So the fat cats from UEFA have had one of their seasonal jollies out in Monaco and have no doubt battered the expense account to within an inch of its life.  Dirty work for them obviously but I suppose some poor schmuck has to do it!

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After they had gorged on another luncheon feast and quaffed a few glass of very expensive wine they staggered off to a big hall to stick their grubby little mitts into some bowls and pick out a few little plastic footballs that contained the names of some of the biggest clubs in Europe, and to be fair, some of the not so big clubs in Europe.

Well, after the normal ponderous affair, which let’s face it is nothing more than a self congratulatory slap on the back session, they boys from UEFA came up with the 8 Groups of 4 teams that will play home and away between September and December.

The first Group that jumped out at me was Group H, surely to be labelled the Group of Death by some journalists.  It contains 9 times winners and Spanish giants Real Madrid, Italian giants Juventus, the current UEFA Cup holders (and maybe even Super Cup holders, if they beat Man Utd on Friday) Zenit St Petersburg and then poor old Bate Borisov, whoever the hell they are!  Bet they’re not betting too much money on making through to the knock-out stages!

Some other intriguing  match-ups that jumped out at me were, Liverpool heading over to play Torres’ old team Atletico Madrid.  Bet El Nino is looking forward to that!   Also Man Utd in an all British clash with the Champions of Scotland Celtic should be something special.  Would love to be a Park Head that night!  You can find all the Groups and the dates the games will be played by clicking here.

I for one certainly can’t wait for all this to kick-off again.  There are some great fixtures ahead and no doubt there will be loads of controversy, last minute drama and the odd shock here and there.  But one thing is for sure, whichever teams gets to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27th May 2009 will have deserved it.  Just had a thought, Liverpool have won the trophy there twice already, against Borussia Muncangladback in 1977 and against Roma on their own soil in 1984.  I wonder if that’s an omen?

Anyway, let me know which team you think will lift “Old Jug Ears”.

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Cheers

Rik
The Soccer Blogger

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