Barcelona/ Inter/ Leverkusen/ Newcastle http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/news/Kind=1/newsId=42715.html Scroll down to the bottom for full schedule. I need to get some coffee and think about this. Personally its kind of entertaining because it pits my beloved FCB against the club I inherited from my family members (Inter). Nothing like a little family argument. Looks like its going to be a fun winter! -jay
I think I like this draw. Newcastle is not playing "outstanding football" at the moment and Bayer is a shadow of its CL Final self from a year ago. Inter is tough as always, but I think we can hold our own in this group and move on through.
Obviously Bayer should 'rent' Donovan, after sunday's US v El Salvador match, for the Champs League matches. The Champs League is a good warm up for MLS, right? OK, irony aside, I expect Barca to qualify for the knock out rounds, probably with Inter. Hey, it could be worse for Newcastle, look at Basle. More broadly, there is a nice mix of surprise squads and heavyweights. For all the purists complaining about how the CL is watered down, its great having Newcastle and Lokomotiv and Basle in the second group stage, after all they earned it. Tony
Yeah Tony, do you think Klaus could use a guy like Donovan off the bench now or what? They are about 15th in the table domestically and dropping like a rock. So Barca really need to take control of the group and grab all three at the Bayarena in week one. Newcastle may be weak now, but who knows what they'll look like in March when Barca play them in the last week. That's the only thing that makes me uncomfortable about this draw-- the second round often comes down to the last week and you don't want to be on the road. I think one of the key matches is week 10: Barca in Milan. The reason is that Inter play Juve in Turin the following Sunday and you can bet that the nerrazzuri will be thinking about that match. It is unavoidable; Juve is their bogeyman. That match may hold the key. Meanwhile, uhhh, there's this little matter of the trip to the Riazor tomorrow.
Yes I think the draw was kind to Barcelona as Kobranzilla explained above. Inter and Barcelona should be the two teams to move on.
This from FCB.com An overview of our opponents in the CL Internazionale Coach: Héctor Cúper Stadium: Giuseppe Meazza or San Siro (83,679) FC Barcelona is the favourite in Group A following the draw for the second phase of the Champions League on Friday. The Blaugrana's closest rival is Inter, who are currently top of Italy's Serie A and led by ex-Valencia coach Héctor Cúper. Under the Argentinian trainer, Inter have a wealth of attacking options. Along with Christian Vieri and Alvaro Recoba, the club signed Hernan Crespo to replace the departed Ronaldo. Milan's Pippo Inzaghi and Crespo are the competition's top scorers with eight goals in the first group stage. Cúper has got Inter playing to his system with a great deal of discipline and hard work, a strong defence and a formidable attack. Among their ranks Inter also have ex-Barcelona defender Francesco Coco who will return to the Camp Nou. Bayer Leverkusen Coach: Klaus Toppmöller Stadium: Bayarena (22,500) After the devastation of losing last season's Champions League final, the German Cup final and the league title on the final day, Bayer Leverkusen will be hoping for some better luck this time around. The Bundesliga outfit are still attempting to repeat the run of fortune they enjoyed last term that surprised everybody. But the current side is not the same team after the loss of several key players over the summer. Three of last season's stars abandoned the team with Michael Ballack and Ze Roberto moving to Bayern Munich and Ülf Kirsten retiring. But they still have the same defence of Butt, Lucio and Placente and have strengthened the midfield with the signing of the Brazilian Juan, while Schneider and Neuville still lead their attack. Newcastle United Coach: Bobby Robson Stadium: St James' Park (52,193) After the dreadful start to their Champions League campaign, few people believed that Bobby Robson's Newcastle United side would make it through to the second phase. Three defeats in their opening three matches did not bode well, but superb victories over Dinamo Kyiv and Juventus at St James' Park and a last-minute win against Feyenoord in Rotterdam saw them qualify. Robson took over at Newcastle in 1999 and guided them into the Champions League after a tremendous campaign last year. Veteran Alan Shearer leads the front line, with Peruvian international Nolberto Solano and Frenchman Laurent Robert supplying the ammunition from the wings. Two other players to look out for are Welsh international Craig Bellamy in attack and Portuguese playmaker Hugo Viana.
