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Saturday September 12, 2009

English clubs look set to dominate again in Europe

The After Match - By Brian Martin

ENGLISH clubs have dominated Europe over the last few years, and this trend isn’t about to change when the Champions League group stages begin next week.

All four English Premier League clubs – Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool – have, at least on paper, relatively straightforward passages to the knockout stages.

Arsenal are in Group H with Standard Liege, Olympiakos and AZ Alkmaar.

Liege and Alkmaar should not be much of a threat to the Gunners but Olympiakos could trouble them in the away leg in Greece.

In fact, the draw could not have been kinder to Arsene Wenger, who is still searching for the one trophy that has eluded him – the Champions League.

One gets the impression that Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich has hired Carlo Ancelotti with the sole purpose of winning the European crown.

The Italian certainly has the know-how, having won the trophy with AC Milan.

Chelsea have nothing to fear in Group D as they are drawn with Atletico Madrid, Porto and Apoel of Cyprus.

Liverpool? The five-time European champions should have a pretty easy time in Group E with Lyon, Fiorentina and Debrecen for company.

Five years into Rafa Benitez’s reign, and Liverpool still remain very much a Cup side. Fans of the Mighty Reds may yearn for the EPL title, but it is the Champions League and FA Cup that present Liverpool with their best chance for glory this season.

Last year’s runners-up United appear to have the toughest test of the four English teams, having been drawn with CSKA Moscow, Besiktas and Wolfsburg in Group B.

Alex Ferguson will be wary of the long trip to Moscow on Oct 21 as his team will not only have to face the icy and wintry conditions, but get a result at the Luzhniki Stadium which is notorious for its rock-hard pitch.

Wolfsburg are no pushovers either, having surprised everyone by winning the Bundesliga last season.

Even Besiktas are no pushovers. Matches in Turkey rarely are.

United travel to Istanbul with bad memories from almost 15 years ago. Then, Eric Cantona and company were subjected to torrents of abuse from the terraces and eventually kicked out of the competition by Besiktas’ rivals Galatasaray. Cantona was sent off and even hit on the head by a policeman!

For the record, this season’s Champions League final will be played at the Santiago Bernabeu – the home of Spanish giants Real Madrid.

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