Group Stage Draw and Thoughts

By: Dan | August 28th, 2009

GROUP A: Ajax Amsterdam – Anderlecht- Dinamo Zagreb- Timisoara

GROUP B: Valenica- Lille OSC – Slavia Prague- Genoa

GROUP C: Hamburg SV- Celtic- Hapoel Tel Aviv- Rapid Vienna

GROUP D: Sporting Lisbon- Heerenveen- Hertha Berlin- Ventspils

GROUP E: AS Roma- FC Basel- Fulham- CSKA Sofia

GROUP F: Panathinaikos – Galatasaray – Dinamo Bucharest – Sturm Graz

GROUP G: Villarreal – SS Lazio – Levski Sofia – Red Bull Salzburg

GROUP H: Steaua Bucharest – Fenerbahce – FC Twente – Sheriff

GROUP I: SL Benfica – Everton – AEK Athens – BATE

GROUP J: Shakhtar Donetsk – Club Brugge – Partizan Belgrade – Toulouse

GROUP K: PSV Eindhoven – FC Copenhagen – Sparta Prague – CFR Cluj

GROUP L: Werder Bremen – Austria Vienna – Athletic Bilbao – CD Nacional

We’ve definitely been graced with some interesting match ups and concurrent storylines. Unlike in that other continental tournament, it’s also a bit more difficult to say with any certainty who the quarterfinalists will be based on the group stage draw (and yet, I’m about to say who’s going to advance like I’m doing anything other than making an educated guess.)

Group A should be a matter of Ajax and Timisoara ultimately advancing. Dinamo Zagreb are, of course, no pushovers, and would have no problem pouncing if Ajax or Timisoara performed at less than their best. Anderlecht is something of an unknown quantity here. They were utterly abject and completely out of their depth against Lyon, but they did handle an opponent, Sivasspor, that was more on this competition’s level with some ease. I think anything short of a superhuman performance will see the former giants exit without embarrassing themselves.

Group B appears to be the winner in the ‘group of death’ sweepstakes. In all honesty, it might be a stretch to imagine Slavia Prague doing anything more than playing spoiler, but we could easily see Valencia or Genoa drop out of Europe very early.

Hamburg will be pleased with the Group C draw. If they can avoid any slip ups against Celtic at home, they should emerge as group winners without serious complications. Meanwhile, those of us who read a lot of British press will have to suffer more delusions of grandeur on Celtic’s part. Hopefully Rapid Vienna and Hapoel will handle Celtic at home as well, and give us a fresh face in the knockout stages.

Hertha Berlin’s draw avoided sheer terror, but replaced it with gnawing unease. On paper, Hertha and Sporting should be fighting amongst themselves for the top spot, but I would be dishonest if I said I didn’t worry about losing in Latvia or Holland.

Roma, were, again, handed a manageable draw. Roma, who have had their last four European campaigns ended by English opposition (Middlesboro, Manchester United twice, and Arsenal) will have to test themselves against Fulham. If either of the two were to falter, I would expect CSKA Sofia to be the more likely candidate to take advantage.

Group F has the potential to be a very volatile affair, and not in a good way. Three hotbeds of intense passion, which on numerous occasions has crossed the line into very real violence, have been put together in the same group. Sturm Graz, incidentally, must be thrilled about these away trips. In pure football terms, this looks like the end of the line for Sturm. Without watching the Greek, Turkish, or Romanian leagues on a weekly basis, picking the two teams to advance is too close to call.

Group G seems simple enough: Villarreal to advance with the other three fighting for second. Lazio have been wildly inconsistent on a season to season basis in recent times. If they’re in one of their funks for whatever reason, energy drink branding synergy football club should go through with Villarreal.

For me, the big story in Group H is Twente. Will this be the beginning of a young team establishing themselves in Europe (until the G-14 clubs start waving dollars again,) or will it be a case of difficult trips to Romania and Turkey being a step to far for them to get out of this group?

The first instinct with Group I is to say Benfica and Everton, but AEK and BATE won’t simply roll over. Depending on how the domestic season is going in England, we could very well see a reserve squad being sent out sooner than ever (in fairness, Everton have been less inclined to do this than other English clubs.) Under normal conditions, let’s stick with Everton and Benfica and see what happens.

Everyone probably wishes they were in Group J. Shakhtar Donetsk and Toulouse are just in a different class than Club Brugge and Partizan Belgrade right now. If Brugge or Partizan got out of the group, it would be very big news indeed.

Group K is going to be another closely contested affair. PSV, who haven’t been overly impressive in any competition so far, could very well be a high profile casualty from this group. They could just as easily stay the course they’re on and win every game 1-0 though.

Finally, in Group L, it’s very tempting to declare that Nacional might throw a wrench into the works, based on their elimination of Zenit St. Petersburg. Russian clubs have not exactly been having a good summer in Europe however. Again, let’s go with the conservative guess, and say Werder Bremen and Bilbao will go through, and wait for any surprises.