Champions League Group Draw - C & D

Group C
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. 

Champions League Group Draw - A & B

Yesterday saw UEFA Complete the draw for the Group Stage of the Champions League. For those unfamiliar with the Champions League it is simply the ultimate Cash Cow of Football. With literally BILLIONS of dollars on the line, teams dream of simply qualifying for Football's glamor event while only the big boys have any realistic chance of winning it.

The competition pits the top European teams across the continent against each other. Champions of each country as well as runner ups, third, and even fourth place teams of major leagues (England, Spain, Italy etc) qualify. After an initial playoff for lessor teams (think Champions of Northern Ireland, Macedonia, Norway, etc) the final 32 teams are drawn into 8 groups of 4. Out of these 8 groups, the top 2 advance into the knockout stage of the tournament with the final being played in May at Real Madrid's Cathedral of Football, the Santiago Bernabeu.

This years draw provides Football fans with some mouthwatering ties, intriguing match ups, and thankfully, an easy path for my beloved Arsenal! The following is a group by group break down and my predictions.

Football Fodder lives!

Summer is drawing to a close and that can only mean one thing, the official start of European Football. After watching MLS and the Confederations Cup all summer, I am thoroughly excited for what is turning out to be a crazy season in all of the major leagues across Europe.

My apologizes for the delay, but Football Fodder is back. Tune in for updates including my breakdown of the Champions League Group Draw.

Cheers!