Every one of our group stage opponents is a banana peel lying in wait, no question. But on the face of it we go into every match as a heavy favorite, though it's very likely we'll drop points in two of the six matches. You figure a bore draw in Moscow and a bad performance once against either Benfica or Basel.
I think it's likely somewhere in the middle. There's some merit in thinking it isn't as difficult because of the lack big name clubs , whilst I also think there's merit in believing we can't afford to under estimate the group. Europe is never easy , and those teams aren't used to losing (especially at home). That being said , it's still a nice draw. We aren't in a position to take anyone for granted and I think it's an ideal group to get our feet wet in. Good , solid clubs-- but no one extremely worrying. Be prepared for a heavy dose of Fellaini in the away fixtures.
Wasn't planned I surmise, but any cause for concern would be legitimate, especially with the WC around the corner. www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4821276/Manchester-United-Liverpool-face-hooligan-threat.html
That's my main concern, an overreliance on Fellaini whether to chase an equalizer or close a match out. He should only be brought in when we have a two goal lead late in matches or are otherwise depleted by injuries. We have better answers up front and better answers back. Lingard and Pereira, for example, offer so much more going forward. But here we are, stuck with a player who's a defensive liability who offers little more than the ability to knock down a decent cross. That's just not going to get done in the Champions League. At any rate, it's as good a draw for us as we could have reasonably hoped for, but I hope it's strong enough to prepare us for the knockouts. I'm worried this is too easy of a group for us and that we'll get smoked in the first knockout tie.
Benfica has lost too many quality players over the past few seasons and failed to replace them with quality. No box to box midfielder to replace Sanches, or a superb winger to replace Gaitain. Now Nelson Semedo and Ederson left massive holes at the back, and Lindelof is a big loss at CB. Benfica plays a open 4-4-2 , Fejsa anchoring a midfield with Pizzi as the playmaker ( he's good, but not good enough vs top teams) and two tricky wingers (Salvio, Cervi, Rafa, Zivkovic) and two strikers in Jonas/Mitroglou/Raul Jimenez/Seforivic.. They play too open and are too vulnerable in midfield and at the back when defending to really threaten Manchester United imho. Grimaldo, Jonas, and Cervi are probably the best players.
Wasn't exactly sure about what they did in the way of replacements for the players who left in the past 2 seasons alone, but it's precisely why I am not overly worried about them, especially as a top seeded team, regardless of what their coefficient is. That's a lot of talent to lose without being affected by it. If we were talking about Benfica from 2 seasons ago, different matter entirely. But even last year's version did not impress me all that much. Of course, United will have to be on their game, especially in Lisbon but there is no reason to really fear them. Same goes for Basel. It's all about taking care of business, in order to avoid (bad) surprises.
The Iceman came to United with a big reputation (perhaps absurdly so). Obviously, he hasn't shown it so far for us, but apparently he was quite the sensation in Portugal, a customary step-up league before proving oneself in England and Spain. Early days. We all remember Vidic and Evra. Even Ibra needed two months to adjust to English football before he began torching his opposition on a regular basis, a torching which I realize you deny on the ground that his failed to "facilitate the attack" when he only scored 28 goals and supplied 10 assists in 44 games. The good news is that we don't need Lindelof very much this first season, but I'm sure we'll see him in EFL and FA Cup games until he's needed in EPL and CL play when the obligatory injury crisis hits. I'm sure he's a decent defender but I haven't seen yet anything that looks like a X factor. Is he a brilliant passer, tough in the tackle, have incredible pace, is a great reader of the game, brilliant defending crosses...exactly what is his putative strength?
Is the stage set for English clubs to perform well again in the CL? www.espn.co.uk/football/uefa-champions-league/2/blog/post/3187923/can-man-united-man-city-liverpool-chelsea-thrive-with-helpful-champions-league-draw
The only way they'll be embarrassed, is if they don't make it out of the group stage, which safe for Spurs perhaps, they all will, in my opinion. And in Tottenham's case, it really should not be much of an embarrassment to go out at that stage, considering the competition. Of course, an English club will not win the CL this season, but I maintain, as I have for some time, that the days of English teams performing well again in Europe could start this year, culminating with a win within 3-5yrs max. And with clubs performing in that competition better than they have in recent years, back to the level they did from 2005 until 2012 or so.
City have proven how difficult it is even for solid clubs but who have no experience in CL to do well in the CL. Whatever it is, strong but inexperienced clubs stumble against lesser sides. Spurs have the quality to finish second in their group, but they don't have the experience. We shall see.
Would have preferred Monaco from Pot 1, but Benfica are not a bad alternative. Avoiding Real, Bayern, or going to Moscow to me was key. Pot 4 preferred opponent would have been Celtic. Or Anderlecht ,would not have been a bad 2nd choice. Bad news would have been to draw Qarabag, Probably the furthest possible opponent to play against. In addition, would have been unable to bring Mikh on the away leg. Qarabag have been displaced to Baku from the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where ethnic Armenians have carved out an enclave inside Azerbaijan.
Armenians would tell you Azeris were the ones encroaching. Plus major religious differences. Hence the conflict.
8️⃣ days until the Champions League is back 🙌Which no. 8 would you pick? 👀 pic.twitter.com/l4O1D0oiA0— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 4, 2017
FYI, Rashford (along with Joel Pereira,Tuanzebe and McTominay) have all been named to the squad as well as the B-list guys. Not sure what it entails (something with ther age group perhaps) but their in nonetheless.
48 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored 48 Champions League goals in his career - the joint-seventh highest total in the competition. Experience. pic.twitter.com/Hhehk9njsq— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 4, 2017
For anyone, such as myself, wondering what an A-B lists CL squads mean. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-utd-news-rashford-tuanzebe-13571160
True. Same as Alan Shearer, but no one denies that Shearer was a brilliant striker. On the topic of trophies, it may be of interest to you that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has won 33 major trophies so far in his career. For a point of reference, Giggs ended his playing career with 35 major trophies. 13 of Ibra's 33 trophies were league (not cup) trophies in 15 seasons. Do you deny that 13 league trophies in 15 seasons, and 33 overall, is pretty respectable? It cannot be argued that Ibra is not one of the greatest football talents of this generation. Based on what we saw from him last season, it's pretty safe to say that his career isn't over yet.
According to UEFA,United have officially withdrew their appeal for Jones's suspension and he will miss United's first CL game vs Basel, as expected. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/man-utd-phil-jones-ban-13582766
Waking up on the morning of the Champions League like... pic.twitter.com/toPZXXNhc0— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 12, 2017