Champions League Draw and EPL Weekend Preview

"City handed tough UCL draw ". That's the headline gracing the front page of ESPN Soccernet. Are they kidding or do they just think the casual fans are morons?

I agree that Man City have landed in the toughest group but with the squad they have they should steamroll the opposition. With their most recent signing, Samir Nasri, now complete they have a side that is absolutely bursting with talent. David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri, Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko and Adam Johnson! That's just their forwards! I haven't even mentioned the depth in holding midfielders and England keeper Joe Hart! Enough with the drama ESPN. Man City will be just fine.

Here is the complete group breakdown:

Group A: Bayern Munich, Villarreal, Manchester City, Napoli
Each of these group games will be entertaining. Villarreal and Napoli do not have the complete squads that Munich and City possess, but they do have a enough stars that the fixtures will be fun.

The Bavarians and the All Stars from Eastlands will crush the Yellow Submarine (Villarreal) and Napoli.

Group B: Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Lille, Trabzonspor
Of course I like Inter in this group. But you know what.. They just lost Samuel Eto'o and this roster is starting to look old. How many good years do Javier Zanetti, Lucio and Diego Milito have left in them? It's a good thing this is a weak group. If they were selected to Group A, I would pick them to be knocked out.

Lille and CSKA Moscow will fight for the second spot. Keep an eye out for Edin Hazard at Lille. He is crazy talented. He might be the reason the French champs sneak into the knockout rounds.

Group C: Manchester United, Benfica, Basel, Otelul Galati
United and Benfica .. of course. United will not play a meaningful game in this entire group. Expect to see a lot of United's Young Guns.

We might as well call it right now. United win this group easy and then get either Lille or Donetsk in the next knockout round.

Group D: Real Madrid, Lyon, Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb
This group should provide some high scoring football. Madrid, Lyon and Ajax all play attacking football. Madrid is clearly the class of the group. I will be rooting for Ajax to upset Lyon for the #2 spot, but that just won't happen. Lyon has an excellent squad

Group E: Chelsea, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen,Genk

This is another group where the real fight is for second place. And seeing as Chelsea just bought Juan Mata from Valencia, I like Leverkusen to make it through to the knock out rounds. Keep an eye out for two of Leverkusen's young attackers, Eren Derdiyok and Stefan Kiesling. These kids are fun to watch.

Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Olympiakos, Borussia Dortmund

I like this group. The Arsenal v Dortmund fixtures will be excellent! Throw in Marseille and this is now a group where no one has the night off. teams will bring their A Game every week. I like The Bundesliga champs to win this group. That could spell serious trouble for Arsenal in the second round where they will likely face, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Madrid or Inter. Good luck Wenger...

Group G: FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit, Apoel FC

Porto won their league title and the UEFA Cup last year. Since then they have lost their head coach, AVB, to Chelsea. High scoring forward Falcoa left for Athletico Madrid. However, as long as Porto has Brazilian striker HULK, I like them in this group. Donetsk will again make it out of the group stages.

Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, BATE Borisov, Viktoria Plzen

Barca and Milan will be able to play reserve sides against the minnows of the group and they should still win 5 - 0. The matches between Barca and Milan will be fun. Barcelona should win this group easily.

What do you think? Leave a comment and lets us know who you think will advance.

EPL Preview:
FSC starts the weekend off right with two EPL games and the start of the Serie A on Saturday:

9 .. Chelsea v Norwich City
11:30 .. Liverpool v Bolton .. The mighty Reds will keep a clean sheet in this victory. Look for Suarez and Carroll to hit the back of the net in this one!
1:30 ..  Cagliari v AC Milan

FSC really spoils us on Sunday with the marquee games of the Premier League:
7:30 Tottenham v Manchester City ... If Luka Modric is in the lineup for Spurs they could make a game of it. Otherwise City will crush em.

10:00 Manchester Utd. v Arsenal ... Too much United. Arsenal is just not strong enough. United will be 8 points clear of The Gunners after only three EPL weeks. Sheesh!

1:30 Inter Milan v Lecce

GOLTV brings us the start of La Liga this weekend!
Saturday:
8:30 Kaiserlautern x Bayern Munich
1:00 Valencia x Racing

Sunday:
10:30 Schalke 04 x Bayern M'gladbach
1:00 Zaragoza x Real Madrid
3:00 Sevilla x Malaga