Well today the Champions league groups came out, and there are some surprises, but in general it looks like it will be another great year of soccer. The group of death by far is Group G with AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax and Auxerre. Now I don’t know anything about Auxerre other then they are French, and my guess is they are the weakest out of the three French club teams in the groups. Lyon (who made it to the semi finals last year) and Marseille always tend to be the strongest of the French clubs. But other than Auxerre, the group can swing any which way. Ajax has fallen off in the recent years but in general they are still a reputable club with lots of history and pride themselves on their young talent. AC Milan and Real Madrid are the power house teams who could easily take over the group but both teams had a poor showing in last year’s champions league and neither team have won their respective leagues within the past few years. With that said, Real Madrid is the clear favorite to win this group with plethora of players and their new coach. I personally hate Real Madrid, and that could be from my Barcelona fandom, but also because I hate Ronaldo and Mourninho. Either way AC Milan should come in second if this was a paper game, but I could see Ajax giving them a run for their money.
Inter Milan also has a tough draw in Group A with Tottenham, Werder Bremen and Twente. I know nothing about Twente, and I assume they are the weakest of the group. Werder Bremen is a strong German team, and had a great young star who was just moved to Real Madrid named Ozil (most know him now from his wonderful play during the world cup this summer). Tottenham is the fourth English team in the tournament and was the only one to have to play into the group stage. I heard that this is the first time Tottenham has ever made it to the group stage which makes me like them most in this group and tournament. Many people would refute my statement only because many critics have said that they expect Tottenham to just fold in champion’s league and focus on the Premier League. This makes sense because it seems that they would not be able to manage their team for so much play. Unlike Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal, Tottenham has the least amount of depth on their team. Finally, the last team in this group is the past champion. Inter Milan might be expected to win again only because their team has not changed much. I expect them to win this group but I do not think they will win the tournament again.
The other groups all seem pretty lopsided. Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea should cruise through their groups. Marseille might give Chelsea some problems but that’s the only thing I could think of . Man United and Bayern Munich could have some problems with Valencia and Roma respectively but I expect them to win their group. I hope to see Bayern go far again because a bunch of their players were in the world cup and they were very fun to watch. (Robben specifically). The only group I don’t know about is Group B. I feel they have a tough group because Lyon, Benfica and Schalke all can play at the same level. Lyon did have the surprise run last year all the way to the Semis but they proved they could not make it all the way. I would say Lyon is the favorite but I feel like it is a tossup between the three.
To move away from soccer, the NFL are having discussion now about making next year’s season (if there even is a season) longer from 16 to 18 games. I think it should stay at 16 and I only say it because I don’t think the players can physically do it. I don’t like 4 pre-season games but I feel that with less pre season games will only or just create as many injuries as 4 preseason games only because people will not be fit enough to play yet, and that’s when injuries occur. Also, I forget who it was on ESPN Radio, but they talked about how taking away two games/weeks of preseason would hurt the local economies of where the preseason camps are. I think this is right on point, and I do not think it is fair that a huge corporation like the NFL can lengthen their regular season so they can make more money but their preseason locations will lose money. It’s just not fair. I hope it stays at 16.
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