Group B contains Bayern, Paris St Germain, Anderlecht, and the Scottish team, Celtic. I am curious to watch Moussa Dembele play in the champions league stage. He is a young Frenchman that shares the name as another highly regarded french player that Barcelona is after. However, as much as I would like to see the minnow succeed and perform well, Bayern and PSG are loaded with talent and I see them both qualifying to the knockout rounds. The only uncertainty this group has to offer is which team finishes first and second between the German and French giants.
For some reason it feels as if group C tends to be filled with teams that play each other often in the champions league. Almost as if we have been here before. Chelsea, Athletico, Roma, and Qarabag make up the group. This is one of the few groups that can go either way. I must apologize to Qarabag, this is a three team group where the Azerbaijan team will not have much say in this group. They may play the part of hindering another team's chances if they can pull off an away draw. But, this group is up in the air. Roma, Athletico, and Chelsea will all be competing for the top two spots. Chelsea seems to be the team that seems to have internal problems with the whole Diego Costa saga and rumors of the head Coach Conte not getting along with the board members. If the team can ignore those issues Chelsea has good chance of coming out out of this group. However, one slip up could see them entering the Europa League.
Group D contains Juventus, Barcelona, Olympiacos, and Sporting CP. If one, such as myself, predicts this group based on paper then Juventus and Barcelona will finish in the top two spots. Sporting could surprise a few, but at the end of the six games will most likely finish third. Barcelona is going through a few issues on their own. From the board members lying about Messi signing a new contract, teams telling them no in the summer transfer window, new coach, and an aging team that seems to not having any real reinforcements. That being said Barcelona is still a great club with extremely talented players and should have enough to make it out of the group. Juventus is well organized and talented enough to force Barcelona to be content with second place.
Group E was described as a typical Europa League group by a friend of mine. Liverpool, Spartak Moskva, Sevilla, Maribor make up this group that might be described as one of the weaker groups in the tournament. However, depending on how these teams perform during their domestic league the top two spots are in sight for all four club teams. I predict that Liverpool and Sevilla will come out of it. These two teams may not be seen serious title contenders in their respective leagues, but they have enough talent to make it out of the group stage.
Group F may seem like a cake walk for Manchester city, and that's because it should be. Manchester City is a clear favorite to come out on top of this group that contains Shakhtar Donetsk, Napoli, and Feyenoord. Napoli is the only team the poses a threat to the citizens of Manchester, but I don't think they have enough to topple Manchester City from winning the group. Feyenoord is no team to sleep on, young talented squad the plays very attractive dutch soccer can make for entertaining group stage games against Manchester City and Napoli.
Group G will put Monaco, Porto, Besiktas, and RB Leipzig against each other in the fall and winter months. RB Leipzig were a surprise in the German Bundesliga giving the German giants, Bayern, a bit of a scare. Yet, I don't think RB Leipzig has enough magic left in them to pull that off in the champions league. Besiktas and RB Leipzig will compete for a spot in the Europa League while Monaco and Porto will fight for the top two positions.
Group H resembles somewhat a little bit of group C. Three very talented teams with a minnow team that hopes to perform well enough in their domestic league in order to qualify and receive a better draw next year. APOEL, Real Madrid, Dortmund, and Tottenham make up the final group. Unlike group C, group H has a predictable clear first place team in Real Madrid. This team under the watch of Zinedine Zidane has become a team flourishing with talent. A mixture of solid veterans and young talent this team is going to compete for every trophy this year. A string of bad luck is the only way of slowing this Madrid team at the moment. There is plenty of time still of course and the season is long, but of all the teams favored to win it, Real Madrid is a safe bet. That leaves second place up for grabs between Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham. Both teams are talented teams and could have easily claim the top two spots if it weren't for being drawn into the same group as Real Madrid. I see Dortmund taking the second place spot leaving Tottenham to compete in the Europa League.
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