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08-09 Champions League Predictions

The 08-09 UEFA Champions League starts today and since predictions on sports I really follow have gone miserable the past week, I figure let's try my hand on sports that I casually follow.

Group A: 1.Chelsea, 2. Roma 3. Bordeaux 4. CFR Cluj
Chelsea moves on with the black shirts and so does Roma as Italy>France.

Group B: 1. Internazionale 2. Werder Bremen 3. Panathinaikos 4. Anorthosis,
The Special One dominates for Inter and Werder Bremen moves on as well in by far the easiest group. I mean Anorthosis is from Cyprus, that country is smaller than Connecticut.

Group C: 1.Barcelona 2.Sporting CP 3.Basel 4. Shakhtar Donetsk
Barca is a certainty to move forward and well I know little to nothing about the remaining teams. So we shall go with the Portuguese squad Sporting CP.

Group D: 1. Liverpool 2. PSV Eindhoven 3. Atlético Madrid 4. Marseille
This is probably the group of death with 4 solid squads. Liverpool always shows up at the Champions League so they are the group favorites and should advance. The other 3 will be in a fight but I'll go dutch with PSV.

Group E: 1. Manchester United 2.Celtic 3. Villarreal 4. Aalborg BK
Typically the Scottish clubs don't advance past the group stages, but hey if 'ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE' in Boston perhaps the same is true in Europe. Going with Man U to take the group and Celtic to follow as plan B.

Group F: 1. Bayern 2. Fiorentina 3. Lyon 4. Steaua
Lyon is the best team in the group but... screw the french go I-ties, Bayern takes the group and Fiorentina moves on.

Group G: 1. Arsenal 2. Dynamo Kyiv 3. Porto 4. Fenerbahçe
Arsenal should easily move on from this group with the remainders having a solid fight to get to the final. I'm gonna go out on a limb and go with Dynamo Kyiv because I'd imagine playing in the Ukraine is miserable for visiting clubs and that they will win most of those games.

Group H: 1. Juventus 2. Real Madrid 3. Zenit St Petersburg 4. BATE
Madrid and Juventus are perennially powerhouses and BATE's stadium only holds 5,500 people. Chances are pretty solid that Juventus and Madrid advance.

Championship Matchup: Chelsea vs. Inter
Why this matchup? Because A) I'm greedy and want Chelsea to make it and think they have the squad to get there again. And B) Because I'm greedy and would love to see Chelsea square off against Inter Milan and Jose Morinho with the European Crown on the line. And the Winner is.... The Special One gets revenge on Big Boss.
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