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PSV meet old friends in Champions League
Thursday 28 August 2008
PSV Eindhoven
will meet some old friends in the groups stages of the
Champions League.
Drawn into a tough group D - tonight
in Monaco - as the number 2 the team of coach Huub Stevens
will encounter Liverpool, Olympique Marseille and Atlético
Madrid.
At the English giants PSV will
find Oranje-internationals Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel
among the opposition, whereas Marseille is coached by
former PSV coach and player Eric Gerets and former Ajax
player and also an Holland defender John Heitinga now
plays for Atletico.
Like in the previous two seasons
PSV are the only Dutch contenders in Europe's most important
club competition.
The first rounds will be played
on 16 and 17 September.
Liverpool were in PSV's group two
seasons ago as well.
Then in Group C the team of Rafa
Benitez were winners with 13 points, 3 points ahead
of PSV, who finished second.
The team then trained by Ronald
Koeman left Girondins de Bordeaux and Galatasaray behind
them.
Liverpool sort of sneaked their
way into the main tournament, with Dirk Kuyt scoring
the only goal 2 minutes before the end of 3½
hours of football against Belgian champions Standard
Liege.
Marseilles coach Eric Gerets worked
as coach of PSV from 1999 until 2002.
Former Holland international and
PSV player Boudewijn Zenden is at the French club, who
are top of the league after 3 rounds with 7 points.
Like Liverpool Atletico Madrid
also had to qualify for the Champions League.
The Spaniards last night convincingly
beat Schalke 04 - the team of Fred Rutten and the (injured)
Orlando Engelaar - 4-0 after they had lost the first
leg in Gelsenkirchen 1-0.
After the game Heitinga was praised
for his performance by Diego Maradona with a kiss on
the forehead.
The groups:
Group A: Chelsea, AS Roma, Girondins
de Bordeaux, CFR Cluj
Group B: Internazionale, Werder
Bremen, Panathinaikos, Anorthosis Famagusta
Group C: FC Barcelona, Sporting
Portugal, FC Basel, Sjachtar Donetsk
Group D: Liverpool, PSV, Olympique
Marseille, Atletico Madrid .
Group E: Manchester United, Villarreal,
Celtic, Aalborg .
Group F: Olympique Lyon, Bayern
München, Steaua Boekarest, Fiorentina
Group G: Arsenal, FC Porto, Fenerbahçe,
Dinamo Kiev .
Group H: Real Madrid , Juventus
, Zenit Sint-Petersburg ), BATE Borisov
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