Champions League 2012-13: Group G, Group H and Ranking

                                             Group G

SL Benfica – Portuguese runners-up

UEFA Ranking: 13

Transfer amount of all players: EUR 174,0 mio

3 most prolific players: Maxi Pereira, Oscar Cardozo, Gaitan

Ambitions for the season:
Repeating the quarterfinal success of the last Champions League edition wouldn’t be bad for Benfica, but they would be eager to finally take a title in Portugal after 2 silver years.

The decisive match: 02-10: Benfica-Barcelona: To get an advantage over Celtic and Spartak in this fight for the second position, Benfica will have to earn anything tangible in their home match against Barcelona. 

FC Barcelona – Spanish runners-up

UEFA Ranking: 1

Transfer amount of all players: EUR 654,5 mio

3 most prolific players: Xavi, Iniesta, Messi

Ambitions for the season: Bring back the Primera and Champions League titles.

The decisive match: 20-11: Spartak-Barcelona: Assuming the weather condition in Moscow by the end of November, Messi and Co. are not destined to have an easy journey. But returning with points in the 5th matchday is always important, even for Barcelona.

FC Spartak Moskva – Russian runners-up

UEFA Ranking: 54

Transfer amount of all players: EUR 115,1 mio

3 most prolific players: Kallstrom, McGeady, Bilyaletdinov

Ambitions for the season: A Champions League place for the next season and advancement in any of the European Leagues. 

The decisive match: 23-10: Spartak-Benfica: There is no reason for Emeri’s players to hope for anything positive in this Champions League, if they don’t win against their direct concurrent at home.

Celtic FC – Scottish champions

UEFA Ranking: 66

Transfer amount of all players: EUR 60,7 mio

3 most prolific players: Samaras, Brown, Miku

Ambitions for the season: Another Scottish title and advancement in any of the European Leagues. 

The decisive match: 19-10: Celtic-Benfica: Celtic’s first match will explain a lot about the Scottish champions and their real power.

                                          Group H

CFR 1907Cluj – Romanian champions

UEFA Ranking: 76

Transfer amount of all players: EUR 37,0 mio

3 most prolific players: Jorge Martinez, Kapetanos, Ronny

Ambitions for the season: Another Romanian title and Europa League place.

The decisive match: 07-11: Cluj-Galatasaray: If there is any match to win and hope for a better place in the group, it is the one where Galatasaray will visit them.

Manchester United FC – English runners-up

UEFA Ranking: 3

Transfer amount of all players: EUR 437,7 mio

3 most prolific players: Rooney, van Persie, Vidic

Ambitions for the season: Bring the English title back and reach the Champions League final.

The decisive match: 20-11: Galatasaray-Manchester United: The group is pretty similar to the one from which Sir Alex Ferguson’s boys failed to qualify last year, so not to repeat this again they will need to win more matches. It is not going to be easy in the stadium, where teams are greeted by a message “Welcome to hell”.

Galatasaray AŞ– Turkish champions

UEFA Ranking: 57

Transfer amount of all players: EUR 138,4 mio

3 most prolific players: Elmander, Umut Bulut, Felipe Melo

Ambitions for the season: Another Turkish title and 1/8 finals of Champions League.

The decisive match: 05-12: Braga-Galatasaray: None of the teams will have enough points to qualify before the last match, so this one is the most crucial contest of the group. 

SC Braga – Portuguese bronze medalists

UEFA Ranking: 26

Transfer amount of all players: EUR 77,9 mio

3 most prolific players: Hugo Viana, Ruben Amorim, Custodio

Ambitions for the season: A place in Champions League 2013-14 and 1/8 finals of the current tournament.

The decisive match: 05-12: Braga-Galatasaray: None of the teams will have enough points to qualify before the last match, so this one is the most crucial contest of the group. 
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After each matchday I will try to represent my subjective ranking of the participant teams. 

RANKING BEFORE THE GROUP STAGE

Place	Club
1	Real Madrid (Spain)
2	Man. City (England)
3	FC Barcelona (Spain)
4	Bayern (Germany)
5	Man. Utd. (England)
6	Borussia D. (Germany)
7	Juventus (Italy)
8	PSG (France)
9	Arsenal (England)
10	Chelsea (England)
11	Valencia (Spain)
12	Milan (Italy)
13	Zenit (Russia)
14	Schalke 04 (Germany)
15	Porto (Portugal)
16	Shakhtar D. (Ukraine)
17	Ajax (Netherlands)
18	Benfica (Portugal)
19	Malaga (Spain)
20	Lille (France)
21	Galatasaray (Turkey)
22	Dynamo K. (Ukraine)
23	Sp. Braga (Portugal)
24	Olympiacos (Greece)
25	Montpellier (France)
26	Spartak M. (Russia)
27	Celtic (Scotland)
28	Anderlecht (Belgium)
29	Dinamo Z. (Croatia)
30	Nordsjæland (Denmark)
31	CFR Cluj (Romania)
32	BATE (Belarus)