UCL Draw (after the draw of course)

Group A
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Liverpool - Eng	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Porto - Por	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Marseille - Fra	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Besiktas - Tur	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group B
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Chelsea - Eng	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Valencia - Spa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Schalke - Ger	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rosenborg - Nor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group C
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Real Madrid - Spa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Werder Bremen - Ger	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lazio - Ita	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Olympiakos - Gre	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group D
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
AC Milan - Ita	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Benfica - Por	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Celtic - Sco	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukr	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group E
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Barcelona - Spa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lyon - Fra	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stuttgart - Ger	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rangers - Sco	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group F
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Manchester United - Eng	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Roma - Ita	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sporting Lisbon - Por	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dynamo Kiev - Ukr	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group G
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Inter Milan - Ita	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
PSV Eindhoven - Hol	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
CSKA Moscow - Rus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fenerbahce - Tur	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group H
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Arsenal - Eng	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sevilla or AEK Athens* - Spa/Gre	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Steaua Bucharest - Rom	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Slavia Prague - Cze	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Yes, yes I just copy and pasted the whole chunk up there.

Group of Death goes to Group E no doubt. With Barcelona, Lyon, Stuttgart, and Rangers, its a tough position to be in any of the clubs really, although overall, I think all the teams in pot 1 should have no problem making it into the next round. A lot of debate going on about Group E as which team should qualify with Barcelona. Lyon's been good in Europe, Stuttgart is untested, and Rangers, is seen as the dark horse of the group. To me, its going to be Lyon, I don't see Rangers have any chance of making it, maybe a Uefa Cup spot.

Group of Life award goes to Group H with Arsenal, Sevilla or AEK Athens, Steaua and Slavia Prague. And it gets worse if AEK makes it. Group of life means, all the minor teams have every chance in the world to make it through, while pot 1 Arsenal should have no problem playing reserves and scoring points.

Champions League draws are very funny. They bring back the past, give previous losers a second chance. We all know Chelsea's losing streak against Liverpool, this time, we will see Man Utd against Roma again, Milan versus Celtic, and Chelsea against Valencia.

Too early to predict a winner, but I would like Liverpool to win, naturally. And if they don't, I would like a Slavia Prague vs Shakhtar Donetsk final

UCL Draw

The draw is half as interesting as the games, and we are talking about the Uefa Champions League. One of the only European Club tournaments showing on local non-cable channels from where I live.

The pots for the draw are as follows

Pot 1

AC Milan
Barcelona
Liverpool
Inter Milan
Arsenal
Real Madrid
Chelsea
Manchester United

Pot 2

Valencia
Lyon
Porto
Sevilla/AEK Athens
PSV Eindhoven
Roma
Benfica
Werder Bremen

Pot 3

Celtic
Schalke
Stuttgart
Steaua Bucharest
CSKA Moscow
Sporting Lisbon
Lazio
Marseille

Pot 4

Rangers
Shakhtar Donetsk
Besiktas
Olympiakos
Dynamo Kiev
Fenerbache
Slavia Prage
Rosenborg

So how does this thing work?
Basically there will be groups of 4 and 1 team from each pot will fill 1 position in each group.
The other condition is that any team will not face another team of the same country in the group. For example, AC Milan and Roma, although they are in different pots, they cant be drawn into the same group.

Do the math and calculate your team's chances against different teams. Exciting tournament awaits.

Liverpool in UCL

I'l let the goal speak for themselves.

Just noting that all first team strikers opened their accounts, and Season is looking good. :)

Leto Debuts for Liverpool tonight

One of the reasons I'm writing this post is because I cant sleep.

Sebastian Leto will be handed his Reds debut in tonight's Champions League qualifier against Toulouse.

The young Argentine, who will be 21st birthday next week, starts on the left side of midfield, while Yossi Benayoun patrols the right on his home debut.

Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva could also make his debut after being named on the bench.

This is the line up

Reina, Arbeloa, Hyypia, Agger, Riise, Benayoun, Leto, Sissoko, Mascherano, Crouch, Kuyt.

Subs: Itandje, Finnan, Torres, Alonso, Pennant, Babel, Lucas.

To be honest, I'm a little worried. Liverpool only hold a 1 goal lead, the job is not done and this is a side that will depend on their wings to attack, namely Leto and Benayoun. I have yet to see both perform for Liverpool and I hope it all goes well.

