I am very excited because another season of football is upon us and the UEFA Champions League kicked off yesterday and continues tonight. I am looking forward to a very compelling season this year with all of the usual teams except for Bayern Munich involved with some new faces looking to make some noise as well. In the end, I look for holders AC Milan to become the first team to repeat since 1989-90 (when AC Milan accomplished the feat) to repeat and win their 8th European Cup title.
Milan has the experience and the players to make it happen. They have the best player in the world in Kaka, Filippo Inzaghi playing at the top of his game, the toughness of Gennaro Gattuso and of course the imminent return of Brazilian great Ronaldo. They also have the experience of Seedorf, Pirlo, Nesta and Ambrosini and the Brazilian National Team goalie Dida. Even with their slow start in Serie A, I look for them to pull it together and pull through the group stage to the knockout stage with relative ease. Obviously, anything can happen in the knockout phase but I think Milan’s experience from last year will pull them through if they avoid injuries and maintain their form.
To me, Chelsea looks weaker this year than in previous years after their draw with Norwegian champions Rosenborg and with their injuries to key players Drogba and Lampard. Barcelona added Thierry Henry, which as an Arsenal fan upset me this offseason but they are top heavy with Eto, Messi, Deco and Ronaldhino so we will see where they end up. If they pull it together they are certainly capable of recapturing the title they won in 2005-2006. The wild cards this year to me are Sevilla which open today against Arsenal and I think Fenerbahce of the Turkish league could make some noise with their Brazilian imports of Alex and Roberto Carlos. They have a tough opening match today against battle tested Inter Milan.
The old guard of Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester United will all be tough as usual and I give Real Madrid the best chance of these sides as they have a lot of momentum after their La Liga title last year and their fast start this year. Raul and Van Nistelrooy are hungry to bring Real Madrid back to the apex of European football after a 6 year absence.
The tournament is long and a lot can happen between now and May when the final will be contested in Moscow but it will be fun to watch.
NO way, Real Madrid will win
‘You will never walk alone’ will reign in Moscow in May-Liverpool will win their 6th
I think Liverpool missed their chance last year but you should still be happy they were gifted the title in 2005. That was a bad draw yesterday with Benfica as gutsy as it may have been. So far Torres seems overrated to me and they are getting older, Kuyt is a good scorer so we’ll how they come together, but I’d say Arsenal has a better chance than Liverpool.
NY Cosmos will take home the cup, go Pele!!!
Great call on Fenerbahce, I can’t believe they beat Internazionale and congrats on Arsenal-they manhandled Sevilla
Good start for the Gunners.
I am shocked that Jose Mourinho has left Chelsea FC. It will be interesting to see how the club reacts to this shocking realization. Personally, I didn’t like him because I dislike Chelsea but he was interesting and outspoken and always good to listen to for entertainment.