Friday, August 26, 2016

Champions league 2016-2017

The draw has been made for this next season's UEFA Champions League, the greatest football tournament of all. And the groups are as follows:

Group A:
Ambitious bur underperforming Paris St. Germain and Arsenal are the off-hand favourites, but in particular Basel has before been known to pull some surprises

Group B
An interesting group with Napoli and Benfica at very similar level, and Dynamo Kiev being their usual power. Personally I will be supporting Napoli.

Group C:
This group will have great expectations as Guardiola's Manchester City will be face to face with the club he gave greatness, FC Barcelona. Monchengladbach could surprise, but don't bet on it, and expectations are likely low to Celtic.

Group D:
Two of the greats of recent years, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, make this a great group. Add PSV Eindhoven and a yet to show its strength Rostov, and we have a very interesting group.

Group E:
Basically all teams have a good chance of going through in this group, but I am expecting something from Bayer Leverkusen.

Group F:
Two of the greatest teams of recent years, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, will likely be guarantee of a great clash, and one has to tip both to go through.

Group G:
The surprising English champions of Leicester had a good draw for their first Champions League, but they will indeed have to be as good as they can be, notably against FC Porto. Club Brugge and FC Copenhagen are in the tournament to make surprises (and I am not too thrilled about the Danish team).

Group H:
The Italian champions and the Europa League champions are favourites although the Spaniards have traditionally had difficulties in this tournament (and then go on to win the Europa League). Olympique Lyon can always be a threat but are far from what they were 10 years ago. And be sure for a good fight by the Croatians.

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