Previews

Finalists back in Euro action

Author: Brandon Barker
Date: 15/09/2009
Football betting

The beaten Champions League finalists of the last two seasons, Chelsea and Manchester United, get their 2009/10 campaigns underway on Tuesday evening.

The Blues have a home tie against FC Porto, while United face a tricky trip to Turkey to take on Besiktas.

Online betting third favourites Chelsea, now under the charge of Carlo Ancelotti, will be hoping to finally lay to rest their Champions League bogey, having come perilously close to landing the main prize on several occasions.

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Ancelotti certainly has the experience to make that dream come true having enjoyed Champions League glory on two occasions with former club AC Milan, while the Stamford Bridge squad is certain to have the hunger required to taste European glory.

However, with Yuri Zhirkov the only major summer addition, the Blues players will also need to banish the memories of their previous close shaves, especially last season's last-gasp semi-final exit at the hands of Barcelona.

Porto, twice the champions of Europe, always represent a major threat, despite also being forced to sell star players to balance the books.

This summer the Portuguese champions have seen a huge turnover of players, with the most notable exits those of Argentinian duo Lucho Gonzalez and Lisandro Lopez to Marseille and Lyon respectively.

Chelsea and Porto have met on four previous occasions in the Champions League, most recently in the 2006-07 campaign, when the English side edged a 3-2 aggregate success in a last 16 tie.

While Chelsea have home comforts, Manchester United make the trip to Turkey to face Besiktas, who they have never faced before in a competitive match.

Sir Alex Ferguson is rightly lauded for his achievements during more than two decades in charge at Old Trafford, but a return of just two Champions League trophies is perhaps a little disappointing.

Last season the Red Devils stormed to the final, before being outclassed by Barcelona, while the previous year they took the title after a penalty shootout victory over Chelsea in Moscow.

However, their chances of mounting another strong challenge appear to have been dented by the losses of forwards ristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez to Real Madrid and Manchester City respectively.

Winger Antonio Valencia is the major new arrival and he has made a fine early impression, while Michael Owen will be relishing the chance to shine on a major European stage.

For their part, Besiktas return to the Champions League after a year away, hoping to fare better than they did in 2007/08, when they crashed out in the group stages and suffered an 8-0 thrashing at Liverpool.

They clinched a domestic double last season and will be hoping that Turkey striker Nihat Kahveci can re-emerge after an injury-hit time in Spain with Real Sociedad and Villarreal.

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