(See game highlights)
It’s only October 2 and already we are in the throes of European football competition. As an American now heading into my full third season here I really like how interest in the game is kept at a fever pitch throughout the entire year. Champions League and UEFA qualifying matches begin almost at the onset of the season keeping interest in the game fairly frantic from start to finish.
Valencia hosted Genoa last night in a UEFA qualifier. Valencia was trailing 0-1 then moved ahead 2-1 only to have Genoa tie it up with a penalty kick. Once again David Villa came through with a penalty kick after being fouled. Valencia is now even with Lille with 4 points in Group B. I think Valencia CF has a fantastic group of talent which means they have a slight chance of finishing third overall in the Spanish Liga after Barça and Madrid (assuming something terrible happens to Sevilla between now and the end of the season).
In the Champions League all that I can say is that if I were forced to bet everything I had on one team at this point in the competition I would have to go with Barça once again although Real Madrid has a fantastic team this season. For my dark horse pick in this year’s Champions League I will go with Sevilla. I won last year’s pool among friend by picking Barça (no surprise there) and choosing Villareal to go the farthest among our dark horse picks.
