Champions League Group Stage - Penultimate Fixture Preview

Filed in archive Champions League on November 24, 2009

The Champions League Group Stages are reaching their climax. Two of the most important matches to look out for, however, are the two in Group E (Debrecen vs Liverpool and Fiorentina vs Lyon) and Group F’s meeting of Barcelona and Inter Milan.

To Group E first. Liverpool are sitting 3rd and need to win impressively in their match in Hungary, and hope that Lyon can take a point from their match in Italy. A draw there, though, would leave Liverpool with an impossible mountain to climb in their last match in their group, however, with nothing less than a 4-0 win tonight making their qualification plausible. If Lyon, however, manage to beat a Fiorentina squad without Adrian Mutu then it would bring about one of the most exciting climaxes in years in the compeitition, with second placed Fiorentina traveling to Anfield knowing that defeat would see them in the Europa League. Results must go Liverpool’s way tonight for that to look likely, however, and nothing more needs said about the implications of their failure to qualify.



Group F has been, surprisingly, one of the tightest in these stages. With only two points separating all four teams anyone could yet qualify for Europe. A defeat at home to Inter Milan could see Barcelona 3 points behind second placed Rubin Kazan, who were written off from the start but well and truly deserve the position they are in. They punished the two most arrogant teams in continental Europe, not yet losing to any of the two favourites to qualify and even beating Barcelona at the Nou Camp. If they win against Dynamo Kiev and Barcelona lose, then it would make for a very interesting last day of Group F.

The two favourites at the very start of the season would surely have been Liverpool and Barcelona, though maybe Real Madrid would have somehow featured. With both looking like disaster could take them into the Europa League and make it worth watching for a year, it has suddenly become very interesting in Europe.