The greatest club competition in the world is back with the qualifying completed. England have four team representing them - Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and, the reigning champions, Liverpool. Read below for a preview of every group and who I think will qualify for the knockout stages and who will drop down to the Europa League.
GROUP A (Club Brugge, Galatasaray, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid)
Most groups do seem like a formality these days with seeding arrangements and this is a clear example. Real Madrid and PSG should easily qualify from the group but the real battle is who will finish top between them two and who will come third from the others. Real Madrid have a better squad than PSG and their meeting tonight sees the French side without Kylian Mbappe. Club Brugge are undefeated so far this season but Galatasaray have a superior squad.
Knockout Stages - Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain; Europa League - Galatasaray
GROUP B (Bayern Munich, Olympiacos, Red Star Belgrade and Tottenham Hotspur)
Bayern Munich are expected to qualify easily - which they should - and Tottenham should also make it out of the group. Spurs have started slowly to the campaign but their 4-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace shows they are back on track. Red Star Belgrade have qualified again for the Champions League but they may find it difficult against Olympiacos, currently 1st and undefeated in the Greek Superleague.
Knockout Stages - Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur; Europa League - Olympiacos
GROUP C (Atalanta, Dinamo Zagreb, Manchester City and Shakhtar Donetsk)
Manchester City face Shakhtar in the Champions League for what seems to be the millionth time but an unfamiliar face is Atalanta, in the competition for the first time in their history. City should finish 1st and Zagreb 4th but and I suspect Shakhtar to finish in 2nd place. Their experience over Atalanta could be important.
Knockout Stages - Manchester City and Shakhtar Donetsk; Europa League - Atalanta
GROUP D (Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Lokomotiv Moscow)
This is a very interesting group with three good sides. Lokomotiv will come 4th, no doubts about that, but the three others have good chances of progressing. Atletico have started their league campaign really well but Juventus have been stuttering in the league, with a draw and wins by only 1 goal. It takes time to adapt to Sarri's tactics and Leverkusen could come strong. I think the two best sides will go through, though.
Knockout Stages - Atletico Madrid and Juventus; Europa League - Bayer Leverkusen
GROUP E (Genk, Liverpool, Napoli and Red Bull Salzburg)
It's hard to find a group that says 'formality' more than this. Liverpool and Napoli are far superior sides than Genk or Salzburg and the European champions should finish in top spot. Genk have had an indifferent start to the season while Red Bull Salzburg have won all 7 of their games, scoring 34 goals in the process.
Knockout Stages - Liverpool and Napoli; Europa League - Red Bull Salzburg
GROUP F (Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Internazionale and Slavia Prague)
The Slavia Prague representatives burst out laughing when they were drawn in a group three former European champions. They have no hope of finishing 3rd, let alone get into the knockout stages. Inter Milan, I think, will fall short of 2nd place and will be Barcelona and Dortmund who go through. Without Messi and Suarez (probably not) starting for their first meeting, this is a fantastic opportunity for the Germans to get ahead of the Spanish side but I believe that Barca will still come out on top in the end.
Knockout Stages - Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund; Europa League - Internazionale
GROUP G - (Benfica, Lyon, RB Leipzig and Zenit Saint Petersburg)
There always is one group that doesn't excite fans and, unfortunately, Group G is that one. Benfica have lost their best player in Joao Felix, Nabil Fekir has taken the step down from Lyon to Real Betis and there's no chance of RB Leipzig or Zenit winning the competition.
Knockout Stages - RB Leipzig and Benfica; Europa League - Lyon
GROUP H (Ajax, Chelsea, Valencia and Lille)
The last English side is Chelsea and if you'd asked me two weeks ago whether they would qualify, then I wouldn't have been so sure. But now, they played terrifically against Wolves and their competition for 2nd, Valencia, are in turmoil with problems at board and pitch level. Ajax will prevail over Chelsea but Valencia should still come 3rd.
Knockout Stages - Ajax and Chelsea; Europa League - Valencia
Those are my predictions for the group stages. The majority of the teams going through are the bigger teams, which is to be expected. All four English teams should qualify but this is the Champions League and as was shown to us last season, nothing is as certain as it seems.
GROUP A (Club Brugge, Galatasaray, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid)
Most groups do seem like a formality these days with seeding arrangements and this is a clear example. Real Madrid and PSG should easily qualify from the group but the real battle is who will finish top between them two and who will come third from the others. Real Madrid have a better squad than PSG and their meeting tonight sees the French side without Kylian Mbappe. Club Brugge are undefeated so far this season but Galatasaray have a superior squad.
Knockout Stages - Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain; Europa League - Galatasaray
GROUP B (Bayern Munich, Olympiacos, Red Star Belgrade and Tottenham Hotspur)
Bayern Munich are expected to qualify easily - which they should - and Tottenham should also make it out of the group. Spurs have started slowly to the campaign but their 4-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace shows they are back on track. Red Star Belgrade have qualified again for the Champions League but they may find it difficult against Olympiacos, currently 1st and undefeated in the Greek Superleague.
Knockout Stages - Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur; Europa League - Olympiacos
GROUP C (Atalanta, Dinamo Zagreb, Manchester City and Shakhtar Donetsk)
Manchester City face Shakhtar in the Champions League for what seems to be the millionth time but an unfamiliar face is Atalanta, in the competition for the first time in their history. City should finish 1st and Zagreb 4th but and I suspect Shakhtar to finish in 2nd place. Their experience over Atalanta could be important.
Knockout Stages - Manchester City and Shakhtar Donetsk; Europa League - Atalanta
GROUP D (Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Lokomotiv Moscow)
This is a very interesting group with three good sides. Lokomotiv will come 4th, no doubts about that, but the three others have good chances of progressing. Atletico have started their league campaign really well but Juventus have been stuttering in the league, with a draw and wins by only 1 goal. It takes time to adapt to Sarri's tactics and Leverkusen could come strong. I think the two best sides will go through, though.
Knockout Stages - Atletico Madrid and Juventus; Europa League - Bayer Leverkusen
GROUP E (Genk, Liverpool, Napoli and Red Bull Salzburg)
It's hard to find a group that says 'formality' more than this. Liverpool and Napoli are far superior sides than Genk or Salzburg and the European champions should finish in top spot. Genk have had an indifferent start to the season while Red Bull Salzburg have won all 7 of their games, scoring 34 goals in the process.
Knockout Stages - Liverpool and Napoli; Europa League - Red Bull Salzburg
GROUP F (Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Internazionale and Slavia Prague)
The Slavia Prague representatives burst out laughing when they were drawn in a group three former European champions. They have no hope of finishing 3rd, let alone get into the knockout stages. Inter Milan, I think, will fall short of 2nd place and will be Barcelona and Dortmund who go through. Without Messi and Suarez (probably not) starting for their first meeting, this is a fantastic opportunity for the Germans to get ahead of the Spanish side but I believe that Barca will still come out on top in the end.
Knockout Stages - Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund; Europa League - Internazionale
GROUP G - (Benfica, Lyon, RB Leipzig and Zenit Saint Petersburg)
There always is one group that doesn't excite fans and, unfortunately, Group G is that one. Benfica have lost their best player in Joao Felix, Nabil Fekir has taken the step down from Lyon to Real Betis and there's no chance of RB Leipzig or Zenit winning the competition.
Knockout Stages - RB Leipzig and Benfica; Europa League - Lyon
GROUP H (Ajax, Chelsea, Valencia and Lille)
The last English side is Chelsea and if you'd asked me two weeks ago whether they would qualify, then I wouldn't have been so sure. But now, they played terrifically against Wolves and their competition for 2nd, Valencia, are in turmoil with problems at board and pitch level. Ajax will prevail over Chelsea but Valencia should still come 3rd.
Knockout Stages - Ajax and Chelsea; Europa League - Valencia
Those are my predictions for the group stages. The majority of the teams going through are the bigger teams, which is to be expected. All four English teams should qualify but this is the Champions League and as was shown to us last season, nothing is as certain as it seems.
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