Champions League
Champions League 2008
Not many people could have said before CFR Cluj were drawn for the Champions League that they had heard of the little Romanian team.
Even fewer would have expected the result we saw on matchday 1 when they came away with a 2-1 victory against Roma in the Stadio Olimpico. In a week of upsets Chelsea will be hoping to avoid the same fate when they travel to Transylvania to take on the minnows in Group A. The Blues recorded an impressive victory over Bordeaux in their opening match, despite Luis Felipe Scolari feeling they could have done better on the night after a drop in effort during the second half.
In what will truly be a memorable occasion for Cluj hosting their very first Champions League game it seems that the stage is set for them to record another upset. With a truly international squad which contains eight Portuguese players they have every chance of walking away with something, even a draw would be seen as a victory against the rich west London club.
However Chelsea have become expert party poopers, despite their fairly sensational upset defeat to Barnsley last season in the FA Cup and previously their ability to lose to teams in Europe called Viking. The Blues have a knack of coming away from these games with all three points and the way they are playing this season you would have to be a brave man to bet against Chelsea.
Moving on to the other English team in action on Wednesday night and Liverpool look to have a fairly straight forward game against PSV Eindhoven at Anfield. On paper the Reds should be comfortable victors having won their opening game against Marseille and PSV having been taken apart by Atletico Madrid at home. Having said that PSV are currently second in the Eredivise and have only conceded two goals in the league so don’t expect a high scoring encounter.
Anfield on European nights provides Liverpool with the twelfth man and they some how always seem to overcome the opposition. Off the back of their Merseyside derby victory the Reds will be pumped up to show that they are real European contenders once again this year.
After Manchester United and Arsenal’s impressive victories last night both of the other English clubs will be keen to flex their muscles against perhaps inferior opposition. Despite some claiming that the Champions League is becoming predictable with the dominance of the Premier League sides these games tonight should not be considered formalities, despite the odds being stacked in the English sides favour. The Champions League betting shows that Chelsea are currently favourites but a defeat tonight for the Blues or Liverpool will certainly knock their confidence as well as their chances of escaping from the group stages.
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