MONACO: FOOTBALL/ SOCCER: Reaction from team officials after the Champions League group stage draw

Record ID: 1534641

  • Title: MONACO: FOOTBALL/ SOCCER: Reaction from team officials after the Champions League group stage draw
  • Date: 26th August 2011
  • Summary: MONTE CARLO, MONACO (AUGUST 25, 2011) (REUTERS) GRIMALDI FORUM, VENUE OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW FOR THE GROUP STAGE OF THE 2011 / 2012 SEASON, VARIOUS OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CUP ON DISPLAY AT ENTRANCE GUESTS ARRIVING FOR CEREMONY FC BARCELONA PLAYER LIONEL MESSI ARRIVING FOR CEREMONY
  • Embargoed: 10th September 2011 12:29
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Monaco, Monaco
  • Country: Monaco
  • Topics: Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA5MGBDNG4IZJDU59ZV9KJ07263
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: After holding their breath as their team's name was selected in the Champions League group stage draw, team coaches and officials were eager to voice their hopes and fears for the competition which begins on September 13.
    Names were drawn in Monaco's Grimaldi Forum on Thursday (August 25) and Lionel Messi was also selected as European best footballer.
    Former Portuguese international Luis Figo gave his assessment of the tournament: "In general I think teams with more experience will arrive in the end of the competition and right now the favourites are the clubs that are more experienced in playing this competition."
    Real Madrid face Olympique Lyon, Ajax Amsterdam and Dinamo Zagreb. The club's vice-president and sporting director Emilio Butrageno said: "I would say that in Europe nowadays I think sincerely every match is of maximum difficulty and tension. That is why we have to be best prepared to get good results."
    Barcelona's sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta said that Lionel Messi's award would be seen by the Argentine player as more an endorsement of the whole team.
    "The prize is for an individual but it belongs to all the players," he said. "He knows it is easier to be the strongest player in the world if you play in a strong collective. It is one more prize for Leo Messi, but mostly for the whole team. So we have to congratulate Leo and the whole team."
    David Gill, executive director of Manchester United, brushed aside any thought of what happened in last year's final and is concentrating on this season's campaign against Benfica, Basel and Otelul Galati.
    "It is a great competition and we have to move on. We look forward to it and we have got 12 games before the next final. Let us see what happens."
    Michel Seydoux, president of Lille, faces Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow and Trabzonspor, promoted after allegations of match-fixing against Fenerbahce.
    "This is an exotic draw, a long distance draw with lots of interesting trips," he said. "Anyway there can be a few dangerous groups. But I think we have a group, which is, I would say, at the height of our football. Now we will see what happens."
    Chelsea face Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen and Racing Genk. Steve Atkins, director of communications, said: "We think it is a difficult one, but we are ready for it and we hope to do better than we have done the last couple of seasons and go that bit further."
    Vitor Pereira, Porto's new coach, will face Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St Petersburg and APOEL Nicosia with his team.
    "It is one of the most difficult groups, because the Russian teams are very, very good, because they have very good players and a good coach. And we must do a long trip. It is difficult for us. But we believe that it is possible to go away (through)," Pereira said.
    2011-12 Champions League group stage draw made on Thursday.
    GROUP A Bayern Munich (Germany) Villarreal (Spain) Manchester City (England) Napoli (Italy) GROUP B Inter Milan (Italy) CSKA Moscow (Russia) Lille (France) Trabzonspor (Turkey) GROUP C Manchester United (England) Benfica (Portugal) Basel (Switzerland) Otelul Galati (Romania) GROUP D Real Madrid (Spain) Olympique Lyon (France) Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands) Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) GROUP E Chelsea (England) Valencia (Spain) Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) Racing Genk (Belgium) GROUP F Arsenal (England) Olympique Marseille (France) Olympiakos Piraeus (Greece) Borussia Dortmund (Germany) GROUP G Porto (Portugal) Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) Zenit St Petersburg (Russia) APOEL Nicosia (Cyprus) GROUP H Barcelona (Spain) AC Milan (Italy) BATE Borisov (Belarus) Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) - - Round one: Sept. 13/14 Round two: Sept. 27/28 Round three: Oct. 18/19 Round four: Nov. 1/2 Round five: Nov. 22/23 Round six: Dec. 6/7
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