Champions League Draw and Predictions

Today was a day almost like Christmas Eve, or maybe Thanksgiving, for supporters of Europe's big clubs.  UEFA held the Champions League draw, and now we all know which big teams will be squaring off and which minnows are going to get a shot at upsetting someone to make it into the knock out stage.  As usual, the draw was exciting, and gave us a lot to talk about.

First off I'll list the groups, then I'll give my impressions/predictions.

GROUP A--
Porto
Dynamo Kiev
Paris St. Germain
Dinamo Zagreb

GROUP B--
Arsenal
Schalke
Olympiakos
Montpellier

GROUP C--
A.C. Milan
Zenit St. Petersburg
Anderlecht
Malaga

GROUP D--
Real Madrid
Manchester City
Ajax
Borussia Dortmund

GROUP E--
Chelsea FC
Shakhtar Donetsk
Juventus
FC Nordsjaelland

GROUP F--
Bayern Munich
Valencia
Lille
BATE Borisov

GROUP G--
Barcelona
Celtic
Benfica
Spartak Moscow

GROUP H--
Manchester United
Braga
Galatasaray
CFR Cluj

The first thing that jumped out at me, and probably for most soccer watchers is group D, which in this case really is the Group of Death.  That groups contains the Spanish, English, German, and Dutch champions.  Who will come out of that group?  Well, I think Madrid for sure. but the rest is up for grabs.  It's tough to see Ajax making it out, so it's probably between City and Dortmund.  Sure, Dortmund lost Kagawa, but City will be in trouble if they don't have Aguero back.  I'm taking Madrid and Dortmund.

Group A seems pretty forward.  I'll take PSG and Porto, though I think Kiev could be a pitfall.  Group B seems pretty straight up as well.  I'll take Arsenal and Schalke 04, my favorite German side.  For group C, I'll take Milan and Zenit.

Group E is a little more interesting with Italian Champs Juventus and the defending European Champs Chelsea.  I'll take both of those clubs to advance, but both will have to contend with Donetsk, who are always an upset special.

My group F prediction my surprise a few.  Of course I'll take Bayern, but I'll also take Lille.  I've never been sold on Valencia in these competitions.  Borisov has been here before, but I don't see them making noise.

For group G, the obvious pick is Barcelona, but I'm going with Celtic to join them in the knockout stage.  This club is flying the flag for Scottish football this year, I think they've got a ways to carry it yet.

Manchester United can hardly complain about their draw in group H.  Seems like a walk in the Champions League park.  Sir Alex isn't going to sit for another group stage exit, so I'll take the Red Devils and Braga.

I wish these epic matches started right away.