UCL Group Stage Review
Ah.....The Beautiful Game would return this week and the Illustrious Club Competition, i.e. The UEFA Champions League would return next week. With the competition coming back next week, a typical question has popped into everybody’s mind that who will have the alluring cup at the end of the season. To answer your question, let’s examine the group stage and forecast which clubs would progress for the next round while which club slip into the Europa League Round of 32..........
Group-A
Group A consists of Club Brugge, Manchester City, Paris Saint Germain and RB Leipzig. The biggest climax of the group is ManCity Vs PSG. It carries huge expectations and am confident that it won’t deceive us. The G.O.A.T reuniting Pep, the deadly trio of MNM, rock solid defence of City, Sergio Ramos at back with PSG. The game includes everything that an unbiased fan would demand.
Let’s not overlook Leipzig and Club Brugge, both recognized for big upsets. Both clubs have the potential to bewilder any of the big club but it would be a laborious task for them. Leipzig has lost their captain, centre back and coach to their rivals; Bayern Munich.......Brugge doesn’t imply like a side that can cause the upset, a touch of magic is lost that was present 2 seasons back before taking Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
My prediction City to lead the group, Pochettino has a talented squad with tremendous calibre but can he deal with the egos of the players, can PSG as team actually perform when it matters, Pep with more experience would outclass the start-studded team of Paris. It’s not about squad instead, it’s all about the mindset. Remember the Galacticos also failed to win a single edition of Champions League during their era.
Final Standings:
1. Manchester City
2. Paris Saint Germain
3. RB Leipzig
4. Club Brugge
Group-B :
The Group of Death aka Group-B : This group presents some of the finest club, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool and Porto. All 4 great teams with corresponding skill to knock one another. The games matched in this group would be of high intensity, compelling, and maybe a low goal scoring rate.
Roughly a decade later, Milan has eventually qualified for the Champions League. It’s pitiful how a club with second most Champions league Trophy failed to qualify for a single edition of the UCL for eight successive periods. Milan, led by Zlatan, has the potential to top the group.
Atletico Madrid looks the strongest side among the four, with Griezmann back at the club joining with Suarez and finishing the signing of Rodrigo De Paul. This side looks nasty. The Last time Atleti were marked as contender was the 2016/17 where they reached the ultimate but lost the match with Sergio Ramos equalising at 92:48 and Real outshining the locals at extra time. This time Atleti is a serious challenger for the title.
Liverpool looks fragile, with no fresh signings, and scarcity of squad depth may cause trouble for the Reds. Porto is the side that would be responsible for causing the dismay and barring a side for qualifying the latter round.
Final Standing:
1. Atletico Madrid
2. Liverpool
3. AC Milan
4. Porto
Group-C :
A group that can readily be foreseen. It’s the most certain group of this year. It features Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, Besiktas and Sporting Lisbon.
Dortmund looks rich with the Machine Haaland on the sheet associating with American genius Reyes. Ajax sounds great.Their remarkable stretch of 2018 was something unique but losing key players and with Onana on ban, the slope of this club has gone down but carries the potential to dazzle everybody.
Besiktas looks formidable, they recently signed Pjanic on loan from Barcelona and Michy the Batman on loan from Chelsea. The teams look wonderful and clean. This side might turn into the dark horse for the season.
Final Standings:
1. Borussia Dortmund
2. Ajax
3. Besiktas
4. Sporting Lisbon
Group-D :
Group-D the homecoming of last year Group-D participants except Mönchengladbach exiting the party and the new Romanian Club Sheriff joining the party.
Real Madrid looks solid and may have a shot this year. Carlo Ancelotti is back at the club. Hazard is in shape and in form, Bale looks cheerful and in form. Courtois in fine form,the back looks solid with the signing of Alaba, Kroos, Casimero and Modric in the midfield and Asensio back from injury and Valverde signing a new contract allows us a positive view. Yes, Sergio Ramos left the club.He carried and stood by the club, a true legend and no one can succeed him. But this side looks wonderful. Last season they weren’t able to score goals but this year it’s the contrary. Don Carlo is doing his job well. If they are able to sign Mbappe and Real remain free of injuries, they can pick up their 14th Champions League in style.
Inter had a terrible window,they sold Hakimi to PSG and sold their Star Player and their MVP Big Rom to Chelsea for a record fee of $115 millions. Even before that Conte left the club due to disagreement. Things don’t look for good for the Blue side of Milan who just won the Scudetto and ending Juve’s Reign. Yes, they have signed Hakan calhanoglu from Milan, Dzeko from Roma and brought Dumfries,not much is expected from Inter this season. They need to buckle up their shoes to steer their path to victory.
Shakhtar Donetsk, the club that startled Real Madrid in both the group matches, this side has tremendous capability. A club you would prefer not to wreck with. The Ukraine side looks fresh and strong.
The new representative of the Club Competition is the Romanian Side, Sheriff. Yes, everybody would hop in to collect all 3 points from them and this club would decide the destiny of others. Anyone slip against Sheriff then they are in grave danger for qualification.
Final Standing :
1. Real Madrid
2. Inter Milan
3. Shakhtar Donetsk
4. Sheriff
Group-E :
The roster features Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, Benfica and Dynamo Kiev.
The most curious game would FC Barcelona VS FC Bayern Munich,the last time they faced it concluded with Bayern thrashing 8 goals with Coutinho on loan from Barca netting twice. How Ridiculous!
A year has passed and offered us the Craziest Transfer Window of All Time. Barcelona would be without Leo Messi roughly two decades later, Suarez and Griezmann at Atleti. The situation doesn’t look favorable. Yes, they have registered Memphis Depay, who is absolutely destroying the defence and saving Barca,they signed Aguero but he is injured.From The trio of MSG to possibly MMG it has degraded to Memphis Lord Braithwaite and Luuk de Jong.
Shocking, I know,god knows what Barca is executing.
On the other hand, Bayern is strengthening their squad. They have signed Julian Nagelsmann, Upamenco and Sabitzer from Leipzig. They didn’t have a strong start to Bundesliga but are showing promising signs of a fierce season, they recently crushed a side from lower division by accumulating in 12 goals in a Cup competition. Beware of Bayern Munich especially, the London side.
Final Prediction:
1. FC Bayern Munich
2. FC Barcelona
3. SL Benfica
4. Dynamo Kiev
Group-F :
This Meet is a delightful group; it features previous season Europa League Finalists : Manchester United and Villarreal, the next team is the most striking side from Italy-: Atlanta BC accompanied with the Swiss Club Young Boys FC.
Manchester United meant business this time,they signed Raphael Varane from Madrid; the King returns to his kingdom; the G.O.A.T CR7 from Juventus and eventually signing Sancho from Dortmund. You shouldn’t underestimate this team. Ole at the Wheel might become real. Imagine CR7 at the Front with Rashford and Sancho at the wing with Pogba, Bruno at mid-field and Varane-Maguire-Prime De Gea at back,this side looks scary. They are already favourites to win the Premier League and they might add UCL Trophy to their bag. The Glory Days is back maybe........
Villarreal makes the 5th Spanish side to qualify for Champions League this season by winning the Europa League on penalties against United. Unai Emery has reconstructed this side. Signing key players and scouting young talents have paid off,the prospect of Villarreal looks sharp. The one to check out would be Gerard Moreno, who received the Player of the Season in Europa League. Let’s see can Unai Emery win the Champions League or go with the Europa League plan and try to do the three peat like at Sevilla.
Atlanta BC : Gasperini has completely revolutionized this team. He took this club from Serie B and qualifying for UCL in their first season at Serie A; they have astonished everybody. Playing aggressive, fast counter-attack and rock solid defence, the team won hearts of many fans.They are one of the most scoring side among Top-5 leagues and entered the knock out stages in UCL last season. Maybe this year they are the dark horse and top every expectation.
Final Standing :
1. Manchester United
2. Villarreal FC
3. Atlanta BC
4. BSC Young Boys
Group-G :
A balanced group that subsists of LOSC Lille,RB Salzburg,Sevilla and Wolfsburg
LOSC Lille shocked the world when they won the French Ligue. PSG were always the favourite to win. No one can compete with them in the ligue. But this side repeated the Leicester 5000/1 odd. Lille’s triumph proved that wealth is not everything and no amount of a bag full of money can ruin our beautiful game. Even though the side looks good, but have lost their manager who was instrumental in their campaign last season. In the French ligue, they are struggling and we need to see what this side brings to the tournament.
The Austrian side is always the one to look for. They are an entertaining side to watch. You can scout many bright talents from this, of course no one can forget about the wonder boy Erling Haaland destroying defences week in and week out. The only question is, can they repeat their 2018/19 season this season even though they lost their American Coach?
Ah Sevilla, Sevilla are always ambitious. They have managed to knock some big teams from the competition. You can’t write Sevilla off. They knocked Jose’s ManU in the RO16 and won the double legged match against Ole’s United and picked up the Europa League against Conte’s Inter 2 season back. Yes, they are noted for Europa League and everybody wants them to finish 3rd and win Europa League but time has changed, Sevilla means business, they recently signed Erik Lamela from Spurs and boy he is remarkable, coming as substitute in both games and scoring in them. This side would make trouble for your team.
Wolfsburg, the team that paved the course for Kevin De Bruyne. Their most memorable match is the double legged match against Real Madrid where they won the game 2-0 and their coach commented that Real are the weakest side of all the strongest team and then Cristiano Ronaldo happened and won the leg 3-2 and went on to win the Champions League. But this Wolfsburg team is distinctive than the team we observed last time,they play more cooperatively with short passes. A wonderful side with potential.
Final Standings :
1. Sevilla FC
2. Wolfsburg
3. RB Salzburg
4. LOSC Lille
Group-H :
Group H consists of the Defending Champions Chelsea, Juventus, Malmo and Zenit.
Since the appointment of Tuchel, Chelsea looks dangerous. They are rock solid at back with Kante and Jorginho at mid-field and Kai Havertz or Mason Mount at CAM. The sole obstacle was a striker that can score, Werner was signed from Leipzig but didn’t flourish well. He has more misses than his goal and people mock him by saying the next Morata, what a shame! To fix this issue, Chelsea signed Big Rom for a club record fee of $115 millions. Chelsea is on the next level. They have an excellent squad depth, master tactician and an accomplished side. They are better than every side that features in the tournament and are the favourite to win the Champions League again. At this stage, no one can contest with them. The Blues are on a honeymoon period. We need to wait for who breaks it and when will they hit the ground.
The next on the list is Juventus. Juventus is feeble now. They have mid-field that cannot pass the ball forward and a GK that isn’t good at shot-stopping. It’s misery for Juventus. They signed Ronaldo for securing the Champions League, but ignored that they need a team too. In Ronaldo’s time at Juve, he was the top scorer in all three seasons; he scored the majority of the goals at Champions League and now they denounce him. If thing goes on like this, Juventus would turn into the next AC Milan soon. They need to turn the table promptly, the only positive from this side is Paulo Dybala a Gem.
Final Standings :
1. Chelsea FC
2. Juventus FC
3. Zenith
4. Malmo FC
