The "Romance" of the Champions League!

Champions League 2012/2013 - The "Romance" of the Champions League!

      

                                                                The Story so far

Football is a beautiful sport. The English Premier League is the root to its Passion,Pride & Soul. The Champions League is the romance of European and possibly World Football.

Well it Started on the 03rd July 2012

76 Teams from 52 Associations

Some of the teams had taken their league's by storm in the previous season & many teams were great in their leagues to finish in the champions league places Aswell as Chelsea winning the Champions League!

Group stages done and dusted, a brief overview of how it all went about !

32 Teams 8 groups. A battle for places in the knock-out stages !

A brief overview of how some of the teams did in their groups

Group A: 1.FC Porto - 2.PSG - 3.Dynamo Kiev - 4.Dinamo Zagreb

FC Porto came in to the Champions League on the back of losing their prized asset in HULK (no not the big green one) and were on the verge of losing Moutinho to Spurs but were comfortably through to the knock-out stages beating PSG along the way

As expected PSG were Favourites in this group, Owned by rich Arabs splashing the "dough" signed the likes of Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Lavezzi and Lucas Moura(deal in January) and also had other big players in Pastore, Gamiero,Menez,Alex and Nene - again Comfortably through to the knock outs despite losing to Porto in Week 2

Group B: 1.Schalke 04 - 2.Arsenal - 3.Olympiakos - 4.Montpellier

Schalke went into the group as one of the favourites to progress, and so they did in emphatic style being one of only four teams to be unbeaten in the group stages.Semi Finalists in 10/11 season will they be up to the tasks of repeating that feat this time round?

Selling your key players to your rivals can be a big blow, losing your right hand man in Pat Rice can be even a bigger blow. some thought it would be the same old Arsenal we have been seeing for the past 6/7 years but credit where its due, Arsene Wenger may have lost key players and his right hand man but he managed to splash some cash on notable players who have been excelling recently. Santi Carzola in the centre of midfield has been fantastic Mr Wenger probably wishes he had got him a long time ago! Podolski started slowly but now has the hang of scoring and seems to going to the point of replacing RVP. Every manager needs a right hand man Fergie had Carlos Q and now has Mike Phelan, Sir Bobby had Mourinho at Barcelona, Arsene Wenger had Pat Rice but unfortunately retired but as Wenger kept pulling out surprises he managed to hire Steve Bould as his right hand man, during the start of the campaign it had been going great for Arsenal but a faltering league form hindered Arsenal's Champions League run but it did not stop them form qualifying from the group stages in second place.

Group C: 1.Malaga - 2.AC Milan - 3.Zenit St Petersburg - 4.Anderlecht

In 2010 Malaga had been taken over by a Qatari business man, this had a fruitful recognition to a place in the knock-out stages of this seasons competition, from 2010 till now Malaga had been on the rise buying high profile players aswell as finishing fourth in La Liga last season.

Despite being winners of an edgy and heavy task in the play-offs against Panathanikos, Malaga threw everyone by surprise after they had topped the group unbeaten behind italian giants AC Milan in their first season in the Champions League.

AC Milan came in to the competition after losing several high profile players in the summer notebly Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Many expected a difficult outcome in a competitive group, but as big teams do replace big players AC Milan didnt need to do that as they had a several key players and the rise of Stephen El Shaarawy who was on top form ensured AC Milan despite only picking up two points on home turf qualified with a game to spare.

Zenit St Petersburg another club spending freely came into the competition with having high hopes after winning the Russian Premier League and buying star players such as Hulk and Axel Witsel, but as team spirit and player revolts Zenit failed to qualify for the knock-out stages as they finished 3rd.

Group D: 1.Borussia Dortmund - 2.Real Madrid - 3.Ajax - 4.Manchester City

eliminated from the group stages last season after finishing the group bottom, Borussia Dortmund were drawn in the so called "group of death" and were expected to struggle.With their no fear approach they seemed a different team from last season as they topped the group. outclassing Manchester City with their trademark counter attacking football in their 2nd Group game + taking four points from two games against Real Madrid and clinching a win against City and Ajax in the last two games proved, Dortmund had the courage and determination to step up in European football. 

After semi finalist last season Mourinho's men were on the hunt to win the Champions League once again.Real Madrid came into the competition being 9 times winners, Group D provided a big test for Madrid after a group containing 3 domestic Champions, but after having a big ambition to make sure they are 10 times winners of this competition Real Madrid ensured they qualified finishing in 2nd place.

