Arsenal, Champions League
Just who will emerge from Group F?
Group F threatens to be the most fascinating of them all as three of the continent's big sides fight it out for the two qualifying spots, Celtic proved useless away from home again as Villarreal starred while Juventus failed to impress and Porto continued their fall from grace.
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- Tight group: Bayern and Lyon shared the spoils
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- Yellow Heaven: Villarreal were utterly dominant against Celtic
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- Pitiful Porto: The club have been poor in Europe in recent years
In the tightest of Champions League groups, all four sides in Group F will reckon their chances of progressing into next year’s knockout stages are good - but which two hold the aces?
Present are three formidable side in European football, with Bayern Munich heading the billing and Lyons joined by Fiorentina. And despite being perennial failures, Steaua Bucharest are offering a stubborn resistance. In four Group F matches played thus far, only one has resulted in a victory meaning Bayern lead the way with four points but are by no means in the clear after drawing with Lyons in Munich. The French side have two points, as do Fiorentina, while Steaua have one. This group could completely flip around on a week by week basis.
Bayern are top seeds and top point scorers yet are struggling badly in the Bundesliga. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann is already under pressure after successive league defeats - including a mammoth 5-2 home defeat against Werder Bremen - and after a tepid 1-0 success in Romania on matchday one, a fortunate 1-1 draw with Lyons yesterday did not ease the criticism upon the former Germany coach. And so despite leading the group, their form suggests they are liable to come unstuck again, especially bearing in mind they must still travel to both France and Italy. Klinsmann would surely lose his job if Bayern didn’t make it out of a tough but manageable group, and as the table stands he can take few things for granted.
Few can say anything bad against a diligent and ambitious Fiorentina side who helped light-up Serie A last season as they finished inside the top four ahead of the mighty AC Milan, thanks particularly to their cultured coach Cesare Prandelli and the heroics of Adrian Mutu up front. Yet their return to the Champions League after an eight-year absence could be short-lived after La Viola collected two points from their opening two matches.
A draw in Lyon was no bad result, but Fiorentina did throw away a 2-0 lead and more worryingly was the home draw with the group’s weakest club - Steaua - which not only offers the Romanians some hope of qualification but leaves Prandelli’s side likely needing to win in Bucharest to stand a chance of lasting beyond Christmas. The double-header against Bayern will surely prove critical, with a win in one of the two games obligatory. They would then need to overcome Lyons at home and Steaua on the road in order to reach the magic 10-point mark - usually enough to progress.
Lyons sit third and have constantly disappointed on the continent despite domestic dominance. Ligue 1 titles year-on-year keep the supporters ticking but president Jean-Michel Aulas has forever desired glory on the peninsula.
Lyons have never looked like realising his dreams.
Typically they reach the last 16 before crumbling and never seem competitive in the latter stages. Latest coach Claude Puel hopes to change the club’s fortunes and a draw at Bayern certainly helped his cause, but they must still travel to Fiorentina and it would surprise no one if they failed to qualify.
Last, and definitely least, are Steaua who have already matched their points total from last season’s competition with a valiant draw in Florence, earning them praise from rival coach Prandelli. They were by all accounts a little unlucky to lose by a solitary goal against Bayern and although they will not progress beyond the group stages, they nevertheless have their eyes on more upsets - and more crucially, a Uefa Cup spot.
Group F promises to be the most keenly fought; the top three sides are all what you would call European middleweights - always a tough and tricky opposition but not amongst the genuine elite class. And being three, one must fail in their minimum objective - and that’s where the fascination lies.
‘Mighty’ Juventus? Not for a while…
BATE Borisov continued the minnows’ fight for recognition on Tuesday with a fantastic 2-2 draw with Italian side Juventus, although the Belarusian side did manage to throw away a two-goal advantage. This result came after a narrow 2-0 reverse at Real Madrid, who they managed to efficiently stifle and frustrate for long periods, and they sit in third ahead of hotly-tipped Zenit St Petersburg. Yet all this talk of Juventus being a ‘mighty’ side that should have pummelled BATE into submission seems misguided: they were, of course, in Serie B just a couple of years ago and before that had often underwhelmed at Champions League level. They have not been beyond the Champions League quarter-finals since 2003 and with the increasingly clueless and under-pressure Claudio Ranieri as coach, that is unlikely to change this year.
Villarreal’s defence supreme again
Marcos Senna’s perfectly executed free-kick might have been the only tangible difference between Villarreal and Celtic but the Yellow Submarine were utterly dominant, their attacking play sumptuous with the knowledge that their fine defence would not easily give up a goal. Only once did Celtic truly break through the invincible back four when Samaras had a golden opportunity but otherwise it held firm for yet another clean sheet. It follows up the 0-0 at Old Trafford two weeks ago and they look almost certain to progress into the knockout stages. Meanwhile Celtic lost yet again on the road and despite Gordon Strachan promising his side would attack instead of their usual defensive policy away from home, there was no evidence to support this as Villarreal knocked up 27 efforts on goal.
Porto return to mediocrity
Arsenal fans shouldn’t get too excited by their team’s 4-0 thrashing of Porto. The usual array of missed chances combined with a shaky start to the match suggests little has changed at the Emirates and once again style will beat substance, whether successful or unsuccessful. But Porto’s display was truly shocking. The European silverware captured when Jose Mourinho was coach will surely only ever be seen as a brief aberration as Porto continue to slide from prominence to poorness.
Their recent record: 2004/5: first knockout round; 2005/6: bottom of their group; 2006/7: first knockout round; 2007/8: first knockout round. In 2003 and 2004 under Mourinho they lifted the Uefa Cup and Champions League but before he arrived Porto endured a similar record on the continent as they do now. Continue this regression, and soon they will be viewed as one of the minnows alongside Cluj and BATE. They still benefit seeding-wise from their exploits four years ago but soon that advantage will vanish and Porto will be forced into some serious thinking if they wish to return as a European force.
Tags: Arsenal, Bate Borisov, Bayern Munich, Celtic, Champions League, FC Porto, Fiorentina, Jose Mourinho, Juventus, Lyon, Steaua Bucharest, Villarreal
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‘Villarreal totally dominant’ are you having a laugh, did you even watch the game. Celtic will easily take full points at home.
‘there was no evidence to support this as Villarreal knocked up 27 efforts on goal.’
You didn’t watch the match did you?
Villareal dominated the last half-hour and had maybe half a dozen efforts on goal, 3- or 4 serious chances. The only way you could arrive at 27 is if you count really long throw-ins or free kicks taken from their own half.
Celtic carved fewer but better chances before Villareal scored and struggled after that.
Matthew Day,
I suspect that you haven’t had time to actually sit down and watch in detail a lot of the games after reading through your comments. Either that or you really do not know much about football.
I suggest that you become more professional and stop trying to judge a game on 5 minutes of highlights or what other people have said.
Your statements are so far from the mark on more than a couple of the games that you must have been making it up.
1/10 - you must do better