Champions League Predictions - Let's see how wrong I can get

The UEFA Champions League starts today. After the World Cup, this is soccer's most competitive event. All the champions from the European nations (plus some runner ups) take part in an 8 month tournament that produces some of the most technical and amazing play in the world. If you're in the USA, ESPN 2 and ESPN Classic will show the UEFA CL on the official match days (Tuesdays and Wednesdays.) The following are my first round predictions. I'm horrible at predicting soccer, so don't use this info to gamble.

Follow up:

Group A - Liverpool, Besiktas, Marseille, Porto - Liverpool builds teams for this competition. They can't win in England, but they do in the CL. Porto will take second place. Marseille could battle them for that spot, but looking at their roster, I don't know anyone. Besiktas will be tough to be beat in Turkey, but not a threat away from there.

Group B - Valencia, Rosenborg, Chelsea, Shalke - I consider this the group of death. Chelsea of course should win, but Valencia and Shalke are very good teams. Advancing out of this group might come down to who can beat Rosenborg by the most goals.

Group C - Olympiacos, Madrid, Lazio, Werder Bremen - This is easy for Madrid. Tough for everyone else. Bremen and Lazio are not very special this year, so I think Olympiacos has a legit shot at pulling off some upsets and advancing.

Group D - Celtic, Milan, Benefica, Shahktar - Milan won the tournament last year, with the world's best player, Kaka leading the way. There's no way they'll fail to advance. The battle for second will be very interesting. Celtic and Benefica are both clutch teams, and Shahktar from the Ukraine has slowly become a mini-power in Europe. I think Benefica with Freddy Adu can pull out second place.

Group E - Lyon, Barcelona, Stuttgart, Rangers - Most experts say this is the group of death, but so far all these teams have struggled in their start to their domestic seasons. Since that is the case, I think the two stacked teams, Lyon and Barca will run away with this group.

Group F - Roma, Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Dynamo Kiev, Man U is the easy pick. Roma is scorching hot right now. The only interesting matches in this group will be between those two.

Group G - Inter Milan, Fenerbache, PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow - I hope this is Fenerbache's year to advance. They have the best supporters in the world and they're always developing talent to sell to the rest of Europe. I'll pick them and Inter Milan to advance. PSV seems thin, and CSKA Moscow is a lightweight.

Group H - Steaua Bucharest, Arsenal, Slavia, Sevilla - UEFA Cup champs Sevilla were one of the most entertaining teams to watch last year. They have a good start in Spain this season, so advancing shouldn't be a problem. Arsenal will easily advance too. I'm also going to predict that Slavia doesn't get a single point.