Official Champions League 2006/7 Thread **CONTAINS KEELEY**

The boyz played well on Tuesday night. Porto created very little, but we still had a Jens moment. There #10 was very nippy, but Thierry showed him what the games all about (lol). Must say the staduim looks great at night. And when you go to your seat, you can see this is a special place!

Lets hope we can win our next game and qualify early. And give the likes of Theo and Julio a good Champions League workout.


Gooner

but we still had a Jens moment.

He lives on the thin line between genius and insanity (like all good 'keepers).

Lets hope we can win our next game and qualify early. And give the likes of Theo and Julio a good Champions League workout.

Agreed. Baptista particularly needs games...

OK, here's my take after the 3rd and 4th round of matches.

First, a bit of Keeley to cheer me up...

Nice.

Now to business. Just when everything seems to be trundling along as expected, the bus swerves off the road into slightly suprising territory. Right now, it's far from inconceivable that both of last year's finalists will fail to qualify from the group stage. Here's what's happened, group-by-group, since my last report:


GROUP A

[code:1]Bremen 2-0 Levski
Levski 0-3 Bremen

Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona
Barca 2-2 Chelsea

Pld Pts
CHL 4 10
BRM 4 7
BAR 4 5
LEV 4 0[/code:1]

Chelsea got the better of Barcelona over their two games. That is they won one and drew the other. I've got good reasons to despise both teams, but even a neutral would be disgusted with the way these matches were conducted. Chelsea's win-at-any-cost by-any-means including the most cynical is a blight on the beautiful game. They seem to spread rancour and unpleasantness everywhere they go and almost invariably leave a bad taste in the mouth. Shame on Barcelona, so-called master exponents of the "jogo bonito" for being so willing to sink to that level. Diving, flying elbows, deliberate attempts to injure opponents, constant harrassment of the referee, unneccessary, intentional provocation by teams' officials... All this when both teams have the players to produce football of the highest, most entertaining quality. Disgusting and unacceptable IMO.

Anyway, Chelsea seem to have got themselves into the next round with 2 games to spare. Shame, as their anti-sporting mentality, typified by their odious manager, is obscene. They deserve to go through for being a great team full of great players, but they act like a bunch of shits and lose any respect they earn as quickly as they gain it.

Away from that (and it's hard to see beyond it, frankly) the real SPORTING story is that Barca need to get a win against Bremen or they're in real trouble. Bremen will now fancy their chances of progression at the Catalans' expense. That would be a real shock. I can see Chelsea, already qualified, taking their foot off the pedal against Bremen, just to spite Barca. Nothing's beneath them, from what I've seen. Can't read too much into Bremen's 2 victories over Levski Sofia, though. The Bulgarian "whipping boys" of Group A look well out of their depth.



Group B

[code:1]Inter 2-1 Spartak
Spartak 0-1 Inter

Sporting 0-1 Bayern
Bayern 0-0 Sporting

Pld Pts
BAY 4 10
INT 4 6
SCP 4 5
SPK 4 1[/code:1]

Bayern are just about home and dry, despite not managing to defeat Sporting at home. Inter have recovered from their disastrous start and are now very much alive. The second qualification sport in this group seems to be a straight fight between Inter and Sporting. I'd expect Inter to win it. Spartak need a mathematical miracle, which they ain't gonna get, just to grab 3rd spot and the consolation of a place in the UEFA cup which all 3rd placed teams will get once the group phase is finished.



Group C
[code:1]Bordeaux 0-1 Liverpool
Liverpool 3-0 Bordeaux

Galatasaray 1-2 PSV
PSV 2-0 Galatasaray

Pld Pts
LIV 4 10
PSV 4 10
GAL 4 1
BDX 4 1[/code:1]

This one's just about over, bar the details. Liverpool have suddenly found the form they were missing early season, and comprehensively dismissed Bordeaux. PSV were similarly too strong for Galatasaray, whose "golden era" seems to be over. The only issues left are who finishes top out of Liverpool and PSV and who gets the UEFA cup spot between Gala and Bordeaux. My money's on Liverpool and Gala.




