Champions League Preview Group E
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by Tyduffy
Barcelona
Barca really weren't able to put it all together last season, despite flashes of brilliance. Ronaldinho was out of form (for him), and both Eto'o and Messi missed significant amount of time due to injury. Even the additions of Thuram, Zambrotta, Gudjohnsen were not enough to keep them on top. They led La Liga for much of the season, but their inconsistent form in the second half allowed Real to regain ground and snatch the title. They also looked listless at times in the Champions League, performing poorly against Chelsea and barely making it to the knockout stages where they were dumped by Liverpool.
Determined to make a splash in the off-season, they filled some holes by adding defender Eric Abidal and midfielder Yaya Toure. They also put the "Thierry on top" by swiping Mr. Henry from Arsenal. When the manager's biggest problem is figuring out which three of his four elite forwards to put in the starting XI, you know you have a juggernaut. The sputtered with a 0-0 draw at Santander to open the season, but came back with a 3-1 victory over Atletic Bilbao. There is no absurd #2 seed like Chelsea to spoil their run through the group stages this time.
Lyon
Lyon had Ligue Un wrapped up by Christmas, and even with a poor run of form to end the season, they still cleared the top by 17 pts for their sixth consecutive title. They were many pundit's dark-horse candidate to win the Champions' League, but went out without a whimper to Roma in the first round of the knockout stages.
Les gones were a selling club in the summer with Florent Malouda (21m), Alou Diarra (7.75m), Eric Abidal (15m), and Tiago Mendes (13m) being shown the exit door. They will hope that Fabio Grosso, and the Lille duo of Bodmer and Keita can fill the many shoes left by the departing players. Lyon started poorly in Ligue Un, but has picked up form of late and is at 5th place in the table and moving up with 12 pts from 6 matches. They should be a solid second.
Stuttgart
Vfb Stuttgart had an excellent season last year. They came from behind to beat out Schalke for their first Bundesliga title since 1992, and nearly won the double, losing to Nurnberg. They had a great run in the 2003-4 Champions League, but the key players from that squad (Kuranyi, Hleb, Hildebrand, and Hinkel) have all moved on to greener pastures. They could put up a battle, but it is going to be hard for them to hang with squads with the quality of Barca and Lyon.
Rangers
Rangers did not get off to a great start last season, and let Celtic run away with the title. However, after replacing Paul Le Guen with the dynamic duo of Walter Smith and Ally McCoist who righted the ship and led them to a second place finish. Smith bought ten players in the off season, including Lee McCulloch and American Demarcus Beasley. They won a tough qualifying match against Red Star Belgrade, and have been flying in the SPL with five straight wins. However, they just don't have the quality to mount a serious challenge, and they will most likely be concentrating on the league anyway.
Originally published here.
