The Groups are set for the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League and there is a mix of tough draws and gimmies to go along with a few evenly matched ones, albeit if only for the lack of any top team in the group. This will be a decidedly different if just as exciting tourney as the one last year.
The groups are: A—PSG, Real Madrid, Club Brugge and Galatasaray. B—Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Olympiacos and Crvena Zvezda. C—Man City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb, and Atalanta. D—Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Leverkusen, and Lokomotiv Moscow. E—Liverpool, Napoli, Salzburg, and Genk. F—Barcelona, Dortmund, Inter, and Slavia Praha. G—Zenit, Benfica, Lyon and Leipzig. H—Chelsea, Ajax, Valencia and LOSC.
UCL Group A is down to PSG and Real Madrid with few giving the Turkish or Belgian teams much of a chance. How far these two teams in turmoil will go is still to be determined but at this stage passage seems very likely. Group B has Bayern and Tottenham with the Greek and Serbian teams as non-contenders. It will be interesting to see if the English team can repeat its wondrous recent performances while key additions at Bayern seem to augur a better European showing this year.
Group C has Manchester City as the clear and only favorite with the rest vying for second place. Pep Guardiola has been fixated on a UCL trophy one he has not lifted since 2011. Maybe this is the year his team breaks through to higher landing grounds. Group D has Juventus and Atletico as the early favorites, but both the German and Russian teams have a chance to be spoilers. Nevertheless, the Italian and Spanish sides have started their domestic campaigns in style and should make it through to the next stage.
UEFA Champions League Group E has Liverpool and Napoli as the prohibitive favorites with the Austrian and Belgian teams on for the ride. The defending champions seem poised to push into the latter stages of the tourney though domestic silverware is doubtless their number one priority this year. Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli, a heartbreak loser at the weekend to Juventus, should have a better run this year and it will begin at this early stage.
UCL Group F has Barcelona as the only favorite with the Germans and Italians vying for second while the Czech team is on for the ride. What makes this an attractive group are the signings at Dortmund and Inter which make both sides decidedly better. Group G has no clear favorite as each team lucked out by being put in with the others and avoiding any major club, so expect everyone to go for broke making this one of the groups to entertain.
UEFA Champions League Group H has Chelsea and Valencia as potential contenders with the Dutch and French teams poised to play spoilers. Ajax did not suffer as big an exodus as originally thought so expect some strength there if not quite at the level of last year, while Lille seem the minnows. For U.S. viewers Group H has the distinction of allowing us to see Christian Pulisic, Sergino Dest and Tim Weah perform at this level.
If all things go true to form, we should have many of the usual suspects on tap, likely PSG, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Manchester City, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Napoli, Barcelona, Chelsea and Valencia, joined by four lucky runners up and/or this year’s revelation. As was the case with our La Liga Preview, the one thing that could upset all of the predictions is the transfer market shuffle or lack of transfers that could either load up a previous non-contender or keep intact a team that seemed to be destined for a break-up but is now in a position to have something to prove with an unexpected roster.
This should be an exciting UEFA Champions League even if the next round seems mostly predictable.
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