CL Group Previews: A is for ‘Arry

Seriously, Rafa's really geeked about being at Inter

With both European competitions now set for the group stages, we thought we’d collect some rapid-fire prognostication and coverage, beginning with the Champions League.

Oh, who am I kidding: we’ll likely begin and end with the CL, the Big Cup, the Apple of Michel Platini’s eye. As such, consider these our knee-jerk reactions before things get underway in a few short weeks’ time.

We begin with Group A, and ‘Arry’s Adventure…

But before we do that, a quick note and self-congratulations….this is UF’s 6,000th post!!! Woohoo!!

Drawn From Pot 1 – Inter Milan
The grand champions of Italy (five Scudettos on the hop) and all Europe (for the third time in club history), Inter boast a rare and diverse wealth of talent. And even with Jose Mourinho never having come home after their triumph in Madrid, the Nerazzurri remain among the Champions League favorites. They’ve lost nothing except a year of young age from their triple-winning club of a year ago and still have, laugh if you want, one of the better managers in Europe. Liverpool supporters appreciate the turn of phrase there; Rafa Benitez, for all his domestic difficulties, has always had his teams flush and ready for those glittering European nights.

Drawing Tottenham is an added advantage for Benitez, as there is no manager in the group stage of this year’s tournament with a more thorough experiential knowledge of the opponent. Si! Si! El Sr. Redknapp ordena se dan por el CULO 4-4-2! He no cares where we play!” Inter president Massimo Moratti need only look west—to West London specifically—to see how well an expensive Mourinho piece ages when tended to by mature, manicured hands.

With just the right defensive set-up for this group, expect Milan to advance comfortably. Werder Bremen and Spurs both play attacking, occasionally undisciplined football, and provided neither enact wholesale philosophical changes, Inter should deflect the coming punches comfortably.

Drawn From Pot 2 – Werder Bremen
Runners-up Third place in the Bundesliga last year, Bremen have won the German league three times, most recently in 2004. Their manager, Thomas Schaaf, is unlike any in Europe. He played his entire career with the “Green-Whites,” making 281 appearances in defense. After retiring, he worked his way up the management ranks, eventually taking over the senior side in 1999. He’s been manager ever since. The team has not finished worse than 10th during his stewardship.

Their style of play is less steady. If not for Markus Rosenberg’s injury time goal at Sampdoria on Tuesday, Werder would be back in the Europa League. The Swede’s thriller evened the aggregate at 4-4 (3-1; 1-3) and paved the way for old pal Claudio Pizarro’s eventual winner ten minutes into extra time.

Still, Werder enter the group stage at a bit of a crossroads. Having lost Mesut Oezil to Real Madrid, they are looking to add but loathe to spend. It is a potent roster, but uneven all the same—Mannschaft old boy Torsten Frings is their captain and Tim Borowski lined up as an out-and-out winger for the second leg at Sampdoria. But with Oezil now in Spain, Frings was partnered by the inexperienced Philipp Bargfrede in the midfield and the Italians potted three by halftime, looking well on their way to advancing before Rosenberg struck.

Drawn From Pot 3 – Tottenham Hotspur
Ah, Spurs. It’s been a mere half-century since Tottenham played for Europe’s biggest prize. Their reversal of fortune, from “two points from eight matches” in October of 2008, to this Wednesday’s 4-0 clincher at White Hart Lane has been nothing short of stunning… or galling, depending on whose side your on.

Like their Matchday One opponents, seen above, Spurs learned the hard way about going on the road in Europe with an attacking 4-4-2. Depending on what can be had in the transfer market (Want Ads are up at the Lane for a world class, stand-alone striker), you’d hope the manager, ol’ Whatshisname?, will take his lesson and draw up something a bit more conservative and crowded for the upcoming away dates. Or maybe he’ll just be stubborn and stick to the standard English fare. It’s taken him this far. Whatever the team sheet looks like when Spurs and Bremen line up at attention for the ritualistic humming of the Chaaaaaampions tune before their Sept. 14 opener at the Weserstadion, expect drama. Spurs are good for that, I think we’d all agree.

Prediction: A win for Werder in September, at home on the banks of the North Sea, will provide the deciding points to send them through. If Tottenham can hold or win, then Spurs go marching into the Round of 16.

Drawn From Pot 4 – FC Twente
Where art thou, Shteve? Die Tukkers are, like the Londoners, Champions League group stage debutantes. UEFA Cup runners-up in 1975, they are least storied club of the bunch, but like Inter Milan they are also true champions, having won the Dutch Eredivisie in 2009-10. Twente held off a rampant Ajax with remarkably un-Dutch-like precision. They managed just 63 goals over the course of the 34 game season. By contrast, the Amsterdam legends scored a club-record 106, but had to settle for second by the smallest of margins.

Twente celebrated their long-awaited title by bidding fairwell to both manager McClaren, now in Germany with Wolfsburg, and fan favorite Blaise Nkufo, who came to the MLS after scoring 114 goals in more than 200 appearances with the club. His replacement is another big man, the Austrian hitman Marc Janko. Janko will team up with the Costa Rican Bryan Ruiz, a creative, attacking midfielder, and defensive stalwart Douglas, a Brazilian monster who’ll be looking to make a name for himself in wider Europe.

New manager Michel Preud’homme, the Belgian goalkeeping legend and star of USA ’94, comes over from Gent, where his side won the Belgian Cup last year. Like Rafa, his squad, aside from the aging Nfuko, remains largely intact and ready to play spoiler.