We’ve drawn FC Porto, Marseille, & Beşiktaş J.K. for the CL

Brian — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:56:37 +0000

Not a bad draw and I don’t foresee us having many problems advancing to tell you the truth. FC Porto worries me a little being a Portuguese side, but two teams advance from the group stage and Marseille and Beşiktaş J.K. just don’t have the talent nor depth to compete with us. I expect this year to be a bit different than the past three under Benitez though. In the past, especially in the first couple of matches of the group stages as we size up our competition, we’ve seemed to be satisfied with a draw away from Anfield. I suspect this year we’ll try to advance as quick as possible to the knockout stages so we can concentrate on the league. I’ll do further breakdowns of our group stage opponents in a very near future post.

In other news, Besian Idrizaj was sent out on loan to Crystal Palace and Rafa has revealed that a new signing will probably not be coming our way before the transfer window closes Friday at 11:59 PM GST. Oh well, cheers.

As for the rest of the draw, here’s what I think:
Easiest group to predict – Group A
If Liverpool and FC Porto don’t come out of that group, I’ll probably need to be treated for trauma.

Funnest group – Group H
Arsenal and Sevilla should advance, but there should be some great matches involving them along with FC Steaua and Slavia Praha

Group of Death – Group D?
It really depends on how good Milan is, but I still think second place is up for grabs as Benfica lost Simao Sabrosa and Shakhtar is a lot better and deeper than people think

Most unpredictable group – Group G
If the real Inter stands up, they should advance, but as for second who knows? Neither PSV or Fenerbache stand out and CSKA Moskva could still sneak in

Liverpool » Besian Idrizaj

We’ve drawn FC Porto, Marseille, & Beşiktaş J.K. for the CL