Sports 2000

After two preliminary rounds thinned the field to the 32, the UEFA Champions League main draw begins play with matches Sept. 16 and 17. There are eight groups of four teams. Each team will play six matches–three at home and three on the road–against the other three squads in its group. Matches will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings (CET) every two or three weeks.

Then, the two teams per group advance to the knock-out phase this spring. The third-place teams get “parachutes” to the UEFA Cup, a secondary club championship event. The last-place sides are eliminated from the competition. I’ve made predictions as follows on the eight groups.

Group A:

1. Chelsea (England)
2. Roma (Italy)
3. Bordeaux (France)
4. CFR (Romania)

Group B:

1. Inter (Italy)
2. Werner Bremen (Germany)
3. Panathinaikos (Greece)
4. Anorthosis (Cyprus)

Group C:

1. Barcelona (Spain)
2. Sporting (Portugal)
3. Basel (Switzerland)
4. Shakhtar (Ukraine)

Group D:

1. Atletico (Spain)
2. Liverpool (England)
3. PSV (Netherlands)
4. Marseille (France)

Group E:

1. Manchester United (England)
2. Villarreal (Spain)
3. Aalborg (Denmark)
4. Celtic (Scotland)

Group F:

1. Bayern Munich (Germany)
2. Lyon (France)
3. Fiorentina (Italy)
4. Staeua (Romania)

Group G:

1. Arsenal (England)
2. Porto (Portugal)
3. Fenerbahce (Turkey)
4. Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine)

Group H:

1. Real Madrid (Spain)
2. Juventus (Italy)
3. Zenit (Russia)
4. BATE Borisov (Belarus)

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