Besides the FIFA World Cup, no football competition draws as much
interest from the global football community than UEFA Champions League.
Managers and players see it as club football’s Holy Grail and the most difficult prize to win.
The trophy rates highly on the priority list for players and managers
alike but to club owners the financial reward can help strengthen a
cash starved balance sheet.
Qualification to the Group Stage ensures a lucrative €8.6m windfall
with clubs receiving further cash incentives upon winning through to the
knockout phase, quarters, semis and ultimately the final.
The Champions League brand is enormously popular and last season’s
final between German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund
attracted a global audience in excess of 150 million viewers across 200
countries.
Twitter and Facebook continue to experience massive global traffic,
as multiple-platform participation becomes the norm for viewers craving
interaction with like-minded football fans.
Group A
Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Sociedad.
Group B
Real Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray, FC Copenhagen.
Group C
PSG, Benfica, Olympiakos, Anderlecht.
Group D
Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City, FC Viktoria Plzen.
Group E
Chelsea, Schalke, FC Basel, Steaua Bucharest.
Group F
Arsenal, Marseille, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli.
Group G
Porto, Atlético Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg, Austria Vienna.
Group H
Barcelona, Milan, Ajax, Celtic.
Arsenal, Marseille, Dortmund and Napoli arguably drew the toughest
group and progression could ultimately come down to head-to-head
records.
Plenty of expectation awaits a group promising to entertain both off and on the pitch.
A must watch for all football ‘hipsters’ is a Borussia Dortmund home game.
Westfalenstadion in Dortmund has an atmosphere rarely seen in world
football and the ‘Yellow Wall’ of fans in the southern terrace is not to
be missed.
The most open of groups is Group G with Atlético Madrid, Porto, Zenit St Petersburg and outsiders Austria Vienna.
Atlético have a strong squad and have commenced their La Liga campaign with a very top-heavy goal differential.
A match-up with Porto will be the highlight as both teams play an attacking style that will see the goalkeepers kept busy.
EPL heavyweights Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City were
dealt favourable draws and should progress through to the knockout
rounds.
The Champions League always has potential for the odd ‘banana-skin’
fixture as teams can struggle with the tedious private jet travel
demands.
Current champions Bayern Munich could make life difficult for City
after their disappointing showing last season under Roberto Mancini.
Finally the Group attracting plenty of attention boasts the richest footballing talent on the planet.
The Real Madrid forward line has been bolstered by the recent world
record transfer (€100m) signing of Welsh born Gareth Bale in the
transfer window.
The question of many is will the marriage of Bale and star striker
Cristiano Ronaldo deliver a tenth European title to the Bernabeu
faithful?
Italian Serie A titleholders Juventus will ensure another classic arm
wrestle between the two teams of vastly contrasting styles.
Both legs will draw an enormous worldwide audience that will see the
many coffee-fuelled cafes across the country filled to capacity before
the long working day begins.
Be sure to rest up well and hit the pillow early as the first group
stage fixtures kick-off in earnest from September 18 and 19 from 4.45am
AEST.
With a huge thanks this story appears in:
www.theroar.com.au
With a huge thanks this story appears in:
www.theroar.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment