UEFA CL Group Stage - Liverpool, Porto, Besiktas, Marseille

Here we go:

Result of the draw
Group Stage - Groups A, B, C, D
2007/08 UEFA Champions League
* MD 6 FOR THE 2006/07 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TITLE-HOLDER'S GROUP ON 4th DECEMBER.
Group A
1. Liverpool FC
2. Olympique de Marseille
3. Besiktas JK
4. FC Porto
Group B
1. Valencia CF
2. Chelsea FC
3. Rosenborg BK
4. FC Schalke 04
Group C
1. S.S. Lazio
2. Real Madrid CF
3. Werder Bremen
4. Olympiacos CFP
Group D
1. Celtic FC
2. AC Milan
3. SL Benfica
4. FC Shakhtar Donetsk

Matchday One - Tuesday 18 Sep 2007
Olympique de Marseille - Besiktas JK
FC Porto - Liverpool FC
Chelsea FC - Rosenborg BK
FC Schalke 04 - Valencia CF
Real Madrid CF - Werder Bremen
Olympiacos CFP - S.S. Lazio
AC Milan - SL Benfica
FC Shakhtar Donetsk - Celtic FC

Matchday Two - Wednesday 3 Oct 2007
Liverpool FC - Olympique de Marseille
Besiktas JK - FC Porto
Valencia CF - Chelsea FC
Rosenborg BK - FC Schalke 04
S.S. Lazio - Real Madrid CF
Werder Bremen - Olympiacos CFP
Celtic FC - AC Milan
SL Benfica - FC Shakhtar Donetsk

Matchday Three - Wednesday 24 Oct 2007
Besiktas JK - Liverpool FC
Olympique de Marseille - FC Porto
Rosenborg BK - Valencia CF
Chelsea FC - FC Schalke 04
Werder Bremen - S.S. Lazio
Real Madrid CF - Olympiacos CFP
SL Benfica - Celtic FC
AC Milan - FC Shakhtar Donetsk

Matchday Four - Tuesday 6 Nov 2007
Liverpool FC - Besiktas JK
FC Porto - Olympique de Marseille
Valencia CF - Rosenborg BK
FC Schalke 04 - Chelsea FC
S.S. Lazio - Werder Bremen
Olympiacos CFP - Real Madrid CF
Celtic FC - SL Benfica
FC Shakhtar Donetsk - AC Milan

Matchday Five - Wednesday 28 Nov 2007
Besiktas JK - Olympique de Marseille
Liverpool FC - FC Porto
Rosenborg BK - Chelsea FC
Valencia CF - FC Schalke 04
Werder Bremen - Real Madrid CF
S.S. Lazio - Olympiacos CFP
SL Benfica - AC Milan
Celtic FC - FC Shakhtar Donetsk

Matchday Six - Tuesday 11 Dec 2007
Olympique de Marseille - Liverpool FC
FC Porto - Besiktas JK
Chelsea FC - Valencia CF
FC Schalke 04 - Rosenborg BK
Real Madrid CF - S.S. Lazio
Olympiacos CFP - Werder Bremen
* AC Milan - Celtic FC
* FC Shakhtar Donetsk - SL Benfica


Result of the draw
Group Stage - Groups E, F, G, H
2007/08 UEFA Champions League
Group E
1. Olympique Lyonnais
2. Rangers FC
3. VfB Stuttgart
4. FC Barcelona
Group F
1. Manchester United FC
2. AS Roma
3. FC Dynamo Kyiv
4. Sporting Clube
Group G
1. FC Internazionale Milano
2. PSV Eindhoven
3. PFC CSKA Moskva
4. Fenerbahçe SK
Group H
1. FC Steaua Bucuresti
2. Arsenal FC
3. Sevilla / AEK Athens
4. SK Slavia Praha

Matchday One - Wednesday 19 Sep 2007
Rangers FC - VfB Stuttgart
FC Barcelona - Olympique Lyonnais
AS Roma - FC Dynamo Kyiv
Sporting Clube - Manchester United FC
PSV Eindhoven - PFC CSKA Moskva
Fenerbahçe SK - FC Internazionale Milano
Arsenal FC - Sevilla / AEK Athens
SK Slavia Praha - FC Steaua Bucuresti

Matchday Two - Tuesday 2 Oct 2007
Olympique Lyonnais - Rangers FC
VfB Stuttgart - FC Barcelona
Manchester United FC - AS Roma
FC Dynamo Kyiv - Sporting Clube
FC Internazionale Milano - PSV Eindhoven
PFC CSKA Moskva - Fenerbahçe SK
FC Steaua Bucuresti - Arsenal FC
Sevilla / AEK Athens - SK Slavia Praha

