Champions League Preview Group C
Real Madrid
Los Blancos were largely a disappointment last season under new coach Fabio Capello. There was a lot of friction between club, management, and players. It all came together for them at the end when they stormed back to win the title on the last day of the season, but because of the dull, uninspired performances the title was tained. Real did qualify for the knockout stages, though they lost a battle of the titans with Bayern in the first round.
That said, Real Madrid have looked rather lively at the inception of the Primera Liga season under Bernd Schuster, winning the Madrid derby 2-1 and pummeling Villarreal 5-0. They currently reside alone atop the Spanish League with the full 6 pts from the first two matches.
This is a rough group, in the sense that all four of these sides are tough at home, but Real Madrid far surpasses the quality of the other clubs and will ground out enough away results to win the group.
Lazio
Appropriate in both name and logo, S.S. Lazio finished third in Serie A last season to qualify for a Champions League place, winning 8 matches in a row at one point. The Biancocelesti were originally relegated to Serie B for their involvement in the 2006 match-fixing scandal, but that penalty was reduced to a 3 pt deduction at the start of the season. They are currently 14th in Serie A with 2 pts from their first two matches. They should skate through, but only due to the weakness of the rest of the opposition.
Werder Bremen
Werder were known for the exciting, attacking football last season. They were the “winter champions” in the Bundesliga, taking a first-place lead into the winter break. They also nearly beat out Barcelona to make it to the knockout stages in the Champions League. They have been on decent form so far this season, sitting tied for second in the Bundesliga with 7 pts from 4 matches. However, they have displayed little of the same dynamism in front of goal. They still have some stars like Frings and Diego, but without all-world striker Miroslav Klose (sold to Bayern) it is difficult to see them progressing.
Olympiacos
Olympiacos won their tenth Greek Super League title in the last 11 seasons last year. They qualified for the Champions League last season, but finished last in Group D with a mere 3 pts from 6 matches. They drew their first match of the season with OFI Crete. They are a tough away draw, but with former World Footballer of the Year winner Rivaldo, who scored 43 goals in 81 appearances for the club, it is hard to see them improving upon last year’s performance.
Tags: Champions League, Lazio, Olympiacos, Real Madrid, Werder Bremen
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10 September 2007 at 8:24 am
Lazio are no longer the giants they once were, and have become a selling team after financial scandal. They are a team that likes to get forward; thus, they are susceptible to the counter (and Bremen is deadly on the counter), especially now that goalkeeper and excellent organizer Angelo Peruzzi has retired. Goran Pandev is the man to be scared of and Naldo will need to be at his best to slow this emerging star down. The absence of attacking mid Stefano Mauri will help a Bremen side that is missing its best midfield man-markers.
If Martin Harnik is truly the solution at forward (and nobody expected it), suddenly Werder are back in contention in the Bundesliga and can look to do better in CL. Borowski and Frings are now training again and with them back in the squad, Diego has much more support to pull the strings.
10 September 2007 at 9:12 am
I still don’t think Bremen have enough without Klose.