Group Stage [R]

[Soccerholic]

Not a bad draw for Man Utd. After losing Ze Roberto and Ballack, Leverkusen should not be as strong as last year. (Plus they can't get that World Cup phenom Donovan to cross the Atlantic and play for them. ;) )

[olafgb]

I didn't think to ever experience a difficult draw for Bayern in my whole life - today rescued me (though Liverpool or Rome instead of La Coruna would have been nicer :))

In groups B, C, F and H the two for the next group stage should be clear under normal circumstances.

[benine]

Originally posted by BuffloSoldier
Arsenal's draw is not that easy; Dortmund, PSV and Auxerre is pretty strong.

And Newcastle has Juventus, Feyenoord, and Kiev. That isn't easy at all.

Arsenal drew three teams that arent "amazing", just good. PSV and BvD are going to test Arse's attack, and thats about it...not too much of offensive threats in this group other than arse.

Beyond Juve, NONE of the group e teams shold make it/will make it far.

[kerpow]

Group A:
Arsenal
Borussia Dortmund
PSV Eindhoven
Auxerre

Pretty open group. Home form will be important.

Group B:
Valencia
Liverpool
Spartak Moscow
Basel

Valencia 1st, Liverpool 2nd.

Group C:
Real Madrid
Roma
AEK Athens
Genk

It will finish as it reads.

Group D:
Inter Milan
Lyon
Ajax
Rosenborg

Difficult to predict Inter's form. Ajax should win the group.

Group E:
Juventus
Feyenoord
Dynamo Kiev
Newcastle United

Very open group. Impossible to predict. Juve should win it though.

Group F:
Manchester United
Bayer Leverkusen
Olympiakos
Maccabi Haifa

Again, as it reads.

Group G:
Bayern Munich
Deportivo La Coruna
AC Milan
Lens

Ouch. Bye bye Rivaldo

Group H:
Barcelona
Galatasaray
Lokomotiv Moscow
Club Bruges

Barca and Gala.

[BuffloSoldier]

Originally posted by benine
Arsenal drew three teams that arent "amazing", just good. PSV and BvD are going to test Arse's attack, and thats about it...not too much of offensive threats in this group other than arse.

Koller, Ewerthon, and Amoroso (when healthy) aren't offensive threats? :D

[Soccerholic]

Originally posted by benine


Arsenal drew three teams that arent "amazing", just good. PSV and BvD are going to test Arse's attack, and thats about it...not too much of offensive threats in this group other than arse.

Beyond Juve, NONE of the group e teams shold make it/will make it far.

I wouldn't discount Dortmund so easily. Any team that wins the Bundesliga is more than just "good," and German teams have done well in the CL recently.

In contrast, Italian teams have not done well recently. Hasn't Juve crashed out of the first stage the last couple of years?

[Nermalthecat]

Group G looks very difficult.

I am thrilled Haifa made it to Group play, but what a tough draw they got. Amazing that an Israeli side will get to play the most famous club in the world and a premier German team - should make for some good press.

Too bad world politics are forcing them to play their home games in Cyprus or Bulgaria.

[IASocFan]

Originally posted by Syncope
Why not promote ManU to the second group stage now?

Like in their first game in Hungary. :)
You still have to play the game.

[thepremierleague]

All the English teams have pretty easy groups in my view.

Arsenal have the toughest group but are the best English team so should not have many problems.

[thepremierleague]

Originally posted by olafgb
(though Liverpool or Rome instead of La Coruna would have been nicer :))


Deportivo are not good against German style football. Bayer beat them 6-1 on aggr last time.

I would bet Liverpool to beat Bayern over Depor because of their German like Defence and tactics.


Liverpool Valencia will be so wierd, they practically play exactly the same! Could be the most boring games of the first stage, but I think they will attack each other.


Arsenal-Dortmund, ManU-Bayer! Should decide who has the best teams, Bundas or EPL ;)

[Juanele]

Originally posted by thepremierleague
Arsenal have the toughest group but are the best English team so should not have many problems.

Unless they get rid of their road phobia in Europe they will always have problems.

[Juanele]

Originally posted by thepremierleague


Deportivo are not good against German style football. Bayer beat them 6-1 on aggr last time.


Not just Depor but all Spanish teams have trouble against German opponents. Just like most all English teams have trouble against Spanish opponents.

[Soccerholic]

Originally posted by IASocFan


Like in their first game in Hungary. :)
You still have to play the game.

