Why not Galatasaray as a suprise team, they beat Auxerre 4 - 1, and Olympiakos 2 - 0, and tied Bayer Leverkusen 1 - 1, in the off season. when some said " dont count your chickens Man U could have been playing Fenerbahce" hell Fenerbahce is not a great team, they have no system, and Gala has one that was put in by Fatih Terim in the mid 90's.
united to win, maybe ajax, maybe real madrid. surprise? arsenal...and i know most wouldnt consider them a surprise, but in the five or so years i've been a fan of the sport, i havent seen them win anything of this magnitude in europe. feel free to correct me if i'm wrong.
INTER MILAN OF COURSE! Toldo; Coco, Cannavaro, Cordoba, J. Zanetti; Recoba, Zanetti, Di Biagio, Conceicao; Ronaldo and VIERI! FORZA INTER And look at their central defense: Cannavaro and Cordoba.
Re: CL Success Few points 1. Rangers arent in the champions league this year 2. Allan Johnston played for rangers not CELTIC, now at Boro 3. Our Defence is fine
Also i would hold back on predicting early "flame outs" right now, untill the first group stage draw has been completed. Like any and all cup comps the draw can often determine who will have the best shot at wining or advancing to the next level.
1) Sorry. I remembered reading last year that UEFA was going to give the SPL two slots in the Champions League on account of their performance in the UEFA and Champions League/League Ranking. Maybe this did not happen after all or it won't happen until later. 2) I meant Alan Thompson and wrote Allan Johnston. Sorry. 3) Admittedly I have not watched Celtic very much this year. However, every account I have read has been a description of how many "adventures" the Celtic defenders had allowed to take place. They have had dreadful injury problems, leading to O'Neill playing midfielders on the back line throughout their pre-season friendlies, which led to some real laughers. Even their successful tie against FC Basel last night had its fair share of out and out defensive lapses according to the match account. I know that they signed Ulrick Laurson, who should add depth and help them greatly in League play. But do you really think that their back line is strong enough to make a good run (past first group stage) in the Champions League?
"AEK, the third member of the Greek big three, regularly gives both these teams a run for their money domestically and should be relishing the idea of what I believe is their first appearance in the European Cup since it switched over to the Champions' League format" For AEK it's at least their 3rd performance since the Champions League started. Good team (especially at home). Incredible madhouse over there. Anyone ever heared of the "Originals" or "Gate 21"? Good stuff for sure. Seeing a madhouse like that only makes me more angry that the use of fireworks gets you a stadiumban + huge fine over here these days. If you want crazy fan pictures, look for these guys.
As long as you can win at Old Trafford by at least two goals, which may be harder than it looks after that crap performance on the road.
It's true Parkhead_Faithful. The defensive disorganization that allowed goals inside of the first 10 minutes of the home and away legs has put your bhoys out in qualifying - and against FC Basle. Its not like they were playing versus Fenerbache or Sporting Lisbon or some of the other tough teams that were lower seeds in the qualifying rounds. Very disappointing for Celtics and the SPL.
As I recall, these were the fans that, after 9/11, took advantage of a moment of silence to try and burn the American and Israeli flags. Not good fans in my book.
Re: CL Success Absolutely. Afterall, he's only been selected the UEFA Chamions League Forward of the Year three years running.
to win it....real madrid or man u surprise team newcastle united....they will surprise a lot of people like they did in the premiership last season
I cant say who will win it.. but i kno Milan will be the surprise, i cant guarantee that we will win it, BUT... i guarantee sucess meaning we will have a good performance
Not sure if somebody has mentioned it before , but when was last time a team hosted the final AND won it??? I recall Roma hosted, but lost it to Liverpool in 1984 on penalties.
I would like to see Ajax win(which I guess would be a suprise) and Maccabi Haifa perform well, although with ManU and Bayer that will be difficult. Who I think will win is Arsenal or Barcelona.
"As I recall, these were the fans that, after 9/11, took advantage of a moment of silence to try and burn the American and Israeli flags. Not good fans in my book" Could be, I dunno. Probably wouldn't have been the only ones. But I hardly care about politics in football, let everybody sort that out for themselves. Must we swear allegiance to your flag in order to be 'good fans'?
No, but you must show sympathy for thousands of innocent lives lost. That is, in order to be considered 'good human beings'.
Did you or any of your relatives show sympathy for the thousands of innocent Vietnamese, Iraqi or Afghans that died? I see your point and you are on spot, but we (humans) don't always use our heads the way we should.
Native Americans, Jews in the Holocoaust, citizens of the former republic of Yugoslavia, Central and South American people (thank you CIA), Isreali and Palestinian civilians.... ....ah...the list goes on and on....