Matchday Three - Tuesday 23 Oct 2007
VfB Stuttgart - Olympique Lyonnais
Rangers FC - FC Barcelona
FC Dynamo Kyiv - Manchester United FC
AS Roma - Sporting Clube
PFC CSKA Moskva - FC Internazionale Milano
PSV Eindhoven - Fenerbahçe SK
Sevilla / AEK Athens - FC Steaua Bucuresti
Arsenal FC - SK Slavia Praha

Matchday Four - Wednesday 7 Nov 2007
Olympique Lyonnais - VfB Stuttgart
FC Barcelona - Rangers FC
Manchester United FC - FC Dynamo Kyiv
Sporting Clube - AS Roma
FC Internazionale Milano - PFC CSKA Moskva
Fenerbahçe SK - PSV Eindhoven
FC Steaua Bucuresti - Sevilla / AEK Athens
SK Slavia Praha - Arsenal FC

Matchday Five - Tuesday 27 Nov 2007
VfB Stuttgart - Rangers FC
Olympique Lyonnais - FC Barcelona
FC Dynamo Kyiv - AS Roma
Manchester United FC - Sporting Clube
PFC CSKA Moskva - PSV Eindhoven
FC Internazionale Milano - Fenerbahçe SK
Sevilla / AEK Athens - Arsenal FC
FC Steaua Bucuresti - SK Slavia Praha

Matchday Six - Wednesday 12 Dec 2007
Rangers FC - Olympique Lyonnais
FC Barcelona - VfB Stuttgart
AS Roma - Manchester United FC
Sporting Clube - FC Dynamo Kyiv
PSV Eindhoven - FC Internazionale Milano
Fenerbahçe SK - PFC CSKA Moskva
Arsenal FC - FC Steaua Bucuresti
SK Slavia Praha - Sevilla / AEK Athens

Here's the link:
http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/577692.pdf

Fixture schedule
The group stage fixtures are available here and will be played on 18/19 September, 2/3 October, 23/24 October, 6/7 November, 27/28 November and 11/12 December, though Milan's last game will be on 4 December due to their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup. The winners and runners-up from each pool will progress to the first knockout round in the spring, with the final set for Moscow on 21 May. Teams finishing third in each section will have the consolation of going into the UEFA Cup Round of 32.

Here's the time:
Final tournament - Group phase - 18 September 2007   
A   Marseille   20:45   Beşiktaş   
A   Porto             20:45   Liverpool   
B   Chelsea   20:45   Rosenborg   
B   Schalke   20:45   Valencia   
C   Real Madrid   20:45   Bremen   
C   Olympiacos   20:45   Lazio   
D   Milan             20:45   Benfica   
D   Shakhtar   20:45   Celtic   

Final tournament - Group phase - 19 September 2007Group   Home      Away   
E   Rangers   20:45   Stuttgart   
E   Barcelona   20:45   Lyon   
F   Roma             20:45   Dynamo Kyiv   
F   Sporting   20:45   Man. United   
G   PSV             20:45   CSKA Moskva   
G   Fenerbahçe   20:45   Internazionale   
H   Slavia             20:45   Steaua   

This looks like a tricky draw especially with Porto and Marseille, but I think we have the experience to overcome them and begin our climb to the final!

May be! What am I worried the most is the injury problem, LiverpoolFC will have a match with Portsmouth at Fratton Park in september 15, then they'll fly right away to Estádio do Dragão at Porto to the next match, It'll be a real pressure over the team.

Yea this may cause us some problems but then again like last season Rafa will prioritise what players will be needed for each game and maybe rest some for Portsmouth, cos lets face it we have the power for that kind off setup more than ever this season.  I'm sure Gerrard will be back by then anyway and does anyone know the latest on Carra?

we have a bigger and better team this season to deal with this kinda stuff  porto are not that good quaresmo is the main man and we can just put sissoko on him and dominate thats if porto don't sell him id prefer rafa to go full out to win against pompey rather than rest them for porto

I saw no one have opinion about Besiktas??
I live in Istanbul and support Besiktas..
But in the final 2005 i was with reds fans and had good time!
I love the way you people support your team there and it would be pleasure to wellcome you in Istanbul at Inonu Stadium and like to show you how we do that
You have great team,i love to watch your play,quick and hard!
I was a great fan of Fowler but sorry that he cant come over here cause he left Anfield.He is a hero for me.

We finished 2nd in the leauge last year and i wish we will be succeed in C.L.
We have too young players in squad but it would be a tough match in Istanbul.
I'm sure after first matches you will show more care to my team

Thats all for now,i will keep watching you and your team!

Besiktas finish at second place last season with 58 points (the first, Fenerbahce got 64 points) in the Turkish super Lig, they got 17 wins, 7 draws and 8 loss, they scored 42 goals last season and received 28 goals. In thier 16 games at home (Inonu Stadium), they got 12 wins, 3 loss, 1 draws, scored 25 goals and received 12 goals. And in thier 16 games aways, they got 5 wins, 5 loss, 6 draws, scored 16 goals, received 16 goals. Not a bad result. Thier current lineup (according to the players section of the offical website August ,27):
1      GK   Rüştü Reçber
2      DF   Serdar Kurtuluş
3      MF   Mehmet Sedef
4      DF   Mustafa Doğan
5      DF   Gökhan Zan
6      MF   Mehmet Yozgatlı
7      MF   Burak Yılmaz
8      DF   Baki Mercimek
9      FW   Federico Higuaín
10      MF   Matías Delgado
11      FW   Mert Nobre
13      FW   Bobô
14      MF   Rodrigo Tello
15      DF   Lamine Diatta
17      MF   Ricardinho
18      MF   Édouard Cissé
19      DF   İbrahim Üzülmez
20      MF   Aydın Karabulut
21      MF   Serdar Özkan
22      DF   Ali Tandoğan
29      GK   Murat Şahin
33      DF   Koray Şanlı
35      GK   Atilla Özmen
41      DF   Koray Avcı
55      MF   İbrahim Akın
58      DF   İbrahim Toraman
78      DF   İbrahim Kaş
84      GK   Hakan Arıkan
87      GK   Korcan Çelikay
99      FW   Batuhan Karadeniz

I'll have to keep watching your team too! ozzyBJK

We have shown in recent seasons we can cope with the best teams in Europe so we should fear nobody,after all to be the best you have to beat the best.

Umm...ok...This is the 2nd easiest group after the Arsenal group.....
We should annihilate this.

thats a tougher group then people think as the 3 away ties will be very tough. we should still top the group tho but dont expect it to be easy

Cissse and Zenden are with Marseille wonder what kind of reception theyll get?

There is no team in this competition (never mind any competition!) that we should fear!
We have been the best team in europe for the past three years!

Good luck Marseille, Besiktas & Porto, you're about to get a lesson on football, so you should take notes and at least learn something from the experience!

YNWA

I respect your experience and way you play football jrwanderer , i just want attention to my team

I'm already excited to see your players in our field and make them excited too!
I hope we all see good matches there and here at Inonu Stadium..

Good luck against Derby !

Good Luck, ozzyBJK, and I hope your team does well! Maybe you'll come second and qualify for the knock-out stages.

I'll look forward to watching the Besiktas match!

By the way, what sort of football do they play and who are the players to watch out for?

forza çarşı, wellcome to hell inonu stadıum

forza çarşı, wellcome to hell inonu stadıum

Jog on! Just wait 'til you come to Anfield! We set the standard mate!

First matchday time and venue precise, LiverpoolFC will start this UEFA Champion League season with FCPorto, I wish this match could be at Anfield.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
TIME               HOME                  AWAY              STAGE             VENUE
19:45 UK   FC Porto                v    Liverpool             First Phase Group A   Estadio do Dragao
19:45 UK   Marseille                v    Besiktas             First Phase Group A   Velodrome
19:45 UK   Chelsea                v    Rosenborg             First Phase Group B   Stamford Bridge
19:45 UK   Schalke 04                v    Valencia             First Phase Group B   Veltins Arena
19:45 UK   Olympiakos                v    Lazio                       First Phase Group C   Karaiskakis Stadium
19:45 UK   Real Madrid                v    Werder Bremen   First Phase Group C   Santiago Bernabeu
19:45 UK   AC Milan                v    Benfica                    First Phase Group D   San Siro
19:45 UK   Shakhtar Donetsk      v    Celtic                       First Phase Group D   RSK Olympyiskyi

