The final play off games were completed and the Champions league group draw was made
With 4 teams from England and 2 from Scotland there is big interest in the tournament this year
The draw didn’t disappoint with a ‘Battle of Britain’ and a ‘Group of death’
Group stage draw
Group A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers
Group B: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Bruges
Group C: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen
Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham, Sporting Lisbon, Marseille
Group E: AC Milan, Chelsea, RB Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb
Group F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic
Group G: Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, FC Copenhagen
Group H: Paris St-Germain, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa
Lets look at the groups in more detail
Group A
After a long absence Rangers are back in the group stages, here we have the ‘Battle of Britain’ that the media will be desperate for.
Liverpool you would expect to qualify but Rangers should not be discounted, they showed in the Europa League run last season they are tough to beat at home with notable victories against Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig.
Already they have achieved a good result against PSV to get this far, they will be no pushovers. May be a harder group than Liverpool fans think.
Napoli and Ajax play tidy football as well, how good Ajax are with their manager leaving and who knows what squad – that could be the big problem for them
Group B
One of the weaker groups to be honest. Its hard to look past Atletico and Porto but the other 2 teams may give them a game on their own grounds
Group C
This will be tagged the ‘group of death’ and quite rightly with Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Inter Milan all in the group.
Should be some intriguing games especially between Bayern and Barcelona with Robert Lewandowski back to face his old club and Bayern hammering them the last time they faced off. What team Barca will field – who knows.
Inter Milan will also put a fight – so one of the big teams is not qualifying. Very hard to choose between the 3 to be honest.
Viktoria Plzen may not enjoy this although getting to this stage is arguably an achievement
Group D
Another fairly weak group and Tottenham will be delighted to get this one.
Obviously there are no guarantees and anything can happen but Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon and Marseille are pretty much a dream 3 teams to pick. At their own stadiums it will obviously be tougher but with Conte at the helm I can’t see Spurs failing to qualify.
Who gets the other place is anyone’s guess – all 3 of the others look pretty even and I can see them dropping point to each other fairly regularly.
Group E
Again Chelsea will be fairly content although most of how t hey do depends on themselves, how they are playing and if the sign anyone before the window shuts
AC Milan will be tough and you can’t assume that the other 2 teams will be easy to beat but its still a very good group to get
Group F
Scotland’s other representatives get the holders, Real Madrid. It doesn’t get more difficult than that
The other 2 teams are RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic may feel they have a chance, Rangers certainly got the better of the Germans last season in teh Europa league.
Could well be a 3 way battle for the 2nd place in the group and also Europa league place if you finish 3rd. Expect Real Madrid to qualify without too many issues.
Group G
Again Man City will not be to unhappy and this throws up the intriguing prospect of Erling Haaland playing against his old team, Borussia Dortmund
the game swill be tough Dortmund and Sevilla are no push overs but City should qualify – I think they will lose at least 1 game but i suspect Dortmund and Sevilla may cancel each other out making Citys task easier
Copenhagen might have a hard time with these teams – home draws might be as good as it gets
Group H
PSG and Juventus are the big guns and Benfica are useful in Europe. You have to fancy PSG – if they can keep the front 3 fit and healthy.
Benfica will still be strong at home but I don’t think they will have enough and it may be the Europe league for them.
Maccabi Haifa may struggle to get a point here – might be a long campaign
