Champions League 2012-13 Group E Preview: Juventus, Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Nordsjaelland

By David Salazar (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Sep 17, 2012 10:12 PM EDT

Tags champions league 2012-13, chelsea, juventus

The 2012-13 Champions League Group Stage sees its first round of games take place on Tuesday. 32 club squads will compete to see which will prevail Europe's top club. Here is a look at Group E.

Chelsea

The champions begin their defense after a starling 0-0 draw against the Queens Park Rangers over the weekend. But a group with such talent as John Terry, Frank Lampard, Oscar, Lorent Malouda, Oriol Romeu, Daniel Sturridge, Juan Mata, and Fernando Torres should be able to make a strong defense of their championship last season. Juventus will present a formidable challenge in their first match, but will also indicate the decision of this squad moving forward.

FC Nordsjaelland

The Danish squad does not have a secure path to the knockout stages, but the squad has enough home grown talent to make a run and shock more than one team. The squad is off to a strong start in the SAS-Ligaen with 4 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses and currently find themselves in third place in the Danish League. Realistically, this team this squad can probably hope for third place as Chelsea and Juventus will make it very hard to make a move for second.

Juventus

The champions of Italy return to the Champions League for the first time since 2008-09 and are in form to make a splash at the tournament. The ageless Gianluigi Buffon will lead them in goal while Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci tighten the backend. The squad is gifted with the presence of passing master Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal while the talents of Nicklas Bendthner and Fabio Quagliarelli fill out the attack. Juventus has a tough challenge to start against defending champion Chelsea, but if anyone can win this group aside from Chelsea, Juventus is that team.

Shakhtar Donetsk

The Ukrainian squad was at the Champions League last season but wound up in last place in a group that included Porto, Zenit St. Petersburg, and APOEL. They enter the group stage with little to no chances at first or second place but they can definitely win the consolation prize and book a ticket to the Europa League.

Schedule

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012
Time	Home		Away	STAGE	TV	VENUE
2:45 ET	Shakhtar Donetsk	v	FC Nordsjælland	Group E		Donbass Arena
2:45 ET	Chelsea	v	Juventus	Group E		Stamford Bridge
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012
Time	Home		Away	STAGE	TV	VENUE
2:45 ET	Juventus	v	Shakhtar Donetsk	Group E		Juventus Stadium
2:45 ET	FC Nordsjælland	v	Chelsea	Group E		Farum Park

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012
Time	Home		Away	STAGE	TV	VENUE
2:45 ET	FC Nordsjælland	v	Juventus	Group E		Farum Park
2:45 ET	Shakhtar Donetsk	v	Chelsea	Group E		Donbass Arena
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2012
Time	Home		Away	STAGE	TV	VENUE
2:45 ET	Juventus	v	FC Nordsjælland	Group E		Juventus Stadium
2:45 ET	Chelsea	v	Shakhtar Donetsk	Group E		Stamford Bridge

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2012
Time	Home		Away	STAGE	TV	VENUE
2:45 ET	FC Nordsjælland	v	Shakhtar Donetsk	Group E		Farum Park
2:45 ET	Juventus	v	Chelsea	Group E		Juventus Stadium
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2012
Time	Home		Away	STAGE	TV	VENUE
2:45 ET	Shakhtar Donetsk	v	Juventus	Group E		Donbass Arena
2:45 ET	Chelsea	v	FC Nordsjælland	Group E		Stamford Bridge