Objective Analysis I think that our 100% record in the first stage of the Champions' League is deceptive of the true team we have. Our loss to Deportivo La Coruna is testament to this. Let's consider who we played in the first round. Our opponents were Galatasaray SK, Club Brugges and Lokomotiv Moscow. I have great admiration for Galatasaray SK and was throroughly disappointed by their performance in the Champions' League. The two other clubs are not high caliber football teams. I know Lokomotiv Moscow are an aggressive side (and God be with the clubs that have to make the winter trip up there) but really, the club wasn't tested in the first round. Not to the same calibre as other groups, including Real Madrid (as they played higher quality opponents such as AS Roma and AEK). Considering our opposition, we have a difficult group and any website, pundit or expert telling you that Barcelona is the favorite in this group is either dreaming or is trying to brain-wash you. Internazionale are currently leading Serie-A and the socios and cules all remember the destruction Hector Cuper can unleash at the Camp Nou. If Cuper could beat Barcelona at Camp Nou with a Valencia side that was slightly not as talented as this current Inter squad, then Barcelona fans have much to worry about with our trip to San Siro and their trip to Camp Nou. Newcastle Utd. are the surprise package of the first round. Not because they are less talented or because in the Premiership they are hovering around mid-table, but because of their resounding turnaround after a dismal start to their CL campaign. Watch out for Bellamy because that's the lad who's making it a habit of scoring late decisive goals (such as that third goal against Feyenoord at De Kuip). Furthermore, we all remember that 3-2 loss at St. James' Park in 1997... we might have beaten Arsenal at Wembley to break a bad historical record of never having won on English soil, but historical statistics are still weighed against us when we make the trip up to Tyneside. Bayer Leverkusen. Now here's a club I can't figure out. I know they were great last year as they finished runners-up to Real Madrid. And this year, despite a 6-2 spanking at the hands of chaos-ridden Olympiakos, Bayer have managed to resurrect themselves by fending off the pesky challenges from Maccabi Haifa. But apart from that I know nothing of their tactics nor of any danger men. But then again, we are dealing with a German club and that's enough said. Mystery is sometimes worse than knowing everything about your enemy. What will happen here, I have no idea. So gentlemen, the road ahead of us is anything but guaranteed.
All very good points, and I agree on most. We did not have the toughest group last round, but we went through and won every game...at least we didn't play down to their level. As far as the next stage goes..I agree Inter are the group favorites..but I think we are better than the other two. I htink the FCB site listed us as favorites because UEFA gave us a #1 seed. Newcastle is not as bad as they started the CL campaign, nor as good as the team that won all 3 games to move into this round. Bayer can disappear just as quickly. I think the "bottom" 2 teams in this group are very streaky (as we are at times). I am not guaranteeing advancement, but I like our odds.
ok where to start...... nah its my beloved bianconeri team Juventus Well, while I tend to agree that's a little bit exagerated since Olimpique Lyon tied and beat them (3-3 at France and 1-2 in Italy) certainly we have a better team than Olimpique. They're are not just picking up their game (and what a nice record they have!!! they lost their 3 first games and became the very first team that made it to the next round after such a disappointing performance) but we already beat them 3-0 in St James in a friendly early in the season, true, a friendly is never a good thermometer since noone play at full strength as in real competition but still gives a relief. Bayer miss Ze Roberto and Ballack, they have no idea how to build their game against a team with two stoppers in the middle, to use Xavi and Cocu or Rochemback and Cocu should work, Olimpiakos used that formation, you already know the score! I want to be objective too, since we have lots of ups and downs we are the Irregular group, I like our chances and maybe should won the group, I just pray that LvG doesnt think the same way cuz it will backfire at us performing exactly the opposite!
I must say, of the two other teams (Newcastle and Bayer), Newcastle scare me more. They started off horribly in the CL, but have been playing quite well lately. I did manage to see one of thier games this year on FSW. While Shearer is the leader of the team, it looks like Bellamy (thier Welsh striker) will be fully fit shortly, and he looks to be quite dangerous. Leverkusen still has Oliver Neuville up top, but did lose a lot when they lost Zwe Roberto and Ballack. maybe we can get some of our brothers from the other boards to chime in with some analysis on how Bayer and Newcastle will match up i nthis next round. Because I cannot give a fully indepth look at these teams. Stay Tuned, maybe we can get some outside expertise...
