The Champions league football kick starts from tomorrow. Picking my top eight in descending order. A statutory warning : I have used Ladbrokes betting odds to win this seasons CL trophy, purely for the purpose of analysis & NOT ENCOURAGE ANY MEMBERS, TO INDULGE IN BETTING !! 1. Chelsea - Jose whining Mourinho has put together a formidable squad. In Diego Costa he has found the missing link to spearhead the attack. Lampards vacancy has been filled by Fabregas. Both the new acquisition has fitted in like a glove & the results show so far. The only weakness if at all is that there may not be enough cover in the CD area. There is good continuity, no dramatic change of tactics & a friendly group to kick start their CL campaign. If I was a betting man & pick one finalist it would be Chelsea. (7:1) 2. Athletico Madrid - As like every season, Athletico lost 2 marquee players in Costa & custodian Courtious (both 2 Chelsea) but that hardly seems to deter Dieogo Simeone. Infact it seems to motivate him further & he has strengthened his squad by bringing in Mandzukic for Costa & added depth in MF by way of procuring Griezmann. They find themselves in a competitive group with Juve & tricky Olympiacos . Coach & player continuity & an additional motivation to go one better then last season, makes Athletico my second favourite. (20:1) 3. Barcelona, under new coach Luis Enrique are off to a flying La liga campaign. There is a familiarity to their tactics (4-3-3) & style of play. The GK slot has been bolstered by procuring Ter Stegen & Bravo & the defence looks solid with addition of Vermalean & Mathieau to the already exisiting Pique, Bartra & Mascherano. But what the footballing fraternity are looking forward to is the beginning of the partnership in front 3 of Neymar, Messi & Suarez. Thats is as potent a strike force you will ever find in the history of football. Barca find themselves in an interesting group with PSG & Ajax. I expect Barca to atleast make the last 4 stage. (5:1) 4. Bayern Munich: After a horrendous & an embarrassing semi final exit last season, Pep Guardiola will be desperate to make amends this time round. The biggest problem i foresee for Pep are the rising injury concerns so early in the season & his stubbornness to play 3-4-3 tactics, which I am not all convinced off. We already find ourselves arguably in the group of death, with Mancity, Roma & CSK Moskow. I would expect us to come out of this group & hopefully top it as well. Expect atleast a semis spot, if not better. Things could change dramatically if we falter at the group stage & finish second. (7:2) 5. Borussia Dortmund : the maverick Jurgen Klopp will lead BVB to yet another CL campaign. Although they lost Lewa, they have well & truly strengthened their squad & created an amazing depth. It helps with the return of the prodigal, Shinji Kagawa. Although ranked 5th favourite i would expect them to spring a surprise or too & wont be surprised to see them in the semis. (20:1) 6. Manchester city : In Manuel Pellegrini they have a steadfast coach & one of the best squads in Europe. They are the EPL champions & would like to emulate this feat in Europe. If it were not for the lack of awareness & poor ambition last season, they would have progressed further then they actually did. Though they find themselves in the group of death along with us, I expect them to be the other team to come out of the group. With a favourable KO draw & bit of luck they could upset the favourites applecart. Atleast quarterfinals. (12:1) 7. PSG : Like man city they have assembled a formidable squad of marquee players. They were distinctly unfortunate last season to be dumped out at Stamford bridge on away goals (3:3 agg). They find themselves in an interesting group with Barca & Ajax. Laurent Blanc will be hoping to do one better then the quarter final stage exit. (16:1) 8. Juventus : the Italian giants were a huge disappointment last season when they could not even come out of the group & ended up in Europa. Hopefully change of coach will see a change of fortune. There is no doubt they have the squad to do the job & come out of a tricky group. But they will have to be at their absolute best to get past Olympiacos & malmo besides of course, Athletico Madrid. Expect to see them atleast in the last eight.(28:1). The outsiders : Arsenal, Liverpool, Porto, Leverkusen.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 10:07:28 +0000
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