UEFA Champions League Preview, Group E: September 15, 2010

Bayern vs. Roma

Bayern had a very good run in last year’s competition, beating Juventus, Man United, and Fiorentina on their way to the final with Inter Milan.  However, like many of Europe’s big clubs, they have had a bad start to their domestic season, winning just one game so far.

Their defence has been a weak point for some time now, and it looks like it hasn’t changed this season. The Bavarians need to tighten up at the back, or they will be punished by Roma, as this is not the nicest of groups, and Bayern could see their Champions League ambitions slipping away if they don’t start playing an awful lot better than they have been domestically.

Roma is unsurprisingly struggling. It seems that they are another one of the big clubs to not quite have realised that the season has started...without them. They have yet to manage a win, and Claudio Ranieri’s side has been plagued with injuries, which means he actually has an excuse, unlike most of the other struggling sides.

Roma came very close to winning the Serie A last year only to be pipped at the post by Inter. The Italians did owe that to a particularly good run of form towards the end of the season, and it seems like they’ll have their fingers crossed that history repeats itself and they can improve their form.

CFR vs. Basel

This is a battle of the group’s underdogs, because neither of these two sides are very likely to win a group with Bayern Munich and Roma in it. Basel had a pretty good season domestically and proved themselves to be a more than capable side in qualifying.

The Swiss champions are not probably going to sit back and play a defensive game. They are well known for playing an attacking style of football on the wings and taking advantage of their big men up front with lots of crosses into the box.

They should have every chance of winning here; however, they have been known to be a little too open at times, and that could cause them a few problems.

CFR is lacking a certain something in the defence region in the same manner that Basel is, though the side is not a bad side by any means. They aren’t terrible at defending against styles like Basel’s.  However, if the away side takes a more direct tack, then CFR is going to have some serious problems. Winning this match will be vital to both teams.

Joe - livescoredaily.com - live scores and live sports