I believe the game will go Liverpool's way as long as they can feed high balls to Crouch. Simple effective game plan that works in European football.

May Leto and Leiva do wonders and shock the world.

RIP Antonio Puerta

Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta was in "very serious" condition Sunday after two cardiac arrests during his team's 4-1 win over Getafe a day earlier.

"He is in the intensive care unit where he has been given assisted ventilation and is experiencing hemodynamic instability," a medical statement issued by the Virgen del Rocio hospital said. "The prognosis is very serious."

And he is only 22 years old, and probably has a great future ahead of him. Quality young player as well. Sad moment in football.

Man Utd's first win

Argh they finally won. But against a very unlucky Tottenham side, and it could have been a disaster for United.

Nani scored a very good looking goal, but truthfully, it was pretty close to the centre just showing how bad Paul Robinson's positioning was. It was a good goal though.

I was waiting for a Man Utd defeat as they were 2nd from the bottom before the game. It could make a good conversation ice breaker to friends that enjoys football like I do.

Arsenal beaten Man City and nearly did not succeed and ended Man City's excellent start.

Weekend of football.

The Spanish League and the Italian League begins this week.

Spotlight will be on the new Real Madrid taking on city rivals Athelico Madrid. With new signings, new manager, new style of play, on paper, Real Madrid is actually quite strong. But how long before they gel as a team? I really don't know.

Juventus is back in the Serie A and the tussle for the title is wide open again. No more one horse race, but lets rememeber, Juventus is now a weaker side compared to 2 years ago.

EPL matches of the week would be Sunderland against Liverpool, Arsenal against Manchester City and Man Utd against Tottenham.

My pick would be a Liverpool win, Arsenal sharing points with Man City, and Man Utd yet to score their first week, which will spark more articles about their bad start. Heh heh heh.

See you on the other side :)

Mad transfers

Honestly, I expect deals like Heinze to Real Madrid to have more of a saga, something the press would enjoy. Or at least something done minutes before the transfer window closes. Pretty much something more dramatic.

Suddenly, without any warning, Belletti moves to Chelsea, Robben goes to Madrid, Heinze to Madrid, and Daniel Alves to stay another year?

Smartest move of the lot would be Belletti to Chelsea. This is one classy right back, playing second fiddle to Zambrotta in Barcelona. Coming to Chelsea means first team football and a team that is hungry of trophies. Yes, Alves is an exceptional talent, but he deserves to stay at Sevilla for one more year before moving to Liverpool next season. Ho ho ho.

And Real Madrid, once collecting galacticos, then started to collect Brazilians, then a bunch of use to bes, then prospects, and now the Dutch collection.

Funny isn't it?

What is wrong with Man Utd?

Out of 3 matches, 2 draws and a loss. One would expect this start for a team battling relegation. It might be just 3 games, but this is the worst start Man Utd have in years. Some are just debating that its the early season jitters. Just a little early bump they say. 16th place as off now. Thats just bad.

The English Champions, making great signings as far as paper goes. Nani, regarded as a Cristiano Ronaldo Clone. Hey, which team wants to handle 2 Cristiano Ronaldos? Anderson is seen as another Paul Scholes, Owen Heargreaves, one of England's best in the previous World Cup, and Carlos Tevez, we all know what he did with West Ham last season.

Put all of these together with the current squad, sounds really good right?

Or so we thought.

I can tell you what is wrong with a couple of keywords.

Hype, aging, expectations.

All leads to failure.

EPL week 2

I think saikaiball.com said it right.

Liverpool 1 Referee 1.

Okay, I only saw clips, look at stats and read match reports. Let me first say that the Torres goal was really really good.

Then comes the part where Malouda tripped over the ball. 60000 pairs of eyes watching it live in the stadium, millions tuning in at home, and replays to back them, Mr Rob Styles is the only one that saw a foul.

Mr Styles, when a player falls down in front of another player without direct contact, that is not a foul. This game should be won by Liverpool no doubt.

Man City 1 Man Utd 0

When the lights go on, and reality sets in, you shall now all bow to me and say that I was right all along and you should have believed me. Muahaha. As close as Man Utd gets, they are denied by the much better Man City (compared to themselves for the past season). Eriksson's football at its best, not many chances created, a little boring, but can be effective. Worst start for Man Utd, and I believe it could only get worse. Titles are not won or lost in August though.

Another worth mention would be Tony Warner's butter fingers goalkeeping.

At this level, mistakes like that are never forgotten.