UEFA Champions League Draws: Group A – Reactions
Inter Milan, under Jose Mourniho, won a treble of titles last season, winning the Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Champions league. The side would be looking to defend the coveted title, as they were drawn against some interesting teams. Dutch Champions FC Twente, explosive English side Tottenham Hotspurs and impressive German side SV Werder Bremen have been drawn against the defending Champions and they would face a tough test from these sides.
Massimo Moratti, Inter president, labeled the group to be a difficult one, because of its extreme balance. Inter would have to be extremely careful when they face these sides as none of these games can be considered favourable. The President aimed to defend the title but first would have to pass through a difficult group. Moratti claimed that although Spurs haven’t featured in the competition since a while, they have a great heritage and therefore wouldn’t struggle to adapt to Europe’s top competition. Recently, Inter Milan swooped all the UEFA player awards, as Julio Cesar (goalkeeper of the year), Wesley Sneijder (midfielder of the year), Maicon (defender of the year) and Diego Milito (forward of the year) won all the respective awards.
Inter are now under former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, following the departure of Jose Mourinho to Real Madrid. Things would now be different as Benitez would employ his own tactics and only time will tell what those tactics would prove. The UEFA Champions league, since its name change, has never been defended successfully, even though Manchester United reached the final, but then they too lost to Barcelona. The President claimed that Dutch Champions FC Twente are another fresh team and would have to be feared. The President concluded the statement by claiming that they could never relax in this group and cannot take any game easy
Werder Bremen coach, Thomas Schaaf stated that if the draw was closely watched, last year’s best player took out the draws, which all belonged to one team - Inter Milan. “Europe's best players – the best goalkeeper [Júlio César], the best defender [Maicon], the best midfielder [Wesley Sneijder], the best striker [Diego Milito] – all play for the defending champions”, claimed the German coach. The coach thus relished the challenge to play such a team and claimed Inter Milan to be a fantastic team which would prove a great challenge for them. The manager went on to claim that Tottenham had a dream run in the premier league last season and are now considered as one of the best in England. The Bremen coach added that nothing more could be said about FC Twente as they are the Dutch Champions and would prove to be healthy opponents in the Champions league.
Darren Eales, Tottenham Hotspurs director of football administration claimed that he expected to be drawn against a tough team from Pot 1 and admitted it would be really tough to play against the defending Champions. The Spurs directors added that Twente won their domestic league, Bremen finished third in Bundesliga and managed to defeat Sampdoria in the play-offs. This must mean that both these teams are tough and nothing can be taken for granted. Eales considered the challenge to face such sides as “exciting” and that it had been 48 years since they were in this competition.
Darren admitted that fans and players expected the side to be in this competition sooner than 48 years, but now that they are here, they would fight till their last breath and establish themselves fully in Europe’s Elite.
Dutch Champions coach Michel Preud'homme claimed that he hoped to be in the same group as Barcelona, Panathinaikos and Copenhagen, as then they stood a good chance of progressing. However, now they face Inter Milan who are the title holder, along with Werder Bremen and Tottenham. The manager claimed that Tottenham were the toughest team in Pot 3 and was a pity to have them in the same group. Michel claimed that his side had a tough time while playing Werder Bremen last season, as the Germans knocked them out of the Europa league last season. Twente boss added that having an English side in their group adds fuel to the fire and therefore expects each teams to give their all when they face each other in the UEFA Champions league
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