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sabaii sabaii

!st games Tuesday 13th September

Final in Munich, Come on Fergies Fledglings

sabaii sabaii

My predictions

A-- 1, Man City, 2, Bayern Munich
B-- 1, Inter Milan, 2, Lille
C-- 1, Man Utd, 2, Benfica
D-- 1, Real madrid, 2, Benfica
E-- 1, Valencia, 2, Chelsea
F-- 1, Marseille, 2, Borussia Dortmund
G-- 1, Porto, 2, St Petersburg
H-- 1, AC Milan, 2 Bate Borisov

Chairman Mao

Group H will be a close one to see which two go through.

Some good games though and some good groups.

Group A should be entertaining.
Madrid v Ajax and Lyon should be interesting.
Chelsea, Valencia, Leverkusen should be good.
Arsenal's group could be tough for them.
Barca v Milan should be good.


Pity it's all on at 2 or 3 in the morning.

spikebs4

A..man-city,,b-munich..B..inter-milan,,c.s.k.a..C..man-u,,benfica..D..madrid,,ajax..E..chelsea,,b-leverkusen..F..marseille,,b-dortmund..G..porto,,donetsk..H..barca,,milan...

Chairman Mao

Get over to Ladbrokes, they'll always accept a donation.

spikebs4

to far to walk....

FarangRed

My predictions for winners and ruuners up of each group:
A - Munich & Villareal
B - Inter & Moscow
C - Unted & Benfica
D - Madrid & Ajax
E - Chelsea & Valencia
F - Dortmund & Arsenal
G - St Petersburgh & Donetsk
H - Barca & Milan

FarangRed

Conspiracy theories? Try this one....Otelui Galati are apparently owned by Sepp Blatter....yes, THAT Sepp Blatter...surely some conflict of interest there?

LooseBowels

Looking at that I would take Benfica to win the tournament, seeing as they have two teams in it

You can't argue with that

LooseBowels

Here's my take on how the group stage will pan out

A - Villareal and Man City
B - Inter & Moscow
C - Unted & Benfica
D - Madrid & Lyon
E - Chelsea & Leverkusen
F - Dortmund & Arsenal
G - Porto & Donetsk
H - Barca & Milan

Sailing into trouble

I thought they would be weak this year. These kids play for each other in a way that is scary! The leagues top scorer last year can't even get a game!

Mind you MAn City looked good on the weekend. To add Icing to the cake Wigan are not dead last! Well not yet!
If they make the final I wonder if the reds will fly?

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Thormaturge

I just have two preferences.

A) We get a final that is something other than Man. Utd v Barcelona.

B) We don't get Man Utd v Man city. We have enough of that already thanks.

billy the kid

can only see another man.u v's barca. final.

Marmite the Dog

I predict that a bunch of overpaid fags will fall over a lot and roll about for a bit.

The Muffinman

Bloody well hope not!
It all depends on how the draw for the later rounds goes anyway.

billy the kid

unless someone breaks Messi's legs
or Rooney's hair falls out.

Thormaturge

I suppose Chelsea v Arsenal would be worse.

LooseBowels

Dortmund 1 Arsenal 1
Chelsea 2 Bayer Leverkusen 0
Man City 1 Napoli 1
Benfica 1 Man Utd 1

FarangRed

Man United, City held; Inter stunned

Ondrej Celustka fired home a famous 76th-minute winner as Trabzonspor stunned Inter Milan in their Champions League Group B opener at the San Siro.
The Turkish side are only in the tournament because Fenerbahce were kicked out due to match-rigging allegations and they seized their chance when Celustka swept home the rebound after Halil Altintop's shot rebounded off the woodwork.


The 1-0 defeat was a stunning setback for the 2009 champions who had dominated much of the evening with Mauro Zarate having the pick of the chances before they paid for their failure in front of goal.


In another dramatic Group B clash, Spartak Moscow hit back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Lille in France. Seydou Doumbia scored twice - his second in injury time - to cancel out strikes from Moussa Sow and Benoit Pedretti.
Ryan Giggs rolled back the years to rescue last season's beaten finalists Manchester United a point in their opening Group C clash against Benfica at the Stadium of Light.


