Seasons have started and football is on the go. I have nevertheless had busy months, with a lot of things in my head (both good and bad), and football has come a bit in the background, and I have not seen much, although been following the news and the start of the new leagues, interesting changes and discussions.
Sometimes we just go through these stages in life.
But as a warm up to an exciting new season we today had the draw for the Champions league:
Group A:
- Liverpool
- Ajax Amsterdam
- Glasgow Rangers
- Napoli.
An exciting group where Liverpool would appear as the favourites, but the English side has not started the season well, while Napoli and Ajax Amsterdam are looking to progress as well.
Group B:
- Atletico Madrid
- Bayer Leverkusen
- FC Porto
- Club Brugge
Atletico Madrid are the natural favourites in a group where the defending Portuguese champions are favourites to go along with the Spaniards, with Brugge and Leverkusen looking to cause an upset.
Group C:
- Bayern Munich
- FC Barcelona
- Inter Milan
- Viktoria Plzen
This appears as the group of death, with Bayern Munich and Barcelona looking for another of their many epic clashes, but also with the Italian giants with good options to progress. The Czech champions will not be given many odds by many, so they can only surprise.
Group D:
- Eintracht Frankfurt
- Marseille
- Tottenham Hotspurs
- Sporting Lisbon
Eintracht Frankfurt will look to continue European success from the Europa League in the Champions League in a group where all the other teams nevertheless are ambitious and have options at continuing to the next round. They will all compete.
Group E:
- AC Milan
- Chelsea
- RB Salzburg
- Dynamo Zagreb
AC Milan and Chelsea are the likely winners of the group, but both the Austrian and Croatian champions could create an upset.
Group F:
- Real Madrid
- RB Leipzig
- Shakhtar Donetsk
- Celtic
The defending champions of Real Madrid have gotten a group that they will surely be happy about. Although there are no easy groups in the CL, the Spaniards are huge favourites, with all three other teams looking to fight for the runner-up position.
Group G:
- Manchester City
- Sevilla
- Borussia Dortmund
- FC Copenhagen
An interesting group with three giants and FC Copenhagen. The Danes have caused surprise before, but will have to do their best to fight against these three giants. Manchester City may again appear the favourite, but the experience of Sevilla and Dortmund may take either side on the first spot.
Group H:
- Paris St. Germain
- Maccabi Haifa
- Juventus
- Benfica
PSG are to try yet again ina group where Benfica and Juventus will be difficult teams to face. Nobody will expect anything from the Israeli champions, who will play with no pressure.