Fortunately, they get to play half of their games at Old Trafford. ;)

[dmar]

Group G is very difficult... poor Deportivo

[Spartak]

Originally posted by dmar
Group G is very difficult... poor Deportivo
Milan fans say poor Milan and Bayern fans say poor Bayern. The only good thing that came out this draw for me is that there is good probability that ESPN2 will show some Milan games in the Champions League.

[thepremierleague]

Originally posted by Juanele


Not just Depor but all Spanish teams have trouble against German opponents. Just like most all English teams have trouble against Spanish opponents.

I was going to say Spanish teams instead of just Deportivo, but Real beat Bayern so I wasn't sure and Spanish teams are better afterall.

Spanish are hardest for English often I would agree.


At least they are all good against Italian style football. :D

[Ian Lozada]

Originally posted by thepremierleague
All the English teams have pretty easy groups in my view.

Arsenal have the toughest group...

Um, Newcastle?

[thepremierleague]

Newcastle? Are you serious?

They will breeze through it. They could even win the group.

Dynamo are not a force anymore, Feyenord finished 3rd in the dutch league, and Juventus don't exaclty have a great record in the CL recently.

[Syncope]

Groups ranked by statistics, not skill:

Seed Ranking - Team - UEFA Coefficient

Group A
7 Arsenal FC (ENG) 90.729
15 BV Borussia Dortmund (GER) 73.495
18 PSV Eindhoven (HOL) 63.082
29 AJ Auxerre (FRA) 32.176

Seeding Total: 69
Seeding Avg: 17.25
UEFA Coeff. Total: 259.482
UEFA Coeff. Avg: 64.87


Group B
5 Valencia CF (ESP) 106.233
11 Liverpool FC (ENG) 79.729
20 FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) 59.645
32 FC Basel (SUI) 14.312

Seeding Total: 68
Seeding Avg: 17
UEFA Coeff. Total: 259.919
UEFA Coeff. Avg: 64.98


Group C
1 Real Madrid CF (ESP) 147.233
13 AS Roma (ITA) 77.334
23 AEK Athens FC (GRE) 52.058
30 KRC Genk (BEL) 21.762

Seeding Total: 67
Seeding Avg: 16.75
UEFA Coeff. Total: 298.387
UEFA Coeff. Avg: 74.60


Group D
8 Internazionale FC (ITA) 88.334
14 Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) 74.176
24 AFC Ajax (HOL) 48.082
25 Rosenborg BK (NOR) 47.737

Seeding Total: 71
Seeding Avg: 17.75
UEFA Coeff. Total: 258.329
UEFA Coeff. Avg: 64.58


Group E
6 Juventus FC (ITA) 91.334
16 Feyenoord (HOL) 70.082
19 FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) 59.979
27 Newcastle United FC (ENG) 43.729

Seeding Total: 68
Seeding Avg: 17
UEFA Coeff. Total: 265.124
UEFA Coeff. Avg: 66.28


Group F
3 Manchester United FC (ENG) 125.729
10 Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER) 81.495
22 Olympiakos Piraeus FC (GRE) 55.058
31 Maccabi Haifa (ISR) 18.666

Seeding Total: 66
Seeding Avg: 16.5
UEFA Coeff. Total: 280.948
UEFA Coeff. Avg: 70.24


Group G
2 FC Bayern München (GER) 133.495
9 RC Deportivo La Coruña (ESP) 82.233
17 Milan AC (ITA) 69.334
26 RC Lens (FRA) 44.176

Seeding Total: 54
Seeding Avg: 13.5
UEFA Coeff. Total: 329.238
UEFA Coeff. Avg: 82.31


Group H
4 FC Barcelona (ESP) 116.233
12 Galatasaray SK (TUR) 78.362
21 FC Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS) 57.645
28 Club Brugge KV (Bel) 41.762

Seeding Total: 65
Seeding Avg: 16.25
UEFA Coeff. Total: 294.002
UEFA Coeff. Avg: 73.50


And the verdict is? Mathematically, Group G seems to be toughest one by a wide margin. 13 is the lowest possible seeding average (1+9+17+25/4), so Group G's 13.5 is quite stunning, nearly all top-seeds from each pot.

[Syncope]

Real Video feed of the drawing. Not quite as captivating when you know the results, but still fun to watch the reactions--especially RC Lens' reaction upon being drawn into the group with Bayern, AC Milan, and La Coruna; took the air right out of them.

http://www.uefa.com/live/competitions/ucl/draw/gs1_32.2002/draw_high.ram