Sport
Champions League Group Stage Preview
The draw for the Champions’ League group stage will be made at 5pm on Thursday. Real Madrid made history last season by becoming the first team to win back-to-back Champions League titles and Zinedine Zidane’s men have their eye on a hat-trick. They will face stiff competition from the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and PSG, while Chelsea and Manchester United have returned to the stage after a brief hiatus.
If Liverpool manage to overcome Hoffenheim in their qualification fixture, there will be 6 British teams competing in the famous competition. In the lead up to the draw, we are looking at the best potential group for each of the British teams, as well as the “group of death” each fan will be praying to avoid.
Chelsea
The English champions have the slight advantage of being in Pot 1 with the other European champions. However, Pot 2 appears just as daunting as Pot 1 in this year’s competition. The best and worst scenarios for Chelsea are listed below.
Favoured group on paper:
• Chelsea
• Porto
• Anderlecht
• Qarabağ
Group of death:
• Chelsea
• Barcelona
• Napoli
• Leipzig
Manchester United
Manchester United are back in the Champions league for the first time under Mourinho. The Red Devils are in Pot 2 and will be hoping for a good outing in this years competition with the likes of Pogba, Lukaku and De Gea all expected to perform. Their task to qualify for the knockout rounds could vary from a walk in the park (on paper) to an incredibly tough ask.
Favoured group on paper:
• Spartak Moscow
• Man United
• Basel
• Maribor
Group of Death:
• Real Madrid
• Man United
• Napoli
• Leipzig
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola will be hoping for an improvement on last years Quarter-Final exit to Monaco this season. The Citizens have been drawn in some challenging groups in recent years and they will be hoping to avoid another “group of death” in the upcoming draw.
Favoured group on paper
• Shakhtar Donetsk
• Manchester City
• Besiktas
• Steaua Bucharest
Group of death:
• Real Madrid
• Manchester City
• Napoli
• Leipzig
Tottenham
The Champions league was a forgettable experience for Spurs last year in an otherwise successful season. Pochettinos men finished 3rd in a relatively favourable group involving Bayern Leverkusen, CSKA and Monaco. They struggled to perform at Wembley where they will again be playing their home fixtures. Sitting in Pot 3, Tottenham could find themselves with a much harder task to qualify this year and will be praying for a favourable draw once again.
Favoured group on paper:
• Spartak Moscow
• Porto
• Tottenham
• Qarabağ
Group of death:
• Real Madrid
• PSG
• Tottenham
• Leipzig
Liverpool
Assuming Liverpool overcome Hoffenheim in tonight’s qualification game, Klopp will be paying close attention to the group stage draw on Thursday. Liverpool last took part in the elite competition in 2014/15 and were eliminated during the group stages after failing to beat Basil and losing twice to Real Madrid. Like Spurs, Liverpool face a potentially daunting task should they qualify and there will be many people on Merseyside hoping lady luck will benefit them come 5pm Thursday.
Favoured group on paper:
• Spartak Moscow
• Porto
• Liverpool
• Maribor
Group of death:
• Real Madrid
• PSG
• Liverpool
• Leipzig
Celtic
The final British team involved in the draw will be Celtic, sitting in the discouraging Pot 4. Celtic will be used to tough draws and indeed qualification to the group stages is success in itself. However after going unbeaten last year in the SPL, Brendan Rodgers might be quietly optimistic over his sides chances of reaching the knockout stages. This is easier said than done as there are a large number of clubs Celtic will want to avoid and a favourable draw maybe Celtic’s only chance of reaching the last 16.
Favoured group on paper:
• Spartak Moscow
• Porto
• Besiktas
• Celtic
Group of death:
• Bayern Munich
• Barcelona
• Napoli
• Celtic
What do you think of each teams chances in this years competition ? Will Liverpool overcome Hoffenheim ?
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