Sixteen teams will be in action in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night. Spotlights will be on Group E and G especially as Bayern Munich, AC Milan, and Real Madrid all play…
Group E: Bayern Munich vs AS Roma; CFR Cluj vs Basel
It’s hard to see last season’s beaten finalists Bayern Munich kick off their UEFA Champions League campaign badly. Aside from the fact that the Germans should benefit from their home advantage, AS Roma’s current form seems to have boosted Bayern Munich’s chances of clinching all three points tonight.
Likewise, the Giallorossi could bounce back from their alarming 5-1 Serie A defeat to Cagliari in style. Adriano, perhaps? Which of AS Roma’s players will be singled out as the ‘dream maker’ should they beat Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena? Meanwhile, CFR Cluj will entertain FC Basel in Romania with a fair opportunity of winning the match.
Since Group E will see its two strongest teams affront each other on match-day one, it will be interesting to see how the table standings will be at the end of match-day one. Will it look more like Group A where all four teams drew as no side managed to take maximum advantage of the other?
Prediction: AS Roma and Bayern Munich could tie whereas CFR Cluj could defeat FC Basel with the narrowest of margins. Match-day of the UEFA Champions League will tell more about the fate of Group E’s four teams.
Group F: MSK Zilina vs Chelsea; Marseille vs Spartak
Without Frank Lampard and John Terry who are both injured, Chelsea are still expected to get the job done away to Zilina in Slovakia. Both teams met twice in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League eight seasons ago. The Blues ran away 5-0 victors on aggregate, but football explains that the story could be altogether different on Wednesday night.
In France, Marseille will need to step up to a higher level in terms of performance when they host Spartak. A draw could likely fall between these two sides as both teams analytically seem to have an equal chance of reaching the Round of 16 along with favorites Chelsea.
Prediction: Chelsea will top Group F, followed by Marseille and Spartak while MSK Zilina will expectedly languish at the bottom of the table at the end of match-day one.
Group G: AC Milan vs AJ Auxerre; Real Madrid vs Ajax
AC Milan and Real Madrid are two of Wednesday’s sixteen teams in action with the best chance of commencing their UEFA Champions League campaign with maximum points. The San Siro factor should help the Rossoneri get off to a bright start as they look forward to overcoming last weekend’s surprising 2-0 loss against Cesena.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid should be subject to a bit more troubles since Ajax seem potentially better than Auxerre. Luis Suarez won’t feature for the Dutch side through suspension, but does it mean that Ajax won’t have enough resources to punish Jose Mourinho’s “unfinished” Real Madrid? Cristiano Ronaldo and his colleagues would have to answer this question at the Santiago Bernabeu tonight.
Prediction: AC Milan will beat AJ Auxerre – whether emphatically or not. Should they avoid being wasteful, Real Madrid will cruise past Ajax whereas a 1-0 score line could also fall for any of the two teams at the Santiago Bernabeu.
In the end, it looks like AC Milan and Real Madrid will share the top spot in Group G with goal difference coming as the only way to separate these two sides at the end of match-day one.
Group H: Arsenal vs Sporting Braga; Shakhtar vs Partizan
When will Sporting Braga’s European dream end? Arsenal would want the Emirates Stadium to be the ground where the Portuguese side will learn the hard way what it means to face experienced UEFA Champions League opponents.
A game full of mental power and admirable display: that’s what fans wish for ahead of the Arsenal vs Sporting Braga encounter. It’s hard to predict anything between these two sides, as much as it is to guess the outcome of the Shakhtar vs Partizan match.
Prediction: Whatever happens on Wednesday night, Arsenal and Shakhtar are poised to find more positives than negatives ahead of match-day two.
It’s hard to see last season’s beaten finalists Bayern Munich kick off their UEFA Champions League campaign badly. Aside from the fact that the Germans should benefit from their home advantage, AS Roma’s current form seems to have boosted Bayern Munich’s chances of clinching all three points tonight.
Likewise, the Giallorossi could bounce back from their alarming 5-1 Serie A defeat to Cagliari in style. Adriano, perhaps? Which of AS Roma’s players will be singled out as the ‘dream maker’ should they beat Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena? Meanwhile, CFR Cluj will entertain FC Basel in Romania with a fair opportunity of winning the match.
Since Group E will see its two strongest teams affront each other on match-day one, it will be interesting to see how the table standings will be at the end of match-day one. Will it look more like Group A where all four teams drew as no side managed to take maximum advantage of the other?
Prediction: AS Roma and Bayern Munich could tie whereas CFR Cluj could defeat FC Basel with the narrowest of margins. Match-day of the UEFA Champions League will tell more about the fate of Group E’s four teams.
Group F: MSK Zilina vs Chelsea; Marseille vs Spartak
Without Frank Lampard and John Terry who are both injured, Chelsea are still expected to get the job done away to Zilina in Slovakia. Both teams met twice in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League eight seasons ago. The Blues ran away 5-0 victors on aggregate, but football explains that the story could be altogether different on Wednesday night.
In France, Marseille will need to step up to a higher level in terms of performance when they host Spartak. A draw could likely fall between these two sides as both teams analytically seem to have an equal chance of reaching the Round of 16 along with favorites Chelsea.
Prediction: Chelsea will top Group F, followed by Marseille and Spartak while MSK Zilina will expectedly languish at the bottom of the table at the end of match-day one.
Group G: AC Milan vs AJ Auxerre; Real Madrid vs Ajax
AC Milan and Real Madrid are two of Wednesday’s sixteen teams in action with the best chance of commencing their UEFA Champions League campaign with maximum points. The San Siro factor should help the Rossoneri get off to a bright start as they look forward to overcoming last weekend’s surprising 2-0 loss against Cesena.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid should be subject to a bit more troubles since Ajax seem potentially better than Auxerre. Luis Suarez won’t feature for the Dutch side through suspension, but does it mean that Ajax won’t have enough resources to punish Jose Mourinho’s “unfinished” Real Madrid? Cristiano Ronaldo and his colleagues would have to answer this question at the Santiago Bernabeu tonight.
Prediction: AC Milan will beat AJ Auxerre – whether emphatically or not. Should they avoid being wasteful, Real Madrid will cruise past Ajax whereas a 1-0 score line could also fall for any of the two teams at the Santiago Bernabeu.
In the end, it looks like AC Milan and Real Madrid will share the top spot in Group G with goal difference coming as the only way to separate these two sides at the end of match-day one.
Group H: Arsenal vs Sporting Braga; Shakhtar vs Partizan
When will Sporting Braga’s European dream end? Arsenal would want the Emirates Stadium to be the ground where the Portuguese side will learn the hard way what it means to face experienced UEFA Champions League opponents.
A game full of mental power and admirable display: that’s what fans wish for ahead of the Arsenal vs Sporting Braga encounter. It’s hard to predict anything between these two sides, as much as it is to guess the outcome of the Shakhtar vs Partizan match.
Prediction: Whatever happens on Wednesday night, Arsenal and Shakhtar are poised to find more positives than negatives ahead of match-day two.
