Matchday 2 of the 08/09 UEFA Champions League will be played out on 30 Sep / 1 Oct - we have the head-to-head records for the clubs involved, a look at the predictions for each group and the highlights going into this round of the Champions League group stages.

Did you know?

• Celtic have failed to win in the last 17 games away from home in Europe (1 draw, 16 losses).
• Ryan Giggs made his Champions League debut on 14 September 1994 and scored twice in his first CL appearance for Manchester United against IFK Göteborg (4-2).
• Bayern Munich have not beaten Lyon in their previous 3 encounters, and lost their last home game to the French champions.

Head-to-heads in major European Cup competitions (exc. European Super Cup)

Group A                    CFR 1907 Cluj - Chelsea
No previous encounters

Group A                    Girondins Bordeaux - AS Roma

 
Group B                     Anorthosis Famagusta - Panathinaikos
No previous encounters
 
Group B                     Internazionale - Werder Bremen

 
Group C                     Sporting CP - FC Basel

 
Group C                     Shakhtar Donetsk - FC Barcelona

 
Group D                    Liverpool - PSV

 
Group D                     Atlético Madrid - Olympique Marseille
No previous encounters
 
Group E                     AaB - Manchester United
No previous encounters
 
Group E                     Villarreal CF - Celtic

 
Group F                     Bayern München - Olympique Lyon

 
Group F                     Fiorentina - Steaua Bucuresti
No previous encounters
 
Group G                     Arsenal - FC Porto

 
Group G                     Fenerbahçe - Dynamo Kyiv

 
Group H                    BATE Borisov - Juventus
No previous encounters
 
Group H                    Zenit St. Petersburg - Real Madrid
No previous encounters

Predictions

Group A - CFR 1907 Cluj v Chelsea

Chelsea - Cluj may have surprised Roma on Matchday 1 but Chelsea are a different animal altogether.

Group A - Girondins Bordeaux v AS Roma

Bordeaux - this is going to be a tough game for Roma and I don’t think they have the mental strength to win away from home in Europe at this point.

Group B - Anorthosis Famagusta - Panathinaikos

Draw. Famagusta drew away from home and Panathinaikos lost at home. This one has a draw written over it unless Famagusta can grab a memorable win.

Group B - Internazionale - Werder Bremen

Inter - no way past them in this group, although the game itself should be a good one if Werder show up for it.

Group C - Sporting CP - FC Basel

Sporting - at home the Portuguese club will be too strong for the Swiss.

Group C - Shakhtar Donetsk - FC Barcelona

Draw. Don’t expect Barcelona’s swagger to help them through this fixture - a couple of scrappy goals from both sides should make this an even contest.

Group D - Liverpool - PSV

Liverpool. Problems and all, Torres, Gerrard and Keane should be too good for PSV.

Group D - Atlético Madrid - Olympique Marseille

Atletico Madrid. Atleti put 3 past PSV in the previous game, I’d expect this one to be another affair going their way.

Group E - AaB - Manchester United

Manchester United. Potential banana-skin (remember Copenhagen?) but United should get a goal in by half-time.

Group E - Villarreal CF - Celtic

Villareal. Celtic haven’t won away from home in Europe in ages (they have the second-longest streak of not winning away from home in Europe) and Villarreal were solid against United - at home, they should easily take care of the Bhoys.

Group F - Bayern München - Olympique Lyon

Bayern Munich. Lyon aren’t the same side of 3-4 years ago - they have Benzema but little else to suggest that they can do more than hold the opposition at bay.

Group F - Fiorentina - Steaua Bucuresti

Fiorentina - not easy for the Viola but a win here is a must for them if they want to progress out of the group stages.

Group G - Arsenal - FC Porto

Arsenal. This is the type of game you could bet your mortgage on Arsenal winning. The only question is by how many goals.

Group G - Fenerbahçe - Dynamo Kyiv

Fenerbahce - they got stuffed by Porto last time out but are good enough to beat Kyiv and revive their hopes for progressing to the next round.

Group H - BATE Borisov - Juventus

Juventus, but they’ll need to be sharp and take their chances - BATE will be looking for 3 points here and a chance to upset one of the giants of Europe.

Group H - Zenit St. Petersburg - Real Madrid

Draw. Zenit are quite capable of stuffing a team like Madrid and Madrid are, well, quite capable of messing things up. Madrid to save a point here, but they’ll need to score.

Also See:

Champions League Fixtures
Champions League Results