Congratulations to Rangers and Liverpool who join fellow British representatives Manchester United and Chelsea in the group stages of this years Champions League. Celtic and Arsenal play the second legs of their qualifier tomorrow against Spartak Moscow and Sparta Prague respectively so good luck to both teams.

Liverpool deserve further congratulations for playing the theme of Z-Cars, the song of their great rivals Everton, as a tribute to Rhys Jones, an 11-year-old Everton fan who was recently murdered.

Yeah, that was a fitting tribute. A very emotional start to a match. I think the fans at the Kop were pretty mint actually.

When i saw them walk out with Everton shirts on (his family) i thought... here we go, one cunt will start booing or something. But them Liverpool fans are a sound bunch.

Congrats to both teams and good luck to tonight's teams.

As for the Rhys Jones tribute, it was superb and fair play to the Liverpool fans.

Aye, good luck to tonights teams and fair play to liverpool.
It was good to see crouch get on the score sheet, i think he's such an ****in underrated player especially with the ball at his feet, great touch and awareness, and his goalscoring record for england is spot on.
I get tired of hearing david platt, who i regard as the most overrated cunt to play for england, a **** manager and a **** commentator, constantly putting crouch down and belittling his achievements.
I almost feel sorry for crouchy, until i remember he goes home to that abi clancy, the lanky ****er.

Aye, good luck to tonights teams and fair play to liverpool.
It was good to see crouch get on the score sheet, i think he's such an ****in underrated player especially with the ball at his feet, great touch and awareness, and his goalscoring record for england is spot on.
I get tired of hearing david platt, who i regard as the most overrated cunt to play for england, a **** manager and a **** commentator, constantly putting crouch down and belittling his achievements.
I almost feel sorry for crouchy, until i remember he goes home to that abi clancy, the lanky ****er.

To be honest AB until we bought him I didn't rate him that highly, you are right he is so underrated.

Great player, 12 goals in 20 games and 12 starts for England.

Wow, what a game. I was on the edge of my seat through all 120mins of it, plus the penalties.

Congrats to Arsenal as well.

6 British clubs in the Champions League this year. Can't wait till the groups are drawn.

Lets hope for a British tie, I would love to get Celtic purely for the occasion and passion.

:banana: :luvbed: :hitit: Im so happy Lazio got in.

Here are the Celtic Vs Spartak highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WHgqGlI6KI

Lets hope for a British tie, I would love to get Celtic purely for the occasion and passion.

I think I would throw up if I had to watch a full stadium with both fans singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" again.

Here are the Celtic Vs Spartak highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WHgqGlI6KI

What a game that was, one of the best I have seen in years.

I think I would throw up if I had to watch a full stadium with both fans singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" again.

Lol.

I'd love Rangers as well!

The groups have just been announced.

Here they are:

Group A:

Liverpool
FC Porto
Marseille
Besiktas

Group B:

Chelsea
Valencia
Schalke 04
Rosenborg

Group C:

Real Madrid
Werder Bremen
Lazio
Olympiacos

Group D:

Ac Milan
Benfica
Celtic
Shaktar Donestsk

Group E:

Barcelona
Lyon
Stuttgart
Rangers

Group F:

Man Utd
Roma
Sporting Lisbon
Dynamo Kiev

Group G:

Inter
PSV Eindhoven
CSKA Moscow
fenerbahce

Group H:

Arsenal
Sevilla / AEK Athens
Steaua Bucharest
Slavia Prague

The groups have just been announced.

Here they are:

Group A:

Liverpool
FC Porto
Marseille
Besiktas

Group B:

Chelsea
Valencia
Schalke 04
Rosenborg

Group C:

Real Madrid
Werder Bremen
Lazio
Olympiacos

Group D:

Ac Milan
Benfica
Celtic
Shaktar Donestsk

Group E:

Barcelona
Lyon
Stuttgart
Rangers

Group F:

Man Utd
Roma
Sporting Lisbon
Dynamo Kiev

Group G:

Inter
PSV Eindhoven
CSKA Moscow
fenerbahce

Group H:

Arsenal
Sevilla / AEK Athens
Steaua Bucharest
Slavia Prague

Liverpool probably have the easiest draw from the British teams, Rangers probably have the toughest.
Also United having to go back to Roma is a concern, UEFA will need to manage those games carefully.

I think all the British teams will qualify from their groups except from Rangers unfortunately. At least we'll have a couple of good nights against Barcelona and Lyon at Ibrox.

Liverpool probably have the easiest draw from the British teams, Rangers probably have the toughest.
Also United having to go back to Roma is a concern, UEFA will need to manage those games carefully.

My reaction exactly; Man U don't have a tough group though. Barcelona have a killer, they better not **** around early.