Teams can spend on top players all they like, they can have the millions in the bank backed by rich owners but in European football they must have the know how! As Manchester City found out European football is no walk over as they crashed out the second season in a row in the Champions League Group stages. Manchester City came into the competition on having won the Barclays Premier League with the last kick of the 2011/12 season.As they entered their second Champions League campaign in thier history Manchester City had high hopes on doing better than last season but after not winning any of their first 3 games the damage was done and they were knocked out of Europe altogether.

Group E: 1.Juventus 2.Shaktar Donetsk 3.Chelsea 4.FC Nordsjaelland

Juventus one of the big giants of Italian football, came into the competition after a 3 year absence, they qualified impressively for the knock-out stages with a fantastic midfield trio notable player Andre Pirlo hailed as one of the best midfielder in the world ensured Juventus having won 3 games on the trot topped the group despite taking it to the last game.

Shaktar Donetsk despite having a relatively low profile kick started their campaign comfortably with a win and ensuring it was the catalyst to their impressive football throughout the group stages and qualifying with a game to spare, their attitude of playing as a team helped eliminate the holders Chelsea.

Chelsea came into the competition as holders after winning it the previous year and were aiming to become the first team to win it back to back but instead managed to become the first team as holders to get knocked out at the group stage after poor campaign in which Roberto Di Matteo was sacked and the club hired Rafeal Benitez in which some of the fans are still against his appointment.

Group F: 1.Bayern Munich 2.Valencia 3.Bate Borisov 4. Lille

Finalist of last seasons competition and two seasons without a trophy, Bayern Munich decided to splash the cash wisely in the summer and have excelled in both the Bundesliga and Champions League. Favourites for the Bundesliga after a fine start and 9 points clear Bayern Munich were given a relatively easy group as they ensured progression to the next stages of the champions league by winning the group over Valencia despite losing to Bat Borisov 3-1.

After exiting the group stages last season Valencia didn not want a repeat, strong favourites with Bayern Munich to succeed to the knock-out stages ensured things were right this time round as they lost only one game in the group but league form had cost Mauricio Pellegrino his job just before the last game in the group.

Group G: 1.Barcelona 2.Celtic 3.Benfica 4.Spartak Moscow

Same old Barcelona Just a new manager ! After reeling the pain of a triple blow last season losing the league title to Real Madrid, Pep Gaurdiola leaving and eliminated by Chelsea in the Semi Finals, Barcelona breezed through in emphatic fashion with record targeting man Lionel Messi in fine form. Although they lost to Celtic at Parkhead Barcelona topped the group ensuring qualification was guaranteed with a game to spare with Celtic and Benfica fighting for second place.

Celtic came into the competition on the back of winning two qualifying rounds and despite having handed a difficult draw they exceed all expectations and progressed in second place for the knock-out stages with a memorable performance at Parkhead against Barcelona.

Group H: 1.Manchester United 2.Galatasary 3.Cluj 4.Braga

Manchester United failed to get out the group stages last season and did not want a repeat of that this season, on failing to win the league and the embarrassment of Europe Manager Sir Alex Ferguson decided to splash £24 Million on Robin Van Persie. Manchester United came into the competition on having conceded first in almost every game they have played and it was to no surprise in which United's campaign was full of drama and excitement falling behind in 5 games, coming back from 2-0 down and blackout against Braga! despite all that Manchester United's four straight victories ensured they qualified with two games to spare and had the chance to rest key players for the last two games of the group.

After 6 years without being in the group stages of the Champions League Galatasary won the Turkish League and had directly qualified for the group stages. Despite losing their first two games of the campaign and picking up four points at home including a memorable win against an inexperience Manchester United advanced to the knock-out stages in second place.

Thats the Group Stage done and dusted have a look at the knockout stage draw!

Galatasary V Schalke 

Celtic V Juventus

Arsenal V Bayern Munich

Shaktar Donetsk V Borussia Dortmund

AC Milan V Barcelona

Real Madrid V Manchester United

Valencia V Paris Saint Germain

FC Porto V Malaga

Some tasty fixtures including the return of Cristiano Ronaldo!

Feel free to comment your views and who do you think will win the Champions league?

Thanks

The quality of writing and what I have said may not be liked by some people I apologise as am trying my best and hoping to find help in wrting blogs.

Your views are welcome!