The UEFA Champions League Group Stage kicks off today and continues tomorrow with a full slate of matches.
Real contenders will hope to establish themselves early while new faces get their first taste of the continent’s most prestigious club competition.
I swear that usually looks more like a heart
Today England and Germany do battle with Chelsea taking on Leverkusen and Bundesliga Champions Dortmund host Swansea-vanquishers Arsenal.
But the real marquee matchup is quite obviously Barcelona v. AC Milan at the Nou Camp. The current champions of both Spain and Italy and the holders of a combined 11 European cups, both squads will hold real designs on adding to their trophy cases this season.
While even I can admit Barcelona are more likely to repeat, Milan really should be progressing out of this group with them, so their clashes present a real opportunity for each manager to assess what their squad needs for a deep run in the competition.
Both squads are missing key pieces. Milan will be light up top with both Robinho and now Ibrahimovic out after aggravating an injury in training. For their part, Barcelona are without new boy Alexis Sanchez and defensive stalwart Gerard Pique.
While Allegri freely acknowledges that to just defend against Barcelona is “suicide”, he will likely employ Pato alone up from in an attempt to control the game from the midfield.
It may be the first round, but this is the kind of European match that football fans salivate over.
And plus, with all the Barca oversaturation these days, it may be the only time I can count on extra support for Milan from the UF faithful.
Enjoy the matches, and forza rossoneri!
All Matches 2:45 ET
Chelsea v. Bayer Leverkusen (FSPlus)
Porto v. Shakhtar Donetsk (ESPN3)
Genk v. Valencia (Foxsoccer.tv)
Dortmund v. Arsenal (MSGPlus)
Barcelona v. AC Milan (FSC)
Plzeň v. BATE
Olympiacos v. Marseille
APOEL v. Zenit St. Petersburg
As a non-results-based person, you couldn’t have picked a better club. But I remember winning. I like winning. Winning is better than away draws.
I will note the differences in disposition right now… Orr drew an away match against a league champion and is halfway over the moon. We draw an away match against a league champion and I feel like half death.
@PR: I don’t think you’ll find anyone taking the opposite side of you in a win -v- away draws argument. BUT, 9 out of 10 times, Perisic sends that volley into the stands. It was luck. Let’s take the point, let’s take the quality performance (not Walcott), and focus on Blackburn.
@PR: but you’re a known cynic and Orr…well…he’s a fan of Italian soccer so there is something wrong in his head. just kidding Orr.
@TFA – No offense taken! And I do have to point out that there is a difference between drawing league champion Dortmund and drawing league and European champion Barcelona. That said still a good result for le Arse if you ask me, if Dortmund scores first and they tie it instead everyone would probably be happier. Can understand the frustration about the way it happened.
@Orr: so you are saying Milan =/= Arsenal?
I think you have to start with the idea that Arsenal simply aren’t very good. Deal with it, etc. Once we’ve established that, I think today is a fantastic result for them.
@Ryan: I don’t think you can say fantastic if you knew they were up 1-0 in the 88th. Sure, if you said they were leaving with a 1-1 draw before the match it would be fine but the manner in which two points were dropped will cause anybody to think the result should have been better.
I still don’t know about that. Two weeks ago this team lost 8-2. On Saturday, they struggled mightily with the second bottom side in the Premier League. An away draw with the German champions is a gift horse I’m not looking in the mouth.
I take your point about the circumstances they lost in, but they were on the back foot for a good bit of the second half. With what the defense has been known to do, I think grasping onto a draw is still pretty darn good.
Good work Milan! Here’s hoping something freaky happens and Barca get knocked out!
MG BVB MVP