Giggs drilled home a magnificent 42nd-minute equaliser in the Stadium of Light after Oscar Cardozo had turned Jonny Evans in the box and given the Portuguese side a 24th-minute lead.
It was a sluggish performance from United but the point will have pleased boss Sir Alex Ferguson who made eight changes - including replacing keeper David De Gea with one eye on Sunday's clash with Chelsea.


Also in Group C, an Alexander Frei penalty six minutes from time gave Swiss side Basle a 2-1 win over Romanian Champions League debutants Otelul Galati in match which saw two red cards.


Fabian Frei's 39th-minute effort put Basle up at the break before Marius Pena's 58th minute equaliser. Adrian Salagean was sent off shortly before Frei's winner, and Basle's Benjamin Huggel followed two minutes from time.
Like United, Manchester City also had to come from behind to ensure their Champions League debut did not end in defeat against Napoli at the City of Manchester Stadium.


After both sides struck the woodwork in the first half - City's Yaya Toure and Ezequiel Lavezzi for the visitors - Edison Cavani silenced the home crowd by putting Napoli ahead on 69.
But five minutes later Roberto Mancini's men drew level when Aleksandar Kolarov blasted home direct from a free-kick. City's Vincent Kompany also cleared off the line to deny Marek Hamsik.


Group A rivals Bayern Munich showed they mean business with a 2-0 win in Spain over Villarreal. Toni Kroos set the Germans on their way after just seven minutes and Brazilian Rafina wrapped up victory 14 minutes from time.
Real Madrid made do without suspended coach Jose Mourinho and injured midfielder Kaka as they started their campaign in Group D by nudging past Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 in Croatia.


Angel di Maria struck the all-important goal in the 53rd minute but it was far from plain sailing for the Spanish giants, who survived with 10 men for last 18 minutes after Marcelo's dismissal for a second yellow card.


Also in Group D, Ajax and Lyon played out a dull goalless draw in Amsterdam, with the dangerous Michel Bastos coming closest to winning it for the French side.

LooseBowels

So. thats the group stages over with, have your predictions flopped or are you still running,
Who's your money on now.
I'm still on Man United to win it.


Round of 16 draw
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) v APOEL FC (CYP)
SSC Napoli (ITA) v Chelsea FC (ENG)
AC Milan (ITA) v Arsenal FC (ENG)
FC Basel 1893 (SUI) v FC Bayern München (GER)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER) v FC Barcelona (ESP, holders)
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS) v Real Madrid CF (ESP)
FC Zenit St Petersburg (RUS) v SL Benfica (POR)
Olympique de Marseille (FRA) v FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)

CNF55

Hmmm, okay, it's early in the morning so maybe I'm missing something??

There is no team to challenge Barca. The way they took apart Santos last Sunday was just pure brilliance. They are by far the best team in the world.

With the final played in Munich, Bayern might have an outside chance - if they get there.

withnallstoke

Man united might be re-inststed to the competition if the Swiss teams get shafted.

sabaii sabaii

FarangRed

Manchester United could be handed a lifeline in this season's Champions League because of a row between FIFA and football bosses in Switzerland.
The Reds were knocked out of Europe's elite competition and dropped into the Europa League when they were beaten by Swiss side Basel.
But FIFA has threatened to suspend Switzerland from world football in a dispute over disciplinary action taken against another Swiss club, FC Sion.
The world governing body has ordered the Swiss FA to enforce a ban on the registration of six players signed by FC Sion and set a deadline of four weeks to comply.
As FIFA spokesman said: "Should this deadline not be respected, the Swiss FA will be automatically suspended from 14 January 2012 onwards."
If a country is suspended by FIFA then none of its teams can compete in international competitions, meaning Basel would not be allowed to play in the Champions League.
Although there has been no official statement on what would happen to the club's place in the competition, it is thought likely that it would be handed to Manchester United as the third-placed team in the qualifying group.

FarangRed

This is a first so whatever is done sets the precedent, but considering that FC Sion have not directly influenced the Basle and United fixtures, and Basle are being excluded through no fault of their own, therefore have had no direct advantage over United which may have caused United not to qualify on merit, why should a team with 9 points go through in front of a team with 10 points?