Its Deja Vu All Over Again
By: JT | August 30th, 2007
If familiarity breeds contempt, then this year’s Champions League Group D is going to be a back alley brawl. And if it goes that route you know who’s coming out on top.
In the 2004/2005 Champions League, Group F finished Milan, Barcelona, Shakhtar Donetsk, with Celtic pulling up the rear.
In the 2006/2007 Champions League, Group F finished ManUtd, Celtic, Benfica, and FC Copenhagen. Benfica and the Celts traded 3-0 home thrashings.
Celtic advanced to the knockout stages for the first time in the current CL format and went toe-to-toe with eventual winners AC Milan for almost 210 minutes before Kaka ripped the hearts out of the Celtic faithful with an astounding solo effort.
Now, four old European friends are gathering for another chance at glory.
This year’s Celtic are miles better than either the 04/05 or 06/07 crews.
They’ve improved more than Benfica in the close season, especially with the loss of Simao Sabrosa. Back to Portugal 40 years after the Lisbon Lions? Awesome!
They’ve shown they’re not intimidated by the Italian giants or the San Siro. I can’t wait to see Scott Brown square up to Gattuso.
Already in this Champions League they’ve proven they can handle the long trip east to the former Soviet Bloc to take care of business.
Think the Bhoys can’t win this group? Think again.
***** UPDATE: The fixture list also looks pretty good for Celtic. They get the trip to Ukraine out of the way first, then the home leg with Milan, giving them the chance to snag 4 (or maybe 6) points right off the top. Then the away and home tie with Benfica, the home leg with Shakhtar Donetsk, and the last match of the group stage is at Milan. Provided the Celts don’t put themselves in a position to have to win the match at the San Siro to go through, the fixture order seems to be fortuitous for the Bhoys *****
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Comments
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Its surely a group of death of this edition.
Posted from
India
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Celtic are definitely capable of advancing out of this group but it’s far from a sure thing. For a start it would be nice to get a point or three away. We’ve already learned that winning all nine at home isn’t always enough.
Posted from
United States
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