Following the recent draws for the UEFA Champions League stage which is set to begin later this year. All qualified 32 teams have now known their fate and will be preparing earnestly to earn a place in the knock out stages.
The draws which was preceded by the announcement of the Best male player, female player, best coach and a host of other categories, have made every single team across Europe to being proper preparation if they are to make it far in the competition. There were a few debutants in the competition, top of the list is Ferenvacros, Krasnodar and Midtjyland.
Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich won the UEFA best men’s player of the year award ahead of the likes of Kevin De Bruyne who had a spectacular season for Manchester City which saw him win the PFA player of the year award last season. Lewandowski was also named as the winner of the Best striker award.
Lewandowski’s coach, Hansi Flick was named the UEFA best coach ahead of Klopp adn Zinedine Zidane. There was also awards for Joshua Kimmich as the best defender, De Bruyne as the best Midfielder and Manuel Neuer as the best Goal keeper.
The UEFA women player of the year award was handed out to Harder who recently joined Chelsea from Wolfsburg. She had an awesome campaign especially in the UEFA Champions before her team eventually lost to Lyon in the final.
The Draws
The group stage draw is an intriguing one, it will ensure the likes of Messi and Ronaldo will go head to head in the same group. While, new Chelsea recruit, Eduoard Mendy will have the opportunity to play against his former employers, Rennes.
The toughest Group so far appears to be the last group which is group H, which features, French heavyweight and last season’s finalist, Paris Saint Germain, Premier League Giants, Manchester United and RB Leipzig who finished in the semi final last season.
Who will make it out of each group and who drops into the UEFA Europa League?
We will be analyzing and predicting each group winner and the teams likely to make it to the Europa League by finishing third. Sit back relax and see where your team finishes in this prediction.
Group A
Group Winner: Bayern, 16points
Runner Up: Atletico Madrid, 11 points
Third Place: Salzburg, 5 points
This group might look tricky but trust me this will be an easy one for the Champions, Bayern. We expect them to top the group while Athletico are expected to drop points away from to a stubborn Red Bull Salzburg side and lose to Bayern at least once. Salzburg are expected to continue their Campaign in the Europa League as the Third place looks like the best place for them right now.
Group B
Group Winner: Inter Milan, 14points
Runner Up: Real Madrid, 11 points
Third Place: Shakhtar Donetsk, 6 points
Easy to predict the winners right? This is not going to be an easy one for European giants Madrid and Inter Milan, though both are expected to get through to the knockout stages at the expense of Shakhtar and Monchengladbach. Shakhtar will occupy the third place.
Group C
Group Winner: Manchester City 14points
Runner Up: Marseille, 8points
Third Place: Olympiacos, 8points
Manchester City are certain to top this group especially if their injured players are back to full fitness before the campaign begins. The runner up will be decided by head to head as it is clearly difficult to see whether Marseille or Olympiacos will qualify but I expect the Greek side to win the head to head battle.
Group D
Group Winner: Liverpool, 15 points
Runner Up: Atalanta, 11 points
Third Place: Ajax, 5 points
Two seasons ago, Liverpool won the UEFA Champions, but as it stands now Klopp and his armies will be looking to win the trophy again and hence, are odds on to top their group while Atalanta who were knocked out in the Quarter finals thanks a tactical collapse in the closing stages of the game against PSG will be looking to qualify out of a tricky group. We are expecting Ajax to finish third while debutants Midtjyland will have to go home.
Group E
Group Winner: Chelsea, 13points
Runner Up: Sevilla, 11 points
Third Place: Rennes, 6 points
A lot of people will certainly agree with me that Chelsea and Sevilla have arguably one of the favourable group at their disposal and we expect the Blues to lose once to the Spanish side and earn a draw at Stamford Bridge but every other game should be an easy win. Many fans are believing that Sevilla will deliberately drop to the Europa League but I disagree with that analogy and hence I expect to see the Europa League winners in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League.
Group F
Group Winner: Dortmund 13 points
Runner Up: Lazio, 11 points
Third Place: Zenit, 7 points
Dortmund are almost certain to top this group but will face stiff Competitions from Lazio and Zenit when they particularly travel for the away fixtures. Nevertheless, the German side will lead group G while the Italian outfit remains second. Zenit drops to the Europa League at the expense of Club Brugge.
Group G
Group Winner: Juventus FC, 14 points
Runner Up: Barcelona, 14 points
Third Place: Dynamo Kiev, 4 points
The odds are surely in favour of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as both players are set to rekindle their rivalry once again in the UEFA Champions League group stages. We expect the clash to be a draw at both camp Nou and Alianz Arena while they are expected to gain maximum points against their other group oppositions.
Dynamo Kiev should get one over Ferencvaros and draw the other as this will earn them an Europa League knockout place.
Group H
Group Winner: PSG, 14 points
Runner Up: RB Leipzig, 8 points
Third Place: Manchester United, 8 points
If Manchester United do not sign the required players to compete they are almost certain to drop to the Europa League as they can’t compete with the class of players at the helms of both PSG and RB Leipzig. PSG will win the group while last season Semi finalist, RB Leipzig will finish second.
Prediction:
Who will win the UEFA Champions League?
Ours is Barcelona, considering the fact that the Spanish Giants are carrying out a massive clean up so that they can compete for silverwares. Messi and Ansu Fati pictured above will be the driving factor. Messi will want to land the UEFA Champions League before leaving next season.
Don’t forget to drop your own Prediction too.
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