29 August 2013

THE ARGENTINE, WHO ATTENDED THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP DRAW IN MONACO, GIVES HIS OPINION BARÇA'S GROUP STAGE RIVALS

Messi came in second to Franck Ribéry for the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award

Leo Messi signs autographs on his way into the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco / PHOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ - FCB

Champions League Group Stage draw

Leo Messi was one of FC Barcelona’s representatives at this afternoon’s UEFA Champions League Group Stage draw in Monaco. The Argentine was also a finalist for the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, which was won by Bayern München’s Franck Ribéry. The French player received 36 votes from the jury (sports journalists), ahead of Messi’s 13 and Cristiano Ronaldo’s 3.

Messi was asked by Pedro Pinto about Group H of the Champions League, where Barça are paired up with AC Milan, Ajax and FC Celtic. “We have a lot of even groups. We’re going to have some really good games. We’ve already faced Milan and Celtic, and it will be the first time against Ajax. I think it will be a difficult group, like always.

Milan, Ajax and Celtic, FC Barcelona's rivals in the Group Stage

Tata Martino's team have been placed in Group H of the Champions League

Champions League Group Stage draw

The Groups

Group A: Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Sociedad

Group B: Real Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray and Copenhagen

Group C: Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain, Olympiacos and Anderlecht

Group D: Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscou, Manchester City and Viktoria Plzen

Group E: Chelsea, Schalke 04, Basel and Steaua Bucarest

Group F: Arsenal, Olympique Marseille, Borussia Dortmund and Napoli

Group G: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Zenit and Austria Viena

Group H: FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax and Celtic

FC Barcelona will face off against AC Milan, Ajax and FC Celtic in the Group Stage of the UEFA Champions League.Tata Martino and his men watched as Barça’s name was pulled out of Pot 1 at 18.09. Minutes later, AC Milan (Pot 2),Ajax (Pot 3), and Celtic (Pot 4) joined the Blaugrana in Group H.

Barça to start and end at home

FC Barcelona will begin and end the group stage at the Camp Nou. The Blaugrana will first take on Ajax on Wednesday on September 18 and close out the group stage against Celtic Glasgow onDecember 11. Sandwiched in between these two matches, Barça will travel to Glasgow (October 1), Milan (October 22) and Amsterdam (November 26), meaning that the only remaining home game – Round 4 of the group stage – will be against AC Milan on November 6.

Of all of Barça’s group stage matches the one that stands out the most is the away match in Milan, which is scheduled on the same week Barça will take on Real Madrid at the Camp Nou (October 26 or 27).

It’s worth noting that the same group the senior side have to play against is the same group that Barça’s U18 team must face in theUEFA Youth League.

The group of champions

Milan, Ajax and Celtic, all European champions, will face off against Barça in the group stage of the 2013/14 edition of the Champions League

Milan have won the competition seven times, Ajax have been champions four times and Celtic won the competition in 1967. The teams in Group H have won a total of 16 European Cup titles

The Champions League Group Stage draw took place this Thursday afternoon in Monaco. The draw dropped Barça in the middle of a group full of European champions. Group H is made up of FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax and Celtic Glasgow, teams that have won a total of 16 continental crowns between them.

Milan, the collector of Champions League trophies

The group stage will bring us a classic European showdown. The team managed by Tata Martino will face off against AC Milan, a team that have won seven European Cup titles. The teams have featured against each other 17 times, with a record of 7 Barça victories, 5 draws and 5 Milan victories. We don’t have to go too far to find the most recent match between Catalans and Italians. On Match 12 of 2013 the Camp Nou witnessed a night that will be difficult to forget.

In the Round of 8 of the Champions League, Barça needed to fight back from a 2-0 deficit from the first leg of the tie against Milan. The Blaugrana fired for four unanswered goals against the Rossoneri in the second leg and thus clinched a spot in the quarter-finals of the competition.

But that wasn’t the only time Barça took on AC Milan in the continental competition. The first time was in the 1959/60 season, also in the Round of 8. On that occasion, Barça defeated Milan by 5 to 1 at the Camp Nou and sealed the deal at the San Siro two weeks later by 0 to 2. Barça’s track record against AC Milan isn’t all rosy, however. In the 1994 final in Athens, Milan thrashed Johan Cruyff’s FC Barcelona by 4 to 0 to claim the title.Ajax, a new rival but not unknown

Alax and FC Barcelona have never faced off in an official competition. The Dutch team, however, are also a classic team in the European competition. The team managed by the former Barça player, Frank De Boer, have won the Champions League four times. The first time they won it was in 1971, and their most recent successful bid for the European crown was in 1995.

Also, we mustn’t forget that Bojan Krkic currently features for Ajax. It's worth noting that last season Bojan featured against Barça at the Camp Nou while wearing the AC Milan strip.