Wednesday, September 19, 2007
TIME               HOME              AWAY                           STAGE                     VENUE
19:45 UK   Barcelona         v           Lyon                 First Phase Group E   Camp Nou
19:45 UK   Rangers         v           VfB Stuttgart       First Phase Group E   Ibrox Stadium
19:45 UK   Roma                   v           Dynamo Kiev       First Phase Group F   Olimpico
19:45 UK   Sporting Lisbon     v           Man Utd                 First Phase Group F   Estadio Jose Alvalade
19:45 UK   Fenerbahce         v           Inter Milan       First Phase Group G   Sukru Saracoglu Stadium
19:45 UK   PSV Eindhoven     v           CSKA Moscow       First Phase Group G   Philipsstadion
19:45 UK   Arsenal                   v          AEK Athens/Sevilla   First Phase Group H   Emirates Stadium
19:45 UK   Slavia Prague         v           Steaua Bucurest     First Phase Group H   Evzena Rosickeho

Compared to other groups, I think we've got off quite lightly to be honest.

I understand that none of the three will be pushovers, but come on!! I would expect minimum of 12 points from that group. The only one I think that is easier is probably Arsenal's, made even more so if AEK pull off a shock and get through because there is no way they would have been in the second group of seeds.

world a ÇARŞI her supporter fieriest group,you will see a İNONU stadıum when comes

Sorry blacklion don't agree, personally think Fener and Gala fans are more fiery, plus aren't you the smaller of the three Istanbul clubs   

Toughest game of the group in the first match?

Sorry Huyton but thats true its your personel opinion that others are more fiery,truth will be shown in Istanbul when you come over here.
We are going to have surprises for you!

About your question Jrwanderer, you should keep eye on Delgado and Bobo cause they are now on top performances.We have a complete team tough , they will struggle in all 90 min. to win the match

Hi my friends
Beşiktaş fans whose name--ÇARŞI--are the team of the public  like kop
we are the team of the workers
we hate fenerbahce and galatasaray because they are the team of the rich men like  woMAN.utd and chelsea
we are the team of the  labourer ,we love anarchy
we have creativity ovations and we shout all  90 minutes
we love our team like u
YES, IM a Beşiktaş fan but my second team is Liverpool because of its fans
WE(çarşı) WANT to see kops With us in the our meeting place  KAZAN square (its our pub)
Beşiktaş fans--ÇARŞI--One of the greatest of the world like kop
I wish we shout together in our matches
I wish  we sword  to the racists to the bosses and order of the indusrial football  Together
KOPS

İ Know Beşiktaş... They are very powerful team in Turkısh Super League...

Some information about our next opponent in the Champion League (from the previous season) (Thought everyone might know all that already):

FCPorto placed first in the Portuguese Liga last season with 69 points (the second, Sporting Lisbon got 68 points). They played 30 games, got 22 wins, 3 draws and 5 loss, scored 65 goals and received 20 goals. They played 15 games at thier stadium, Estadio do Dragao, got 13 wins and 2 loss, scored 38 goals and received 9 goals. They had 15 games away, win 9, draw 3 ans lost 3, scored 27 goals, received 11 goals.

This season, they played 2 games, win all these 2, scored 3 goals and had 1 goals against, now they placed first.

Thier recent squad is:
 
Bruno Vale                                                  Goalkeeper
1 Helton                                                  Goalkeeper
2 Bruno Alves                                                Defender
3 Pedro Emanuel                                           Defender
4 Milan Stepanov                                           Defender
5 Marek Cech                                                 Defender
6 Paulo Assuncao                                          Midfield
7 Ricardo Quaresma                                       Midfield
8 Luis González                                             Midfield
9 Lisandro López                                           Striker
11 Mariano Gonzalez                                       Striker
12 José Bosingwa                                          Midfield
13 Jorge Fucile                                              Defender   
14 João Andrade                                           Defender
15 Dorvalino Maciel                                         Defender
16 Raúl Meireles                                            Midfield   
17 Tarik Sektioui                                           Midfield
18 Mario Bolatti                                             Midfield
19 Ernesto Farias                                           Striker
20 Luis Leandro Abreu de Lima                       Midfield
21 Luis Aguiar                                              Midfield
23 Helder Postiga                                         Striker   
24 Hugo Ventura                                        Goalkeeper   
25 Przemyslaw Kazmierczak                           Midfield
26 André Castro                                          Midfield
28 Adriano                                                 Striker
29 Edgar                                                   Striker
30 Rui Pedro                                              Midfield
33 Nuno                                               Goalkeeper
34 André Monteiro                                      Striker
Fabinho                                                     Midfield
Bruno Moraes                                               Striker

Sorry Huyton but thats true its your personel opinion that others are more fiery,truth will be shown in Istanbul when you come over here.
We are going to have surprises for you!

What kind of surprises? Have you got a new scoreboard or something?

Name on it koolkidda,suprise!
This is football and supporters are the biggest part of the show,so you should keep watching,ok?
Added to this fact,new scoreboard wont be surprising my friend,the score writes on it would be surprising

You don't seriously believe Besiktas are going to get through this group do you?

I hope so my friend,to be realist it will be hard and long way but not a dream to believe on!

Ozzy may have a valid point regarding the surprise as I would like to see Besiktas go through along with us ahead of Porto and Marseille............... ...........

I didnt want to mention surprises about the matches and results..
I really know how you make pressure on opponents and i reaaly get excited when watching,we have similarities and like to show some enjoyful scenes when you come over here!

Playing Bekistas away will be interesting, the atmosphere will be tough. Porto away is probably the toughest game of them all and I'm glad that we are playing this one first and not last. Marseille is having a really poor season so far and even with their public we should overcome it easely.

Cisse and Bolo back to Anfield that is good and for those who wonder what reception they will received well a good one as always for former players at least 99% of them.

With the squad we have I have no doubt that we will go throught.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04dmcdOHsJA çArşı always die for Beşiktaş

Very impressive, I like the part 1,2,3 the most, The çArşı're really impressive. But It didn't impress me as much as the first time I heard 42000 Liverpudlians sing "You'll never walk alone", that was when I was 8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04dmcdOHsJA çArşı always die for Beşiktaş

A turkish invasion is underway.

Who cares about Besiktas really?! Porto will be closest to us and they are the only ones who I can seriously see going through with the mighty Reds.

We've seen over the past two seasons with Bordeaux and Toulouse that, apart from Lyon, the French league and its teams are pretty crap. Marseille were good about 15 years ago but haven't really done anything since. Besides Cisse, I don't think I can name any of their players now Ribery has left.

Going to Turkey away could be interesting but we should really beat them quite easily. Galatasaray were swept aside at home until we took our foot off the gas to let them back to 3-2, and we put a second string team out away which for defensive errors would have won their too.

You can't underestimate them, how do You rate Feneyord Rotterdam anyway? LiverpoolFC draw with them with the best team, and then Portsmouth, they beat LiverpoolFC too (thought by Penalty shoot out). We can't underestimate anyone. We can't say anything in football, You can see that when You saw Aston Villa beat Chelsea 2-0. Any team can become fantastic, just when they do.

You can't underestimate them, how do You rate Feneyord Rotterdam anyway? LiverpoolFC draw with them with the best team, and then Portsmouth, they beat LiverpoolFC too (thought by Penalty shoot out). We can't underestimate anyone. We can't say anything in football, You can see that when You saw Aston Villa beat Chelsea 2-0. Any team can become fantastic, just when they do.

Pre Season games can't really be compared to Champions League proper.

Put it this way; if we lost to Besiktas (all respect to 'em) we'd be extremely dissappointed...

Our draw is stuck right in the middle of the easy and hard categories. We've had it a lot harder than this, the 2005 group says it all, but I do believe that this group is a lot easier than last years.
Porto will always be hard opposition, with or without their big players, but surely a team of our standard should be able to beat them home and away. I suppose that an away draw wouldn't be a problem on matchday 1.
Marseille have a chance of qualification to the last 16, but they'll need a whole lot of luck and the ability to take advantage of other teams slip ups. I suppose the trip to France should be hard, but they won't be good enough for us at home and I'll go for a definite win in both games.
I'm sorry, but I think Besiktas will be a threat. By this, I mean they'll push us and the other two all the way. There's always a team which provide a shock at this stage in the competition and the money that's involved during these rounds means that we've got to get teams like Besiktas out the equasion as early as possible.

Its good to see some people respect to Besiktas JK
We are not in C.L. for 4 years and missed so much
So this effects good on players and make them extra concandrate on these matches.
Its a fact that money talks also all points make cashes into so board also deserves team to win
I'm so excited..

A turkish invasion is underway.

Seems only fair after what i just put them through

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBt-p66QSMI

Last time when we were in C.L. the group of Chelsea,Lazio and Sparta Prag we just missed being 2nd in the last match and the video is from the game at Stamford Bridge
We played in Germany and lost the second match same score 0-2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKgYTIzyQKs what do you think this video(kral çArşı)

Boss vid and not a jesters hat in sight 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKgYTIzyQKs what do you think this video(kral çArşı)

Great video.

What does the chanting mean?

Oh, by the way, what would you say were your teams main weaknesses?
(Don't worry Rafa never reads these posts)