Group H - A very tough group and for some it's the "group of death". La Liga giants FC Barcelona, Serie A titans AC Milan, Eredivisie champions Ajax and Scottish Premier League's dominant force Celtic were all drawn together. Celtic and Milan have come to know Barcelona very well in the competition, as Celtic were pitted against Barca in last year's group stages and Milan were knocked out by Barcelona in last year's knockout stages. Last year, AC Milan finished 3rd in the Serie A, which granted them direct qualification for the competition as Celtic marched on to yet another SPL title. Barcelona comfortably beat Mourinho's Real Madrid to the La Liga title and Ajax took the Eredivisie title for the 32nd time. Milan struggled last year especially early on but after Mario Balotelli's arrival from Manchester City, it seemed to have turned around as they marched up the table and narrowly missed out on 2nd place. Celtic faced a SPL season without Rangers and won the title by a very comfortable 16 point margin. Barcelona, in their 1st season without Pep, took La Liga over Jose Mourinho's struggling Real Madrid by 15 points. Ajax's 32nd league title looked in jeopardy as the season transpired but in the 26th gameweek, they were top of the league and never looked back. They beat PSV to the title by 7 points as Frank De Boer's men celebrated with joy after a tough season. Only Barcelona have had a coaching change with Tito Vilanova resigning after a cancer relapse and Argentinian legend Gerardo Martino (Tata) replaced him.
As gameweek 2 approaches, here are the fixtures:
Celtic FC v FC Barcelona
Ajax v AC Milan
The table stands as follows:
1st: Barcelona - 3 points (1st match: 4-0 win over Ajax)
2nd: Milan - 3 points (1st match: 2-0 win over Celtic)
3rd: Celtic - 0 points (Lost to Milan)
4th: Ajax - 0 points (Lost to Barca)
Celtic FC v FC Barcelona (Celtic Park - 19:45 BST):
Barcelona are off to a flying start as they've won 6 out of 6 in the La Liga. They sit top of league and while they've struggle in some matches, they've found the winning formula. Coach Gerado Martino joins 5 other Barca manages who have won their first 6 matches, Tito Vilanova and Pep Guardiola being on the list as well. After a 2-0 win over Almeria in the weekend and a Lionel Messi goal, it wasn't his goal that was the talking point but his injury. Messi was forced to leave the match and recent reports have it that he will miss up to 3 weeks with the injury. That being said, Celtic will not have to worry about the 3 time Balon d'Or winner troubling them. Messi hasn't had the best of weeks as on Friday, he was in court with his father discussing his alleged tax frauding scandal. However, Neymar didn't play in the away win in Almeria, so he will be well-rested for the match against Celtic. Messi will be sidelined along with Jordi Alba, Javier Mascherano and Carlos Puyol.
Meanwhile, Celtic are coming off of a 5-2 away win against Kilmarnock. That victory came a few days after a shocking league cup defeat to Morton at Celtic Park. Celtic are currently 2nd place in the Scottish Premier League, a disappointing start to their season. Neil Lennon has said he wants to emulate last season's performances against Barcelona. They will be without Joe Ledley as Derk Boerriger is doubtful. James Forrest, Beram Kayal and Adam Matthews are expected to play despite injury concerns. Celtic will look to take advantage of their home fixtures where they will hope to be beaten in as they were in last year's group stages. Last season, the two teams exchanged points as Barcelona narrowly defeated Celtic 2-1 at the Camp Nou (stoppage time winner) and Celtic historically defeated Barcelona 2-1 at Celtic Park.
Ajax v AC Milan (Amsterdam ArenA - 19:45 BST):
MIlan will have Mario Balotelli back in the squad and will lineup him up alongside Alessandro Matri. Balotelli netted 4 times in 4 games before missing the last 2 matches due to suspension. "Super Mario" was suspended for a verbal insult intended for the match referee in the 2-1 defeat against Napoli. Balotelli spoke to the press and said that he feels "ready for Ajax" after a slight knee concern. The 23-year-old also wants his teammates to win against Ajax so they can go into the double-header against Barcelona "calmly". Milan successfully triumphed over Sampdoria in the weekend without Mario in a narrow 1-0 victory. That victory was only Milan's 2nd of the campaign and it ended a 3 match winless streak as Allegri's men climbed up to 9th place in the Serie A table. Milan will have Riccardo Montolivo and Stephan El Shaarawy back in the squad and hope that the Italian duo will be able to start against Ajax.
Ajax are coming off of a 6-0 thrashing of Go Ahead Eagles in Eredivisie, a victory that put them in 5th place. Ajax endured a rough 4-0 defeat at the Camp Nou in gameweek 1 and will look to bounce back, however, they haven't won a Champions League match against a Serie A side since 2002 - a win over Roma. Frank De Boer was pleased with the victory at the weekend and believes his side will show more of the same when they host Milan. He hopes that the same aggressive style in playing and coaching will be emulated Tuesday night. De Boer wants the same passion and energy that was shown on Saturday to be on display against one of Europe's biggest sides. He will be without the versatile Bojan Krkic (former Barca and Milan player), who sustained an injury against the Eagles. Ajax took 4 points out of 6 against Milan in the 2010/11 group stages, they will hope for a similar fate this year.
