AC Milan
Real Madrid
Marseille
FC Zurich
Finally a group worth writing about! Milan v. Madrid, what else does a football fan want? Madrid, fresh off President Florentino Perez's massive 250 million euro spending spree look to reclaim the European Crown. Real, record 9 time champions made waves this summer in the transfer market with the additions world player of the year Christiano Ronaldo, former world player of the year Kaka, Xavi Alonso, Karim Benzema all while exporting their Dutch contingent. Perez built this team to win and new head coach Manuel Pellegrini is under immense pressure to deliver results immediately.
AC Milan is another club that underwent a mini-transformation this summer. Everything started out very poorly for Milan as they lost Kaka to Real Madrid and simply did not have the money to compete in the transfer market. The late addition of Klaas Jan Huntelaar and the reemergence of Ronaldino has provided some optimism in the Red and Black half of Milan. The two Milan v Madrid matches will be simply spectacular and it will be interesting to see the type of reception Kaka receives upon his return to the San Siro.
Unfortunately for a talented Marseille team and a young Zurich team, they really don't stand much of a chance in this group. They will battle it out for 3rd as Madrid takes the group.
Group D
Chelsea
Porto
Atletico Madrid
APOEL
Chelsea may have finally brought some stability to the club with the addition of Carlo Ancelotti. The veteran Italian tactician was heavily courted by Chelsea and his pedigree includes 2 champions league victories. He is expected to deliver Champions League glory and his squad is certainly capable of winning it all. With a rejuvenated Deco taking his place in Ancelotti's diamond midfield, coupled with Anelka and Drogoba's growing partnership, Chelsea should easily take this group.
An intriguing battle for second place will see Atletico Madrid take on Porto for the right to advance. Atletico is spearheaded in attack by the free scoring pair of Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero. The duo should provide plenty of highlights and goals but could be left wanting if a stubborn Porto side has its way. The Portuguese outfit, no strangers to Champions League glory themselves, have high hopes of advancing to the knockout round. They certainly have the squad to compete and I predict Porto advancing at Atletico's expense on goal difference.
A special shout out is in order for APOEL as the Cypriot champions knocked out FC Copenhagen of Denmark in the qualifying stage. Could APOEL shock Europe and claim a mighty scalp? Odds are no but I sure hope so!
That's it for now, I will wrap up the other groups next week and break down the absurd events that occurred at Old Trafford.
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