Just remember that this 2nd group phase takes *forever* and the quality or lack of quality of any side can change back and forth a few times between now and week 12, when it will come down to the last week as always. Inter is not getting good play at all from the wings and is trying too much to rely on Crespo as a target, in my opinion. Cuper will get it figured out though. Bayer may also be much tighter by the return leg. You can't lose a guy like Ballack or Ze Roberto and just pick up where you left off. Aside from the disaster in Greece they only gave up 5 other goals in the 1st group phase, which is nothing to sneer at. You have to beat the teams in your group on skill and tactics; there aren't any gifts at this stage. Simple as that. It won't be easy, but the Blaugrana should get the job done. olafgb- can you tell us more about Bierofka? Is he a new 'supersub'?
For Leverkusen the situation changed a lot compared to last season. Probably you remember last year’s first CL group stage when in the Barcelona vs Bayer duel each time the home team won 2-1. Bayer’s situation this year: they are out of shape, only 11th in the Bundesliga and also the first CL group stage wasn’t glorious. Especially the home record this season isn’t too amazing with only 8 points in 7 games – but Barcelona shouldn’t take the job too easy as Bayer rather loses points in the easy and wins the difficult games. One of only two wins at home was against Bayern Munich, and this with one player less for almost one hour. In the CL this looked different though: a loss against ManU at home, while Piraeus as well as Haifa were defeated. There are lots of reasons for the decline compared to the last season, but the main aspects are losing Michael Ballack and Ze Roberto to Bayern Munich, and the fact that Bayer was the team having most players in the final four of the World Cup – many returned with injuries and didn’t start training earlier than two weeks before the season opener. This time is missing, also for the first time since years they are suffering under many injuries. Additionally the team doesn’t seem to be strong enough in the psychological sector as they lose whenever everybody thinks they finally started to be successful. The officials are longing for the winter break to recover and hope to be at least 9th ranked in the Bundesliga until then (aim for this season is the UEFA Cup); in the CL everybody is already satisfied with making the second group stage. Due to the lacking success, the team doesn’t play the nice offence soccer of the last season. Last year’s 4-3-3 was moved to either 4-5-1 or 4-4-2. Team parts. Goal: Starter Jörg Butt is Germany’s number 3 and since a three games move to the bench at the beginning of the season, he’s back in old strength with some insecurities, but also lots of good saves. On good days he can win points for Bayer. Backup Frank Juric has some caps for Australia, but he’s not more than solid. Defence: Last year the team got relatively many goals against due to the offence system and despite of world class defenders. The players remained, but there are unexpected problems. In an ideal formation the central defenders would be Jens Nowotny and Lucio. Nowotny will miss until the winter break with torn ACL and is replaced by new Brazilian Juan – one of the few good transfers who is also very dangerous for the opponents’ goal – but he’s currently injured, too (I think he’ll be back for the Barcelona game). Lucio seemed to be in a bad shape in the last two games, but I hope he’ll be better after the national game for Brazil this week. The left backer position is occupied by Argentinean national player Diego Placente, who recovered from an injury two games ago and slowly has to find back to old strength; in the league he was ejected last weekend which doesn’t improve his lacking playing time. For the right backer position there are some alternatives, all not “born” for this position: Boris Zivkovic, Zoltan Sebesecen or Hanno Balitsch. Balitsch is used to play in the midfield, so if this happens either Zivkovic or Sebescen will play there. Both are able to play really good games, but against Barcelona Zivkovic as the one being better in the defence might be preferred. Midfield: Seeded is Carsten Ramelow as central mid – if it happens that only Lucio remains as central defender, then he’ll be moved back to the position he also plays in the German NT; Ramelow plays solid as usual in this season without being a team leader. Also secure is that Bernd Schneider covers the right wing. He was still exhausted from the last season when this season began, so it took time for him to recover. He’s slowly finding back to his shape of the last season though at the moment this is rather the case in standard and not in usual game situations. On the left wing it seems a bit that new transfer Daniel Bierofka made the race, who scored four goals in the last two games. He’s a 23 year old speedy fighter who also had a few appearances in the German NT already; his problem on the wing is that he’s a better finisher than an