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CSKA found out their opponents in the Champions League
The draw for the group stage of the 2007/08 Champions League season took place yesterday in Monaco. The final of this outstanding competition will be held in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium, which is why there is special attention to the current draw of the main club tournament of the Old World in Russia. Domestic club football in the group tournament is represented by CSKA, whose opponents in Group G, with the direct participation of the best goalkeeper in the world in 1988 Rinat Dasaev, are the Italian Inter, the Dutch PSV and the Turkish Fenerbahce.The draw for the group stage of the Champions League is always an event that worries not only fans and players, but also club owners and managers. Still, both the tournament and financial prospects of the league participants depend on who will be the opponent of one or another team. Every year the tournament of the best clubs in Europe becomes more and more profitable. Clubs now strive to receive not only moral, but also material satisfaction from participating in the Champions League. Suffice it to remember that, for example, last season each club received $2 million just for reaching the group round. Participation in six matches was estimated at another 2.4 million. A victory in a single match was worth 600 thousand, and a draw - - 300 thousand dollars. The corresponding payments are due both for getting into each of the playoff rounds and, naturally, for winning the final. But there is also profit from the sale of rights to television broadcasts. Moreover, according to UEFA forecasts, the Champions League has not yet reached the peak of its financial well-being. And the new head of European football, Michel Platini, intends to further increase its profitability. On the eve of the draw, he said that the Moscow final should be held not on Wednesday, as has been the case historically since 1956, but on Sunday. And such a move, perhaps, would have further increased the capitalization of both the individual decisive match for the honorable trophy and the entire tournament as a whole.
By the way, the Russian CSKA and Spartak earned $6.2 and $5.6 million, respectively, for participating in the last group draw of the League. But if the Spartak club this week, having lost to Celtic in the 3rd qualifying round, lost the opportunity to replenish the cash register, then CSKA will strive to improve last year’s result. However, it will not be easy for the army team to do this, because its rivals have exactly the same plans. Inter will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year, and the team, whose main stars are Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Vieira, plans to compete in the league in addition to winning the national championship. PSV could recently be seen in person at the Moscow Russian Railways Cup, which the Dutch club, led by Ronald Koeman, won, beating the current Champions Cup holder Milan, and then defeating the star-studded Real Madrid. So, despite the lack of bright stars, PSV is capable of presenting more than one surprise. And finally, Fenerbahçe, whose ranks were joined by the famous Brazilian Roberto Carlos in the off-season, also does not intend to give away points to their opponents.
The drawing ceremony also included the awarding of the winners of the last European club season. The best goalkeeper was named Peter Cech (Chelsea), defender - Paolo Maldini (Milan), midfielder - Clarence Seedorf (Milan), and striker - Kaka (Milan).
Group A: Liverpool, Porto, Marseille, Besiktas.
Group B: Chelsea, Valencia, Schalke, Rosenborg.
Group C: Real Madrid, Werder Bremen, Lazio, Olympiacos.
Group D: Milan, Benfica, Celtic, Shakhtar.
Group E: Barcelona, Lyon, Stuttgart, Glasgow Rangers.
Group F: Manchester United, Roma, Sporting, Dynamo (Kiev).
Group G: Inter, PSV, CSKA, Fenerbahce.
Group H: Arsenal, Sevilla/AEK, Steaua, Slavia Prague.
The Sevilla-AEK match was postponed to September 3 due to the death of 22-year-old Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta.