It was only just in May this year that we witnessed Jose Mourinho an his Inter Milan team lift the European Champions League trophy, after a fiercely contested final with Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabéu. Three months has elapsed and Europe's most prestigious club competition is back again and now in its 56th season with the final of this years edition to culminate at the spiritual home of world football at the Wembley Stadium in London on May 28, 2011.
The preliminary knock-out phase has only just been concluded, which decided the eight (8) remaining teams to complete the list of thirty-two (32) teams which will participate in this season's competition.
These are the eight (8) Groups for the UEFA Champions League Season 2010/2011:
Group A
Inter (Italy)
Werder Bremen (Germany)
Tottenham (England)
FC Twente (Netherlands)
Arguably the toughest group of this stage with the defending champions Inter fully aware that there won't be any easy games in this group. Inter will have to be at their best consistently to secure qualification as the likes of Werder Bremen and Tottenham can be considered serious challengers for the top two spots. Dutch champions Twente will be least likely to progress from this group, but by no means is it suggested that the results in this group will be straightforward. One would however still expect Inter to qualify for the knockout round.
Prediction: 1. Inter, 2. Werder Bremen, 3. Tottenham, 4. FC Twente
Group B
Lyon (France)
Benfica (Portugal)
Schalke (Germany)
Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel)
Last year's semi-finalists Lyon, are clear favourites to finish on top of this group with Schalke and Portuguese Champions Benfica battling it out for second place. Hapoel Tel Aviv, most would expect, should not seriously pose much of a threat in this group.
Group C
Manchester United (England)
Valencia (Spain)
Rangers (Scotland)
Bursaspor (Turkey)
This group would appear to be a fairly competitive one in which Manchester United, who have appeared in two finals over the past three seasons, will face their toughest challenge from either Valencia or Rangers. Turkish champions Bursaspor are unlikely to cause any serious problems but it will be interesting to see how Valencia cope this season without Villa and Silva who both have been their most influential players over past couple seasons. Rangers will no doubt believe that they have a strong case for challenging for that second place position.
Prediction: 1. Manchester United, 2. Valencia, 3. Rangers, 4. Bursaspor
Group D
Barcelona (Spain)
Panathinaikos (Greece)
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Rubin Kazan (Russia)
Once again, the draw has been kind to European heavyweights Barcelona who should encounter very little resistance in their pursuit to progress to the knockout stages. Barcelona will however be reminded of Rubin Kazan's shock victory over them at the Camp Nou in the group stages last season. Greece champions Panathinaikos will be looking to secure second position but will face stiff competition from Rubin Kazan who should at least cop that third place spot for the Europa League.
Prediciton: 1. Barcelona, 2. Panathinaikos, 3. Rubin Kazan, 4. Copenhagen
Group E
Bayern Munich (Germany)
Roma (Italy)
Basel (Switzerland)
Cluj (Romania)
Last year's finalists Bayern Munich are clear favourites to progress from this group with Roma the only team to pose any serious challenge for them. Basel and Cluj are expected to battle it out for that third place position.
Prediction: 1. Bayern Munich, 2. Roma, 3. Basel, 4. Cluj
Group F
Chelsea (England)
Marseille (France)
Spartak Moscow (Russia)
Zilina (Slovakia)
Chelsea will once again be attempting to win Europe's most coveted prize once again this season. This is a prize which has eluded Ranieri, Mourinho, Grant, Scolari/Hiddink and Ancelloti, all who have failed to deliver that trophy which owner Roman Abramovich had set his sights on when he took over the club in 2003. Chelsea should however qualify easily, with current French champions Marsielle (the first winners of the modern Champions League) expected to qualify with along them. Spartak Moscow and debutants Zilina should realistically be concentrating on securing enough points to make it to the Europa League.
Group G
AC Milan (Italy)
Real Madrid (Spain)
Ajax (Netherlands)
Auxerre (France)
Without any shadow of a doubt Group G will be dubbed by most as the group of death in this year's competition, with Milan, Madrid and Ajax having won the competition a total of seven (7) times between them since the competition was revamped in season 1992/1993. AC Milan and Real Madrid for the second season in a row will be meeting at the group stage with Jose Mourinho's team looking to repeat their feat in the group stage last season by finishing on top, despite not being able to beat AC Milan either home or away. On paper Ajax and Auxerre are contending for third spot in this group, however they should not be completely written off as they both have the potential of grinding shock results and stand an outside chance of progressing to the next round.
Group H
Arsenal (England)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Braga (Portugal)
Partizan (Serbia)
Arsenal are expected to qualify from this group without much problems, with their toughest match likely to be that trip to Ukraine to face Shakhtar, who were Europa League Champions only a year ago. Braga and Partizan recorded upsets to progress to this stage of the competition, however it would be highly unlikely for either of them to advance to the knockout stages.
Prediction: 1. Arsenal, 2. Shakhtar Donetsk, 3. Braga, 4. Partizan
Matchday 1 Kicks off on September 14/15, 2010.
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