assistant. The biggest surprise of this season is Hanno Balitsch, a 21 year old new player of relegated local rival 1.FC Köln. Seen as a future prospect he just missed one game in this season; regarding the strength in the duels he is compared with Ballack, but he isn’t dangerous for the opponents goal. If Toppmöller decides on playing 4-4-2 it is probable that Balitsch plays right backer, otherwise he’ll be central mid next to Ramelow or care for the opponents playmaker. The offence part in the midfield will either be covered by Yildiray Bastürk or Jan Simak. Both did not convince in this season so far; after Bastürk had his chances at the beginning of the season, Simak – a 24 year old new player from Hannover who scored 18 goals and 19 assists in the last 2.Bundesliga season – got the chance now, but also didn’t take it. For the Barcelona game I’d calculate with Bastürk. Alternatives are existing, but rather standing in the second line: young Croatian midfield-allrounder Marko Babic was promising this season with scoring three goals in the duels against Haifa; Nigerian Pascal Ojigwe basically already was out of the team, but the injuries delivered him a new chance which at least made him become an alternative for the central mid position. Christoph Preuß and Jurica Vranjes are other talents, but just with remote chances to play. Forwards: the big problem this year. Ulf Kirsten retired, which isn’t really a problem as he hardly had playing time in the second part of the last season – but suddenly the others stopped striking. Consequence: last weekend Kirsten got active again and immediately assisted the game tying goal, but it depends on the others how long it takes until he goes back to the tribune. Dimitar Berbatov was seen as his successor, but he is only striking for Bulgaria and not for Leverkusen in this season. He also already had three injuries and one ejection, which all stopped him in the search for his shape. Brazilian Franca was a big hope and with 8.5 M the most expensive new transfer, but he came with an injury and didn’t even nearly find a way into the team. Oliver Neuville still did not recover from the last season and is in a horrible shape; he even thought about not going to the NT despite being called up. Finally there is Thomas Brdaric who is a pretty solid player, who can deliver a good game, but he’s rather Leverkusen’s Solskjaer who is more dangerous when coming in during the game. With 3 goals he is Leverkusen’s best striker in the league (Neuville and Franca 1, Berbatov 0). So, after all Barcelona of course is the favourite. Before the game in the BayArena Leverkusen travels to Arminia Bielefeld in the league. Bielefeld currently is on rank 16, the first relegation rank, but only two points behind Leverkusen – a loss there would cause fire in Leverkusen, which might have an influence also for the Barcelona game.
I have been asked to chime in on Newcastle: One could say the club has been on a roll, losing once since Oct. 19 - a 1-0 loss at Arsenal. However, all but 2 of the club's matches during this run have been at home. The win over Feyenoord was only the club's second win away from home since qualifying for the group phase of the CL. One thing about the Toon all season: They have shown the ability to come back from behind. The club was down 2-0 at Liverpool with 10 minutes remaining and salvaged a draw (and were unlucky not to get the three points). They were down 2-0 at Blackburn after about 10 minutes and down to 10 men, yet leveled the match after 55 minutes before tiring and eventually losing 5-2. Finally, on more than a few occasions, they have allowed the first goal only to come back and win. Newcastle traditionally has played well for a stretch, then have one game where the play resembles that of a squad of part-timers. The club has the capability of beating all of the sides in this group. It also has enough depth that it will pose the opposition matchup problems. And we all know the capability of Wor Bobby as a manager. Finishing second is not an unrealistic goal. However, all of us will see how good this club is when it plays ManUre at the Theatre of Sleep this weekend.
I should add that Bayer was happy about getting Inter and Newcastle, but not about Barcelona. But the reason is not that they don't like them or are scared, but they prefer opponents they did not play against so far. They also see Newcastle as a good omen as this is the fifth (I think) opponent from England in the last two CL campaigns and though not always looking good they always managed to advance. And one thing is certain: though Bayer already reached its aim in the CL and though it's not working in this season, they'll of course give everything to reach the quarter finals. It looks a bit that they tell themselves that Inter will make it and they hope to be the lucky second.
Thanks Toon and Olaf for your thoughts. This should be an exciting rouond, and i look forward tocatching as many games as possible. I too forgot that this round drags on into the spring.. What is the tiem table for Enrique returning?