Group D

[code:1]Olympiacos 0-1 Roma
Roma 1-1 Olympiacos

Valencia 2-0 Shakhtar
Shakhtar 2-2 Valencia

Pld Pts
VAL 4 10
ROM 4 7
OLY 4 2
SHK 4 2[/code:1]

Another group that's stitched-up now. Valencia are through. Roma could theoretically be caught, but they won't. I fancy Olympiacos to grab 3rd place. Valencia will surely win the group and rightly so as they're the best team.



Group E

[code:1]D. Kyiv 0-3 Lyon
Lyon 1-0 D. Kyiv

Steaua 1-4 R. Madrid
R. Madrid 1-0 Steaua

Pld Pts
LYO 4 12
RM 4 9
STE 4 3
DYN 4 0[/code:1]

Qualification issues are already decided now in Group E. Steaua Bucharest cannot overhaul Real. The team from the Spanish capital have awoken from their early season stupour now, just in time to snuff out what looked like being an impressive challenge from the Romanians. I expect Steaua to grab the 3rd place consolation prize as Dynamo are less than a flicker of a shadow of the mighty force they once were and the Bucharesti are on the up. Lyon are getting better and better in this tournament and are my tip for a semi-final at least. Real as yet haven't really convinced, outside of their impressive win at Steaua. One match though, does not make champions.



Group F

[code:1]Celtic 3-0 Benfica
Benfica 3-0 Celtic

Man. Utd 3-0 København
København 1-0 Man. Utd

Pld Pts
MU 4 9
CEL 4 6
BEN 4 4
FCK 4 4[/code:1]

This is an exciting group, with none of the final places decided yet. Anything could happen in the last two games. Copenhagen's shock win over Man U has opened the group up completely. The Mancunians will be hoping their defeat was just a blip, and their qualification as group winners is probably not in any real danger, but there's a little bit of pressure on them now where there had been none. Any one of the other three teams could take the other qualifying slot, and they will all fancy their chances. Celtic and Benfica have huge home support and both seem to be completely different teams depending on whether they're home or away. As the Glasweigans have the 2 point advantage at this stage, they have to be the favourites. Copenhagen will have to shock quite a lot of people to snatch 2nd place. I still think they will actually finish last and that Benfica will get the UEFA cup spot.



Group G

[code:1]CSKA Moskva 1-0 Arsenal
Arsenal 0-0 CSKA Moskva

Porto 4-1 Hamburg
Hamburg 1-3 Porto


Pld Pts
CSK 4 8
ARS 4 7
POR 4 7
HSV 4 0[/code:1]

This is a real surprise. A tight-as-can-be three horse race for the 2 qualifying spots. Arsenal were robbed of an equaliser in Moscow by an incorrect refereeing decision. In the return game in London, the Gunners wasted an embarrassing number of easy opportunities to score and are now paying the price of being under real pressure. Hamburg are hopelessly outclassed and it may be significant that Porto have played them twice where as the Londoners and the Moscovites have only met them once each. I'm biased of course, but I do think CSKA were lucky over their 2 games against Arsenal. Nonetheless, they are well-organised and very strong and I think they will get the better of Porto. In all probability, my boys will have to get at least a draw from their tough final game in Portugal to get through. I predict the final group placings will be exactly as they are now, but it's going to be tight. One (more) bad game from CSKA, Arsenal or Porto will almost certainly be fatal for whichever team fails to perform. I can see Hamburg finishing with 6 straight defeats though.



Group H

[code:1]Anderlecht 0-1 Milan
Milan 4-1 Anderlecht

Lille 3-1 AEK
AEK 1-0 Lille

Pld Pts
MIL 4 10
LIL 4 5
AEK 4 4
AND 4 2[/code:1]

It's just about possible for AEK to catch Milan in theory, but it won't happen. The nothern Italinas are as good as through. They've been the best team in the group by far, and will qualify as comfortable group winners. Although Anderlecht can go through in second if they win their 2 remaining games, I don't think they will. But there's a real three-way battle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. I can't pick a likelier qualifier between Lille and AEK, but I think these 2 will occupy the 2nd and 3rd places when the dust settles. AEK, typically of Greek teams, are a very different prospect at home than they are away. Lille can be impressive one week and dire the next. I really don't expect whichever one goes through to the next stage to have much of a further impact on the tournament though.


And that's that. I'll finish as I started, with Keeley.