Eto'o is out for 2 months, meaning no chance Ronnie gets sold (assuming, which is unsafe, that there would have been a chance)

I think all the British teams will qualify from their groups except from Rangers unfortunately. At least we'll have a couple of good nights against Barcelona and Lyon at Ibrox.

**** it will be an accomplishment if they don't finish last in that group

I think all the British teams will qualify from their groups except from Rangers unfortunately. At least we'll have a couple of good nights against Barcelona and Lyon at Ibrox.

I wish for your sake I could disagree with that but I cant.

Two of the teams are Champions of their respective Leagues the other is one of the strongest in Europe however you never can be sure.....

English clubs got a good draw, its looking nice, milan have a bad group with celtic and benfica, so do roma, its gonna be our hardest year ever in europe.

I expect all english clubs to go through, Benfica should pip either celtic or milan.

English clubs got a good draw, its looking nice, milan have a bad group with celtic and benfica, so do roma, its gonna be our hardest year ever in europe.

I expect all english clubs to go through, Benfica should pip either celtic or milan.

How do you expect the Man U - Roma ties to be handled?

Do you think UEFA will get involved and stop fans from each side from travelling?

English clubs got a good draw, its looking nice, milan have a bad group with celtic and benfica, so do roma, its gonna be our hardest year ever in europe.

I expect all english clubs to go through, Benfica should pip either celtic or milan.

Inter's group looks fairly straight forward though.

The groups look fairly even as far as I can see - Rangers have a real toughie, but then the 4 english sides have very good chances of going through. I don't fancy celtic getting through this year either.

Who are your picks to win the thing?

I'm going for very boring prediction - chelsea or barcelona....

The groups look fairly even as far as I can see - Rangers have a real toughie, but then the 4 english sides have very good chances of going through. I don't fancy celtic getting through this year either.

Who are your picks to win the thing?

I'm going for very boring prediction - chelsea or barcelona....

I would love to see real madrid win it, thats when my boys go out, i love that club, they have great history and great players, for me thats the club to be at (other than serie a).

The groups look fairly even as far as I can see - Rangers have a real toughie, but then the 4 english sides have very good chances of going through. I don't fancy celtic getting through this year either.

Who are your picks to win the thing?

I'm going for very boring prediction - chelsea or barcelona....

I think its between AC Milan (Experience), Barca (Pure ability), Liverpool (Specialists in Europe) and Chelsea (No real weaknesses)

Obviously all the seeded teams stand a fair chance but those mentioned, for me have been the most consistent in the CL in the last few years.

Liverpool may drop off this year with their push for the League, Inter Milan looked very strong in Seria A last time so maybe... Man U will miss an out and out goalscorer, Arsenal too soon, Real Madrid will miss Beckham I feel plus they will want to consolidate the League.
If Henry fits in at Barca they could prove me wrong but....

For me it will be a Chelsea - AC Milan final with Chelsea winning a tight game(based purely on desire)

The groups look fairly even as far as I can see - Rangers have a real toughie, but then the 4 english sides have very good chances of going through. I don't fancy celtic getting through this year either.

Who are your picks to win the thing?

I'm going for very boring prediction - chelsea or barcelona....

Barcelona definitely have the best squad of players but I think they will struggle to keep them all happy and ultimately this will cost them in the Champions League. Teams that can defend the best tend to do the best in this competition which is why I think it will come down to Chelsea, Liverpool or Milan.

No club has ever won the champions league twice in a row, so thats milan done, i have an idea as to which italian side will do the best, but since the season is starting, i shall try and keep these matters to myself.

I think the prem side will do well again tho.

No club has ever won the champions league twice in a row, so thats milan done, i have an idea as to which italian side will do the best, but since the season is starting, i shall try and keep these matters to myself.

I think the prem side will do well again tho.

I'm not sure, although the format has changed many would say that the CL is easier than the old European Cup as you can afford to lose the odd game in the Group Stages whereas in the old European Cup it was purely a two legged Knock Out competition.
In the European Cup several teams won it back to back and in the CL several teams have been in back to back finals. Therefore it could happen at anytime.
Because of this I would not discount AC Milan.

Barcelona definitely have the best squad of players but I think they will struggle to keep them all happy and ultimately this will cost them in the Champions League. Teams that can defend the best tend to do the best in this competition which is why I think it will come down to Chelsea, Liverpool or Milan.

I agree wholeheartedly.

More often than not the Champions League is won by a solid team (obviously talented as well) so I cant see past AC, Chelsea or Liverpool.

I would prefer to see the likes of Real Madrid win it with flowing Football but if they try that against the likes of Milan, Liverpool or Chelsea (there are others) its asking for trouble over two legs as those teams wont let too many in but could easily nick a precious away goal on the counter.