Red Devils defeated AC Milan at home after winning 3-2 at San Siro. Real Madrid had to face humiliation when their “expensive” players were of no use against Lyon who outclassed them in every department. Manchester won in France and managed a draw at Santiago Bernabeu. This time round, Real Madrid has spent even more on their team and they have hired the best coach in the world.
Mourinho has already appointed players of his choice in Real Madrid and he has bought talented youngsters Angel Di Maria and German sensations, Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira to the squad. Moreover, he is also given hold of the “electrifying” Portuguese striker, Cristiano Ronaldo, who is considered to be one of the best players in the world. It was Cristiano Ronaldo who was able to score 34 goals in only 36 games that he played in the last season and he is going to continue doing that, especially with Jose Mourinho coaching him in Real Madrid.
Madrid didn’t even manage to win a single title last season even though they had such a great squad but this time they are definitely going to try to get their hands on almost everything.
On the other hand, AC Milan is trying to get Ibrahimovic in their squad but even without Ibrahimovic, they are a very experienced side. Most of the players in the squad are over the age of 30 and they have enough experience to beat any other team. The situation is quite similar to last season. It is going to be the ‘Men versus Boys’ competition all over again when the two teams collide. Moreover, these two have a rivalry because Real Madrid and AC Milan are the only sides that have crossed the figure of 5 in terms of winning this European title. Moreover, Dutch team Ajax and Auxerre will provide stiff competition to both teams. Consequently, this group is definitely one of the most “unpredictable” groups for this 2010.
The team that did not win the UEFA Champions League since a long time is Arsenal and they were given charge of Group H. Many say that Arsenal’s young team is not capable of winning anything yet but Arsene Wenger is the man who can definitely do wonders with young talented players. Arsenal has an easier group and he is definitely going to win at least one title.
With FC Shakhtar, Braga and Partizan Belgrade in the group, Arsenal will ease through the first phase. Arsenal has a solid chance of making it to the semi-finals of the competition. The only difficult team that they are going to face in the group stages is Braga, who defeated Sevilla in the qualifying stages and was able to make its way to the UEFA Champions League.
Tags: