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For once, Ligue 1's strongest three clubs will be participating this year, which means France has a genuine chance to get teams into the latter half of the tournament.

Lyon are in Pot 1 for the first time in their history (mind you, this is their ninth participation in the CL ever) while both Marseille and Bordeaux are in pot 3. Clubs from the same country and the same pots cannot meet at this stage of the tournament.

Lyon get to avoid most big teams but the second pot is also very dangerous, so an upset is more than possible. Marseille and Bordeaux will get some serious opposition, but at least one of them should make it through the group stages.


Pot 1
Manchester United FC (ENG)
Chelsea FC (ENG)
Liverpool FC (ENG)
FC Barcelona (ESP)
Arsenal FC (ENG)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)
Real Madrid CF (ESP)

Pot 2
FC Bayern München (GER)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Villarreal CF (ESP)
AS Roma (ITA)
FC Porto (POR)
Werder Bremen (GER)
Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)
Juventus (ITA)

Pot 3
Olympique de Marseille (FRA)
FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)
FC Steaua Bucureşti (ROU)
Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA)
Celtic FC (SCO)
FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)

Pot 4
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
ACF Fiorentina (ITA)
Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU)
Aalborg BK (DEN)
Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP)
FC BATE Borisov (BLR)

All three French teams will come up against atleast two teams that are top quality. Lyon may luck out with Cluj and Basel, but they will find any of the Pot 2 teams a stern test. Try to avoid Roma and Bayern and they should be fine. Juve looks weak to me this year, while the Portugeuse teams and PSV will probably struggle. Bordeaux and Marseille will get an English team, the odds are there. Which means they wont win away and will face a packed defense at home. But they will also have a tough time against Pot 4 teams like Fiorentina, Atletico and Shaktar Donetsk. I dont think that Boreduax or Marseille will get out of the group stages unfortunately, this years Champions League is one of the best its ever been, only missing AC Milan.

easiest:

Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
FC Steaua Bucureşti (ROU)
Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP)

toughest:

Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Juventus (ITA)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)
Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP)

This is going to be a very interesting European season for all the French teams. Lyon sure looks powerful at the moment, and I do beleive both Marseille and Bordeaux are capable of defeating just about anyone out there. Are they going to do it, or just fail miserably, is something we'll all see. The best possible outcome for Lyon would be to draw Sporting Lisabon, Panathinaikos and BATE Borisov, while there are many horror scenarios, such as drawing Juventus from the second, Fenerbahce from the third and either Atletico or Fiorentina from the fourth hat. Let's hope for the best!

Bloody shit! I was pissed when I figured out Atletico had nowhere to go but Group D. She's gonna be a tough one, cripes! And these Offside forums kick serious ass. Oh and this is Sam by the way.

Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
FC Bayern München (GER)
FC Steaua Bucureşti (ROU)
ACF Fiorentina (ITA)

wow!! this isn't going to be easy

Lyon, Bayern, and Fiorentina are pretty evenly matched, though I would give more weight to Lyon and Bayern simply because of European experience. But these three teams have the ability to win against each other, which is why Steaua has so much power in this group. They'll be the team that decides which two qualify because every point Steaua takes off of Lyon, Bayern, and Fiorentina will be painful. Like I said on the OL blog, I don't think any team will earn more than 7 points.

This might not be a group of death like Marseille's, but in many ways, this is just as tricky because there is no superpower or minnow. It's even stevens all around, and that can be very dangerous.