Champions League Preview

A big warm welcome to the first of many “On The Volley” blogs.  Over the next few weeks we will be keeping you updated with all the goings on in the wonderful world of football, and what better way to start, than with the ultimate club competition in European football, now in its 56^th year – The Champions League.

With the groups decided and fixtures already announced, we saw the early exit of a few seasoned Champions League big name regulars including Dynamo Kiev, Zenit St Petersburg, Rosenborg  and Sevilla, whose fans now have to console themselves with the not so glamorous and far less lucrative Europa League after failing in the quagmire of the qualifying rounds.  This year, however, we will see a few new faces grace our screens starting 14th September, and when the draw was made in Monaco on August 26^th, two of the Champions League debutants were thrown together in the same group with none other than the reigning Champions, Inter Milan. And so it is with Group A receiving the first of the “On The Volley” treatment in today’s blog

GROUP A                                     

INTER MILAN, WERDER BREMEN, TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR and FC TWENTE

Reigning champions Inter Milan kick off proceedings having beaten Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Santiago Bernabau in last year’s final. The win, Inters third European Cup title and was their first since 1965, this after having won their fifth consecutive Italian league title. This of course, was all under the supervision of the self proclaimed “special one” José Mourhinho, now at the helm of Real Madrid. Rafael Benitez, who won the Champions League whilst managing his previous club Liverpool, will have a lot to live up to and whether or not he can deliver similar success with Inter remains to be seen. With only a few days remaining of the transfer window Benitez has been relatively quiet on the transfer front so far, the biggest transaction coming in the sale of Mario Balotelli to big spenders Manchester City. Despite this, there are quality world class players in the likes of Milito, Samuel and Sneijder along with seasoned veterans like Zanetti and Materazzi and Eto who combined make Inter a serious contender to repeat their feats of 2009/2010. I see Inter Milan qualifying into the next round with ease.

This is the sixth time in seven years that Werder Bremen has qualified for the Group stages. Having finished third in the Bundesliga, Werder scraped through the qualifier with Sampdoria, 5-4 on aggregate after extra time in the second leg, Markus Rosenberg of Sweden grabbing the late winner. Their head coach Thomas Schaaf has been in charge of Werder Bremen since 1999 and is a wily European campaigner who knows how to get the best out of his players.  Werder Bremen will certainly be in with a very good shout to get that second place and qualification for the latter stages. Players to look out for are Rosenberg and Torstein Frings, a player that has an explosive shot and a point to prove after being left out of the German national Team in the 2010 World Cup

Making their Champions League bow is none other than Tottenham Hotspur FC. A club I know extremely well having supported them for more years than I care to remember. Having threatened to qualify for the last few years, the Spurs finally ousted Liverpool for 4^th spot last season and progressed through a tricky qualifier against Young Boys of Berne after going 3-0 in the first 30 minutes of the first leg. Spurs have it all to do with a talented, but young and inexperienced squad. What will count in their (our) favour is the electric atmosphere at White Hart Lane where Spurs have only lost 3 times in 66 European games played at home.  Home support and an astute transfer or two in the last few days of the transfer window may be enough to get Tottenham through to the next stages of the Champions League, but it is not going to be easy and some of the inexperience of the squad may prove telling on big European nights such as those in the San Siro. Forever the optimist I see Spurs edging Werder for that second spot and obtaining qualification into the next round.

Group A is completed by FC Twente, fellow newcomers to the Champions’ League group stages. Twente won the Dutch League last season under former England manager Steve McClaren who left at the end of the season for German team Wolfsburg. With new coach Michel Preud’homme in charge, Twente will struggle with a lack of experience and a lack of quality, with much reliance upon their Costa Rican star striker Bryan Ruiz who managed to bag a very creditable 24 goals in only 35 appearances last season. Although certainly capable of upsetting the big boys I can’t see Twente progressing into the next round and are favourites to finish bottom of the group with a fair amount of justification.

Ben’s Predictions for Group A

  1^st Inter Milan 2^nd Tottenham Hotspur 3^rd Werder Bremen 4^th FC Twente

It’s going to be an interesting group even more so for me with my beloved Spurs involved, and whilst all the pressure is on Benitez and his Inter Milan, there may well be a few surprise results, with more Twists than in a Chubby Checker concert. Expect Inter to progress but the second place is most definitely up for grabs.

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