Top notch group opponents await Reds
Thursday's draw for the Champions League group stage has handed Bayern their third tough-looking section in a row. Munich, the top seeds in Group C, face Juventus Turin, Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Europe's elite competition.
Juventus are a huge name in European football, steeped in tradition and the record-holding Italian champions. The Turin giants were forced to qualify for this term's Champions League and struggled to an away draw with Sweden's Djurgårdens IF, but showed their true colours in a comfortable 4-1 home success to secure a lucrative group stage place.
The team is packed with superstars, starting in goal with 53 million Euro man Gianluigi Buffon. Big-name defenders in the squad include Lilian Thuram, Igor Tudor, Mark Iuliano and Gianluca Pessotto , while the jewel in the Italians' crown is Czech powerhouse and European Footballer of the Year Pavel Nedved, now recovered from the injury which cost his nation so dearly at Euro 2004.
A regular front two of Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet is one of the most feared striking partnerships in world football, while new coach Fabio Capello is a highly respected and tactically astute boss.
At the other end of the scale, Maccabi Tel Aviv rate as one of the dark horses in this year's European contest. The Israelis have won their domestic championship 19 times, comfortably surviving the third qualifying round with a 4-0 aggregate victory over Greek outfit PAOK. Tel Aviv are appearing in the group stage for the first time, although it is currently unclear whether European governing body UEFA will allow Maccabi to play their home matches at their 20,800 capacity Bloomfield stadium given the security situation in Israel at the present time.
The blue-and-yellows mainly feature home-grown players, with the exception of Brazilians Marcio Giovanini and Bruno Reis, and three Africans, Ndala Ibrahim, John Pantsil and Ishmael Addo. Coach Nir Klinger will certainly relish his men's role as underdogs in the group's star line-up.
