Champions League Draw

As always, MiB FC Blog is first with all the latest soccer news. Here is the draw for the final 32:

Group A:

Chelsea
Roma
Bordeaux
CFR

Verdict: Fairly straightforward for Chelsea and Roma I feel. Bordeaux might be able to pull off a tiny upset at home, but its gonna be the big two. It will be interesting to see who tops the group with Chelsea favourites. Interesting fact: Riise will be playing against Chelsea for the first time since his own goal cost Liverpool a place in the final in 2008. A chance for revenge? Or another blunder? Only time will tell.

Group B:

Inter Milan
Werder Bremen
Panathinaikos
Anorthosis

Verdict: Mourinho couldnt have asked for an easier draw. Inter should easily win all their home games and wrap up qualification with games to spare. Bremen and Panathinaikos will fight it out for 2nd, and eventhough Anothosis sounds more like a body part, I expect them to give a couple of teams a real fright at their home ground.

Group C:

Barcelona
Sporting Lisbon
Basel
Shakhtar

Verdict: Easy for Barca. They will qualify top of the group but might not get there as comfortably as people think. Expect Sporting and even Basel to steal some points from them but at the Nou Camp they will beat all these teams. Basel are no pushovers and will push Sporting all the way for 2nd spot.

Group D:

Liverpool
PSV
Marseille
Atletico Madrid

Verdict: Tough group for Liverpool. They drew the hardest team from the last pot, Atletico Madrid, and it was just waiting to happen wasn't it? Madrid has Luis Garcia and Sinama Pongolle, both ex Liverpool players, plus Reina comes from there and of course Fernando Torres too. Aguero plays for Atletico so Liverpool has to be wary. PSV are not the side they used to be and even Marseille looks depleted this season. This group is really open and it's anybody's guess who will be the 2 to get in. But if I had to stick my neck out I would say Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. Which order that I still cannot say for sure.

Group E:

Manchester United
Villareal
Celtic
AaB

Verdict: A bit tricky for the Red Devils because Villareal are a good team. Celtic will play like its their Champions Leage Final against MU and AaB will be a tricky place to visit in winter because Scandinavia is never a nice place to go around that time. But I expect the defending champions to just about squeeze through on top, followed by Villareal, who should just pip Celtic, but don't count them out.

Group F:

Lyon
Bayern
Steaua
Fiorentina

Verdict: Do we really care? Bayern Munich are back in the competiton so expect them to be hungry. They will top this group. Fiorentina will be no pushovers though and I expect them to pip Lyon to second place, who are definitely not the team they used to be.

Group G:

Arsenal
Porto
Fenerbahce
Dynamo Kyiv

Verdict: Not an easy draw at all for Arsenal. All their opponents have very good home records so Arsenal are going to struggle away. Fenerbahce beat Chelsea at home so you can roughly guess what to expect, plus Porto rarely lose at home. Kyiv will be snowing all the time so that doesnt make things any easier. This is a tricky group to predict. I would say Arsenal and Porto, in which order I dono.

Group H:

Real Madrid
Juventus
Zenit
BATE

Verdict: It should be fun to see Zenit in the competition if they manage to hold on to Arshavin. Zenit play really good football and I can tell you they will give all these teams a good fight. Real Madrid won't have it easy for sure but they have the European pedigree. Juventus is back in the big time and they will be flying the flag for Italy as Milan are not there. Real and Juve to go through but expect it to be a helluva battle.