Starting tomorrow Tuesday, September 14th UEFA Champions League football is back! Now sure the tournament technically already began last month when several top four clubs were forced to play in a two match aggregate battle to advance into the group draw stages of the tournament, but the real deal will begin tomorrow and this is exciting news for football fans of any league.
And eight games will be played tomorrow afternoon (east coast U.S. time), but only two will be televised during the day on Fox Soccer Channel. Last year’s treble winners of Inter Milan will play their first action this season against Twente Enschede at 2:30 PM eastern time. That match will be immediately followed up by Manchester United’s battle against Scottish giants Rangers. And it is fitting to have these two matches featured on the popular soccer station considering the fascinating news stories surrounding both squads.
Inter will be attempting to repeat as champs this year and the Italian squad’s odds of doing so are likely not great considering their famous coach Jose Mourinho has left the building and also considering the signicant cold streak the club had faced in the event prior to last season. Add on the fact that the club had a impact-less off season in the transfer market and the chance of repeating will be unlikely.
As for Man U they are probably the most interesting team to watch at the moment due to the media heat their best player has recently received for allegedly purchasing an online prostitute while his wife was pregnant. Wayne Rooney is expected to return to the pitch and the forward was missed this weekend in Everton when their manager decided to leave him out of the starting eleven so that he could avoid the badgering he was expected to receive. Rooney will be dressed alongside Rio Ferdinand (who is returning from injury) and the two Englishmen will try to aid their club into advancing to the final four spots this year which was the first time in many years that an English Premier League club did not make the final four.
As for other interesting matches being played tomorrow, here is a list of the teams facing off:
Barcelona vs Panathinaikos
Benfica vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Bursaspor vs Valencia
FC Copenhagen vs Rubin Kazan
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