Source: Daily_Mail
We'll all have a ball in the Champions League: John Terry lucky dip gives 'Big Four' an easy ride
Good fortune has not followed John Terry across Europe these past few years but the Chelsea captain got lucky for all four English teams in the Champions League draw.[LNB]After receiving the award for the best defender in the competition for the third time, Terry was asked to pluck the balls from the bowl for the second-seed teams.[LNB]Would it, in part, be thanks to Terry that Chelsea ended up with Inter Milan? Or Manchester United were drawn against Cristiano Ronaldo and his new colleagues at Real Madrid?[LNB]The England skipper served his country well. Madrid will meet AC Milan, Inter face Barcelona, while Bayern Munich will now have to confront the might of Juventus.[LNB] Gunning for glory: Andrey Arshavin[LNB]Looking up: Frank Lampard [LNB]Spanish flyer: Fernando Torres[LNB]England expects: Wayne Rooney[LNB] The English teams have a somewhat easier ride, even if United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will wince at the distance his men will have to cover when they make those trips to Moscow and then Istanbul for the match against Besiktas. Not to mention a potentially tricky trip to the German champions, Wolfsburg.[LNB]Reflecting on the Group B draw, Ferguson said: 'These are difficult ties, especially the trips to Russia and Turkey. CSKA Moscow have developed strongly in the last few years and games in Turkey are always difficult. We also know the quality that we're up against with Wolfsburg, with what they achieved in the Bundesliga last season.'[LNB]A glance at United's fixture list highlights potential problems. The visit to Istanbul comes in the week that Ferguson's side host Manchester City, and a few days after another tough game at Tottenham, while that match in Moscow is followed four days later by Liverpool at Anfield. In the same week Liverpool will be at home to Lyon something that will not amuse United's boss.[LNB]His club have never met the three teams they face in their group, but as well as being twinned with Luton and hosting giant gnome competitions, Wolfsburg is famous for having the club that managed to lure Obafemi Martins from Newcastle.[LNB]Besiktas do not go in for the 'Welcome to Hell' banners that have greeted United to Istanbul in the past, but the Inonu Stadium can provide a reception. At 132 decibels, it holds the record for the loudest crowd in football and it is sure to be lively when last season's beaten finalists appear on the pitch.[LNB] Revenge mission: Lionel Messi nods Barcelona's second past Edwin van der Sar in Rome, but will beaten finalists Manchester United make their third consecutive final?[LNB]United defender Rio Ferdinand feels English clubs have a point to prove, particularly with La Liga buying marquee players including, of course, Ronaldo.[LNB]He said: 'They've got a claim to being the best league in the world. This season we have to wait and see if the Premier League is still the best in the world or not.'[LNB]The other English teams were happier with their travel arrangements. 'John did well with the pot two draw,' declared Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon and, while they will have to cope with a long flight to APOEL in Cyprus, Porto and Atletico Madrid should not present them with too many problems.[LNB]The meeting with Atletico should, however, be interesting with Chelsea having considered a move for their Argentina forward, Sergio Aguero, until it emerged that the club wanted £60million for him. This will be a chance to see if he is worth the money.[LNB]'Generally, we've got to be happy with what we got,' added Kenyon. 'We managed to miss the big ones from pot two, although we'll take nothing away from Porto because we know what they're capable of.'[LNB]Liverpool, represented here by new club ambassador Kenny Dalglish, also have no such complaints. For the European capital of culture comes a cultural tour of Europe, with trips to Florence and Lyon to look forward to. Even Debreceni VSC, the first Hungarian team to qualify for the competition in 14 years, can claim to be a European capital of choir music. It was also infamous, once upon a time, for its witch trials.[LNB]On learning the draw, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez adopted a fairly cautious stance. 'You know in the Champions League there will always be difficult games and tough teams to play against,' he said.[LNB] 'Lyon might not have won the French league last season but before that they won it many years in a row, so we know they have lots of good players who can play good football.[LNB]'Fiorentina are an historic club in a nice city. I know from experience they have fantastic supporters because I spent some time there when Claudio Ranieri was the coach. [LNB]'And we have experience of Hungarian football because of our relationship with MTK, so if Debreceni have won their league then we know it means it's because they're a good side.[LNB]'The important thing as always is that the travelling isn't too bad, we don't have too far to go for any of the games. We're just looking forward to starting the competition now.' [LNB]The long road to Madrid, where the final will be staged on a Saturday next May, is probably least daunting for Arsenal. [LNB]Even if all three sides, as chief executive Ivan Gazidis pointed out, are all champions of their respective leagues.[LNB]Matt Derbyshire's Olympiakos represents another long journey to Athens but AZ Alkmaar of Holland and Standard Liege of Belgium should not pose too many problems to Arsene Wenger's in-form side. Even if Eduardo could be missing for the first two games.[LNB] [LNB]
