Champions League Draw: Yikes.

By: Martha | December 21st, 2007

Draw image.

It appears someone in Italy has angered the football gods (I blame Moggi), because the Italian sides got some brutal freaking draws today: Roma will face Real Madrid, Milan will play Arsenal, and Inter got Liverpool. I think I can say this and also say I’m confident all three team could well go through: YUCK.

Though the peanut gallery over at the Roma blog seems thrilled with the Real Madrid draw (Predrag Mijatovc, too, is fine with it, so everyone’s happy.), I gotta say I think that could be a daunting task. While Real certainly can look very ordinary (See: The first Lazio match), they also are capable of all kinds of effortless magic (See: The Second Lazio match), and on their day can make anyone look foolish. The same, however, could be said for Roma, and I’m actually really excited for this matchup: Trying to ignore the possibility that both games could turn into static chess matches, they could also offer us some gorgeous attacking football from both sides, especially if Roma are more or less healthy by the time late February rolls around.

Liverpool, meanwhile, scare the crap out of me. They’re England’s version of Milan, in superficial ways: Every time things start to go all to hell for them domestically, they come out and tear through Europe like a different team. And, just in time for them to face Inter, they’re swooning at home: They’re dropping points, Rafa Benitez is fighting with the club’s owners, and his rotation system is being questioned again. Super. (Release Peter Crouch!) Inter certainly are capable of beating Liverpool, but they’re going to have to get a lot tougher, and the match at Anfield is going to be a freaking war.

Oh, Milan. Arsenal are not a good draw for anyone, let alone a team that’s struggling to find its feet. Of course, this is Milan and, assuming Arsenal get the memo and allow them to play, this could be the best match-up of the three — there’s an outrageous amount of ability in the two sides, even if Milan’s average age is roughly twice that of their opponents. I’m guessing Rino Gattuso won’t sleep for the week before the match, he’s going to be so jacked up about the chance to ~~kick Cesc Fabregas around a little bit~~ face off against Cesc Fabregas.

Edit: Thanks to Mike, here’s the video of the draw, so you can see the drama for yourselves.