Chelsea, Porto, and APOEL

By: Al | August 27th, 2009

It’s not really a group of death per se, but I still wish that we had an easier group, in other words, I would have liked Rangers in the group somewhere.

As I watched the group stage draw, I kept on hoping that we wouldn’t draw the group with Manchester United or Chelsea, and we still got Chelsea. Out of pot 2, I wished that we didn’t draw the group with Inter or Porto, and we got Porto. Once we were picked in our group, I wished that we didn’t get Wolfsburg out of pot 4 and instead we got some team from Cyprus. Phew.

I will say the obvious: It’s not going to be easy. Yadda yadda yadda. So here’s a rundown of our opponents:

Chelsea FC: A machine. They were minutes away from reaching the Champions League final and had a killer knockout round as well. However, before the knockout round (and before Guus Hiddink) they were much more vulnerable, unable to win important matches at home and losing to the likes of Roma and Liverpool, and drawing at home to CFR Cluj. So if we have any chance in hell to get points from them, we must hope that the Ancelotti Chelsea screws up just like Scolari’s Chelsea did. It doesn’t seem likely since Chelsea is doing fantastic in the few matches they have played, but I’m confident that we can squeeze out a home victory and if anything, an away draw if we’re really really lucky.

FC Porto: The very team that eliminated us from the Champions League last season. They might be a little less of a danger without Lisandro Lopez but they still have Hulk, who was absolutely devastating to our defense last time (but it’s not hard to give our defense a rough time anyway). They’re similar to us, with tricky fast paced football and a dangerous attack. Still, the past is the past and we can still defeat them if we really tried. It all depends on our attack, who can score goals against any team in the world. Defeating Porto twice will be the biggest step we can take into the next round.

ΑΠΟΕΛ Ποδόσφαιρο (APOEL): I don’t know anything about them to be honest. They are incredibly popular in Cyprus, have a solid history, have sponsorships up the arse, and they are the reigning champions of their league. They have some Portuguese on their team, a Brazilian, and a Dutchman if that matters any. I honestly don’t know what to expect, but if they are anything like their countrymen Anorthosis Famagusta, they’ll give us a rough time in their home matches. Here’s a nice little read from UEFA’s website about them, so apparently they have a “big heart” and can fight back from deficits. That’s a recipe for upsets, so we better watch out.

At least we’ll be in for some killer games. Isn’t that why we watch the Champions League, aside from rooting for our respective teams? Do you think we’ll get to the next round?