UEFA Champions League Analysis – Group B
Group B was a less intriguing batch with none of the traditional heavyweights featuring. Olympique Lyonnais was the strongest side in the group. FC Schalke 04 and SL Benfica were expected to fight it out for the second spot in the group.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC is deprived of any star power and expectations were always low. Things have gone pretty much as expected in the group. We now look analyse the group in more detail.
Olympique Lyonnais
Lyon used to be the dark horses of the continental competition not long ago. Under Paul Le Guen and then Gérard Houllier, the club consistently qualified for the later stages of the competition. However since 2007, the club has failed
to make a significant impact on Champions League. This season however, the club has made a strong start to their season. Now Lyon stand 1st in their group after gaining maximum points from their opening three matches.
A single victory from their remaining fixtures will guarantee Les Gones the first spot in their group. Such a feat will make sure Lyon avoids bigger clubs in the knock-out stage. With the squad Claude Puel has at his disposal, Lyon will
surely wrap up their qualification as early as next round.
FC Schalke 04
Schalke and Benfica were expected to fight for the second position. So far, Die Königsblauen has managed to stay clear of the Portuguese champions. Schalke faced Benfica at Arena AufSchalke on match day two and the Germans emerged victors
by a 2 – 0 score line. Schalke now travel to Tel Aviv in the next round of fixtures. On match day five, Germans welcome Olympique Lyon to Arena AufSchalke where they have more than a decent chance of achieving a result. Should Lyon win their match against
Benfica on match day four, Les Gones will be assured of the top spot in the group and the game against Schalke will become dead rubber for them. In such a scenario, Schalke will take the three points. That leaves Schalke as the clear favourites to finish second
in the group and advance to the knock out stage.
SL Benfica
The Portuguese champions have a good talented squad and yet find themselves a disappointing 3rd in the group. The likes of Saviola and Aimar have been unable to lift the Eagles so far. As things stand, a defeat
to Lyon a fortnight from now will end any hopes of Benfica progressing further in the competition. However, should Benfica manage to get the three points, things will get interesting in the group. Such a scenario, coupled with a Schalke win over a poor Tel-Aviv
outfit will leave both Lyon and Schalke with 9 points while Benfica will stand third with 6 points. Lyon will be forced to field a strong line up for their German visit. A Schalke-Lyon draw, which is very likely to happen, on match day five will leave the
two sides with 10 points and a Benfica victory will leave the Portuguese just a single point adrift of the top match day six to bring the final results. However, Benfica are unlikely to get a result against Lyon on November 2. It seems that a Europa League
spot is the most Portuguese will achieve the next time.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC
The Israeli outfit has conceded eight goals in just three fixtures. Schalke and Benfica are far superior to the Tel-Aviv based outfit and the ‘The Red Demons’ are unlikely to cause any sort of upset in the remaining fixtures. Tel-Aviv
doesn’t have anything to lose; in fact the Israeli outfit will be more than happy with the fact that they made it to the group stages and princely revenue to go with it.
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