Richard MichaelWhat are Italy Chances.
September 14th 2010 12:17
It seems only days ago that Jose Mourinho's Inter side broke their 45-year duck and finally clinched their third European title with a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich in Madrid. Yet already, their defence of the Champions League is about to start with this evening's clash with Twente in Enschede.
To add to that, the tricolore will also be flown in this season's group stages by Roma and Milan as the battle to keep a fourth Champions League spot - this year squandered by Sampdoria - hots up, with Germany waiting in the wings. But how will the peninsula's representatives do this time?
INTER - Group A (Twente, Werder Bremen, Tottenham)
The European champions have a straight forward looking group, being pitted against first-time Dutch champions Twente, first-time Champions League qualifiers Tottenham and a Werder Bremen side well known to Italian football having faced more than a quarter of Serie A clubs in the past five years. Rafa Benitez's side should easily have enough in them to win their group, but their progression through the knockout stages can't truly be judged until they have made their predicted changes in the January transfer window.
The strange thing with the Nerazzurri this season is that their ability to hold on to their Champions League-winning squad in its entirety is now being deemed a potential weakness, with no spare cash having been generated from sales and no real names being added beyond the lively Philippe Coutinho. With their first team now that extra year older, many are also tipping a loss of legs as the season progresses. The one thing they have going for them is the fact they now boast the experience of being able to dig out results in the latter stages, and lest we forget that Benitez's finest hour came in his debut season at Liverpool.
Richards' verdict: Quarter-finalists
ROMA - Group E (Bayern Munich, Cluj, Basel)
In many ways, the best thing in Group E for Roma is that they have been bitten once before by both Cluj and Basel. Having gone down to the Romanian side at the Olimpico in the opening game of the 2008-09 Champions League campaign, they then succumbed to Basel at St. Jakob Park in an ugly display in the Europa League a year ago. Having still managed to progress from their group on each occasion, no immediate harm was done, and the experience will likely rule out any complacency which may otherwise have been evident here. Facing last year's finalists Bayern will undoubtedly be their big task, and they are not being heavily backed to win their group but should still progress.
After a start to the season arguably worse than last term's in Serie A, having dropped points to much less fancied sides than at this stage last year, Roma have a lot of catching up to do, and they don't really have the strength in numbers to compete on more than one front. There's a chance that they could record a similar finish to two years ago when they recovered from a poor start to finish sixth in the league and were edged out of Europe on penalties by Arsenal. One plus point is the signing of Marco Borriello, which means they finally have the outlet they'll need in games in which they need to relieve periods of pressure and rebuild from the front.
Richards' verdict: Last 16
MILAN - Group G (Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre)
The Rossoneri don't have the easiest of groups on paper, but they must be expecting to progress. They recorded four points against Real Madrid last season, though they shouldn't necessarily be expected to rock up to the Bernabeu and chalk up a second successive win in the Spanish capital. Meanwhile, Ajax and Auxerre have certainly had better squads than those they field right now, and you'd surely back Massimiliano Allegri's side to get through the group in second place at least.
The injection of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho has boosted everybody at Milanello, but maybe the defeat to Cesena has added a sense of realism at exactly the right time with Auxerre about to come to town. As was the case last year, the fitness of Alessandro Nesta is vital to a defence which can look nothing short of a shambles when he is missing. If he can turn out more often than not, and Allegri can use his 'Fantastic Four' (sorry Pippo!) in the right way, then Milan could be the last team standing from the peninsula this time around.
To add to that, the tricolore will also be flown in this season's group stages by Roma and Milan as the battle to keep a fourth Champions League spot - this year squandered by Sampdoria - hots up, with Germany waiting in the wings. But how will the peninsula's representatives do this time?
The European champions have a straight forward looking group, being pitted against first-time Dutch champions Twente, first-time Champions League qualifiers Tottenham and a Werder Bremen side well known to Italian football having faced more than a quarter of Serie A clubs in the past five years. Rafa Benitez's side should easily have enough in them to win their group, but their progression through the knockout stages can't truly be judged until they have made their predicted changes in the January transfer window.
The strange thing with the Nerazzurri this season is that their ability to hold on to their Champions League-winning squad in its entirety is now being deemed a potential weakness, with no spare cash having been generated from sales and no real names being added beyond the lively Philippe Coutinho. With their first team now that extra year older, many are also tipping a loss of legs as the season progresses. The one thing they have going for them is the fact they now boast the experience of being able to dig out results in the latter stages, and lest we forget that Benitez's finest hour came in his debut season at Liverpool.
Richards' verdict: Quarter-finalists
ROMA - Group E (Bayern Munich, Cluj, Basel)
In many ways, the best thing in Group E for Roma is that they have been bitten once before by both Cluj and Basel. Having gone down to the Romanian side at the Olimpico in the opening game of the 2008-09 Champions League campaign, they then succumbed to Basel at St. Jakob Park in an ugly display in the Europa League a year ago. Having still managed to progress from their group on each occasion, no immediate harm was done, and the experience will likely rule out any complacency which may otherwise have been evident here. Facing last year's finalists Bayern will undoubtedly be their big task, and they are not being heavily backed to win their group but should still progress.
After a start to the season arguably worse than last term's in Serie A, having dropped points to much less fancied sides than at this stage last year, Roma have a lot of catching up to do, and they don't really have the strength in numbers to compete on more than one front. There's a chance that they could record a similar finish to two years ago when they recovered from a poor start to finish sixth in the league and were edged out of Europe on penalties by Arsenal. One plus point is the signing of Marco Borriello, which means they finally have the outlet they'll need in games in which they need to relieve periods of pressure and rebuild from the front.
Richards' verdict: Last 16
MILAN - Group G (Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre)
The Rossoneri don't have the easiest of groups on paper, but they must be expecting to progress. They recorded four points against Real Madrid last season, though they shouldn't necessarily be expected to rock up to the Bernabeu and chalk up a second successive win in the Spanish capital. Meanwhile, Ajax and Auxerre have certainly had better squads than those they field right now, and you'd surely back Massimiliano Allegri's side to get through the group in second place at least.
The injection of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho has boosted everybody at Milanello, but maybe the defeat to Cesena has added a sense of realism at exactly the right time with Auxerre about to come to town. As was the case last year, the fitness of Alessandro Nesta is vital to a defence which can look nothing short of a shambles when he is missing. If he can turn out more often than not, and Allegri can use his 'Fantastic Four' (sorry Pippo!) in the right way, then Milan could be the last team standing from the peninsula this time around.
| 56 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
