Group A - Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Tottenham, Twente
Group A features title holders Inter in the same group as two teams making their debut in the UCL (Tottenham and Twente). It should be interesting to see how Rafa Benitez "manages" his team. Bremen also is recovering from the loss of their starlet Mesut Ozil right before the season started, so they are not expected to play as well as they possibly could. Also, Martin Jol makes his reunion at Twente the year after leaving them after guiding them to their first season atop the Eredivisie. Inter is too good for this group, while Bremen will have their hands full. Twente is sort of an unknown, but I think Tottenham is a deep enough and strong enough side to be able to advance.
Projected Teams Advancing - Inter Milan, Tottenham
Group B - Olympique Lyonnais, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel Aviv
Probably the biggest joke of any group, Group B features no standout teams (though Lyon somehow made it to the semifinals last year.. past my beloved Real Madrid no less). I like Schalke's chances, at least in this group, thanks to some newly signed champions league experience. Of course I am speaking of none other than Raul, the all time leading scorer in the UCL.
Projected Teams Advancing - Lyon, Schalke
Group C - Manchester United, Valencia, Rangers, Bursaspor
Of course Manchester would have an easy draw. Valenica are still reeling from the loss of David Villa, Rangers are not a deep team, and Bursaspor are newcomers to the UCL. There's a wide open race here for second place and any team could realistically get it, with Valencia still having a solid side, and Rangers and Bursaspor couldn't have been champions for nothing.
Projected Teams Advancing - Manchester United, Rangers
Group D - Barcelona, Panathinaikos, Copenhagen, Rubin Kazan
Same thing here. Another team I'm supposed to hate gets a easy draw. It might be three champions, but sadly none can compete with Barcelona. However, Barca has been looking lax as of late (sometimes) and they will be paired against Rubin Kazan, who beat and drew Barca in last year's UCL. I've always been a fan of Slavic sides, and this is no exception.
Projected Teams Advancing - Barcelona, Rubin
Group E - Bayern Munich, Roma, Basel, CFR Cluj
Last seasons runners-up are drawn into a fairly easy-to-predict group, with two strong teams and two not-as-strong ones. No disrepect to Basel and CFR Cluj (both of whom have been known to have some tricks up their sleeves over the years), but they are utterly outclassed here.
Projected Teams Advancing - Roma, Bayern Munich
Group F - Chelsea, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, Zilina
Another fairly concrete group, although Marseille is not known for having good champions league form in recent years. As previously stated, I love my slavic sides, but Spartak isn't known for being a top power in the Russian Prem, and Zilina is making their debut. This group also features the reunion of the Didier D's(rogba and eschamps), who switched clubs a number of years ago.
Projected Teams Advancing - Chelsea, Marseille
Group G - AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax Amsterdam, Auxerre
I wouldn't call it a "group of death," but this is by far the overall strongest group this year. Featuring three previous European champions and "minnows" Auxerre (who are the only team with a perfect record in Ligue 1). Milan and Real are the easy picks to advance, but don't be surprised if one of their parties is crashed by either Ajax OR Auxerre.
Projected Teams Advancing - Real Madrid, AC Milan
Group H - Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga, Partizan
Not-so-boring-anymore Arsenal has gotten themselves a fairly decent draw, but all three teams should never be overlooked. The Ukranian, Portuguese, and Serbian champions are all very good sides and should not be taken lightly.
Projected Teams Advancing - Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk
