UEFA CL Draw Groups A & B: Bayern and Real Madrid relieved if not relaxed

It feels like yesterday that we saw Bayern Munich crowned as the Kings of Europe.

To be fair, it just a little bit over a month, so no wonder we’re still reeling from it. And yet, here we are today, getting ready for yet another Champions League season bound to have twists and turns and dramatic outcomes.

Full group stage draw

Group A: Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid, Salzburg, Lokomotiv Moscow
Group B: Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Borussia Mönchengladbach
Group C: Porto, Manchester City, Olympiakos, Marseille
Group D: Liverpool, Ajax, Atalanta, Midtjylland
Group E: Sevilla, Chelsea, Krasnodar, Rennes
Group F: Zenit, Dortmund, Lazio, Club Brugge
Group G: Juventus, Barcelona, Dynamo Kyiv, Ferencváros
Group H: PSG, Manchester United, RB Leipzig, İstanbul Başakşehir

Group A will most likely have Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid battling it out for the first two places.

The last time these two met was three years ago in the group stage, and, unsurprisingly, both teams won at home 1-0.

Keep an eye on Salzburg, though.

They might have lost their superstar Håland, but in a recent friendly match against Liverpool, as Liverpool played with their regular starters, the match finished 2-2. Daka is a goal-scoring machine, bound to be the next Håland.

While Bayern also won the Supercup against Sevilla, it was not an easy fight, and the absence of players like Perišić, Coutinho, and Thiago Alcântara was felt.

They go into this campaign as the obvious favorites, but after an appalling Bundesliga match against Hoffenheim and a narrow win against Dortmund in the German Super Cup, the cracks might begin to show.

It’s unlikely however those cracks will be wide enough for Salzburg to sneak through.

Predicted placements: 1) Atlético Madrid 2) Bayern Munich 3) Salzburg 4) Lokomotiv Moscow

Group B is interesting because, on paper, it looks like it’s Real Madrid…and the others.

Real Madrid not going through would probably be a shocker of Leicester-wining-Premier-League proportions.

As for the rest, though, Shakhtar and Inter had great Europa League running, making the semis and the final, respectively, but were less fortunate in their Champions League runs in recent years.

Inter are bringing some old (and) fresh blood this year though, with Hakimi, Vidal, Nainggolan (returning from loan), and Darmian.

Shakhtar will be looking for revenge against Inter for stopping them on their way to the Europa League final. Meanwhile, Mönchengladbach looked at some point like it could win the Bundesliga, but it was not meant to be; they feel like a team somehow not living up to their potential.

Places 2, 3, and 4 could go either way, honestly.

Predicted placements: 1) Real Madrid 2) Inter 3) Shakhtar Donetsk 4) Mönchengladbach

Group C seems like a breeze for Manchester City. Porto has been having an uneven Champions League run in the last couple of years, mostly either making the round of 16 or the quarterfinals. Last year, they were unable to even reach the Champions League group stage, after being quarterfinalists the year before. However, if their Primeira Liga start is of any indication (scoring 8 goals in 2 matches), they mean business this year. Olympiacos’s most notable result in recent years had been knocking Arsenal out of the Europa League, but you’d have to go all the way to the 1998-99 season to find a better result than making the round of 16 in the Champions League. Olympique de Marseille are happy to still be able to brag that they are the only French team to have ever won the Champions League, but other than the win in League 1 against PSG, in a match where red and yellow cards flew, just like the multiple accusations of racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and discrimination, their results aren’t particularly notable. The 2017-18 Europa League final against Atlético Madrid showed some promise, but then the next year, they couldn’t even make it past the Europa League group stage.

Predicted placements: 1) Manchester City 2) Porto 3) Olympiacos 4) Marseille

Group D is pretty much the miracle group. Liverpool won the Champions League in the 2018-19 season, 14 years after the Miracle of Istanbul. Ajax had a formidable Champions League run in the same season, eliminating both Real Madrid and Juventus, while Atalanta reached last season’s quarterfinals, after it seemed almost a given that they wouldn’t even advance from the group stage. Their rebirth was also backed by a Serie A performance which saw them finishing third, with 98 goals scored. Midtjylland is also making their Champions League group stage debut, after an impressive play-off win against Slavia Praha. Ajax, however, didn’t really live up to the expectations, only finishing third in their group in the past season and losing against Getafe in the Europa League. It has to be said though that within the last two years, they’ve lost players like Dest, van de Beek, Ziyech, de Ligt, and de Jong, so it’s understandable that they need more time to rebuild that team of youngsters we all loved to see. Traore, Antony, Martinez, and Kudus will fight to fill that void; I’m sure scouters will be watching them. Between Atalanta and Ajax, the second place is pretty much a matter of flipping the coin, but I’m giving the edge to Atalanta because their offensive threat can make the best defenses crack.

Predicted placements: 1) Liverpool 2) Atalanta 3) Ajax 4) Midtjylland

Article and pictures courtesy of Alexandra Fechete

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