<\/p>\nGroup A<\/h2>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
After Liverpool’s indifferent start to the season, the Champions League offers little respite. With Erik ten Hag departed after five seasons that yielded a number of notable European results, Ajax are something of an unknown quantity under Alfred Schreuder, who managed Hoffenheim and was an assistant at Ajax and Barcelona before overseeing the end of last season at Club Brugge. He plays the familiar high-pressing Ajax style of football, but has to deal with the exodus of Lisandro Mart\u00ednez, Andr\u00e9 Onana, S\u00e9bastien Haller, Noussair Mazraoui and Ryan Gravenberch, with Antony perhaps soon to join them. Naples, buoyed by the Georgian wonderkid Khvicha Kvaratskelia , always represents a difficult trip, and the atmosphere at Rangers, back in the group stages after 12 years, is unlikely to be any less fervent.<\/p>\n
Predicted order<\/strong>: one<\/strong> Liverpool 2<\/strong> Naples 3<\/strong> ajax 4<\/strong> Rangers<\/p>\n <\/figure>\n<\/p>\nGroup B<\/h2>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
What Group B lacks in star power it makes up for in intrigue. S\u00e9rgio Con\u00e7ei\u00e7ao’s Porto have become habitually awkward opponents in recent years, elimination Juventus the season before last. There’s been the usual summer flux at the Portuguese champions, with six players departing, among them F\u00e1bio Vieira to Arsenal, and four players arriving, but domestic form has so far been unaffected, with three wins out of three in the league. For Atl\u00e9tico, the story is a familiar one of whether Diego Simeone can evolve to a more progressive style, with financial pressures beginning to bite. Bayer Leverkusen finished third in the Bundesliga and have largely kept that side together but this campaign has begun with four straight defeats. Club Brugge are Belgian champions, but with Carl Hoefkens replacing Schreuder as coach, this feels like a season of transition.<\/p>\n
Predicted order<\/strong>: one<\/strong> Porto 2<\/strong> Atl\u00e9tico 3<\/strong> Leverkusen 4<\/strong> Bruges<\/p>\n<\/p>\nGroup C<\/h2>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
Without question the most glamorous group, with 14 titles between the sides. For Barcelona, \u200b\u200bBayern, who beat them twice in the group stage last season and inflicted an 8-2 defeat on them in the 2020 quarter-final, represent a useful test. After years of stagnation, Bar\u00e7a are perhaps ready to compete again with the elite, having brought in Robert Lewandowski , Raphinha, Franck Kessi\u00e9, Andreas Christensen and Jules Kound\u00e9 in a frankly inexplicable and very risky spending spree. Inter beat Bar\u00e7a and Bayern on their way to the 2010 title and have reprized the Romelu Lukaku-Lautaro Mart\u00ednez partnership. Bayern, having signed Sadio Man\u00e9 and Matthijs de Ligt, have started the season by winning three out of three, but domestic form is rarely an issue. The Czech champions, Viktoria Plzen, make up the group.<\/p>\n
Predicted order<\/strong>: one<\/strong> Bayern 2<\/strong> barca 3<\/strong> Inter 4<\/strong> Plzen<\/p>\n<\/p>\nGroup D<\/h2>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
For Tottenham, the draw could have been worse. They have the stadium, they have the manager and with the arrival of Richarlison, Yves Bissouma and Ivan Perisic they perhaps now can seriously challenge again, but in terms of their progress perhaps most significant is having drawn Eintracht Frankfurt, the weakest of the Pot 1 side They came 11th in the Bundesliga last season, have lost Filip Kostic and not won a league game yet this term. Sporting finished six points behind Porto last season and have already suffered a 3-0 defeat to them this season. Add in a 3-3 draw with Braga on the opening day and there are major concerns over R\u00faben Amorim’s side. After last season’s second-place finish, Marseille have spent a net \u00a360m to add Alexis S\u00e1nchez, Jordan Veretout, Chancel Mbemba and Mateo Guendouzi.<\/p>\n
Predicted order<\/strong>: one<\/strong> Tottenham 2<\/strong> Marseille 3<\/strong> sporting 4<\/strong> Eintracht<\/p>\n<\/p>\nGroup E<\/h2>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
Winning the Scudetto for the first time in 11 years was a first step in restoring Milan to greatness; the next is European progress \u2014 but it’s 10 years since Milan last reached the quarter-finals. Divock Origi and Charles De Ketelaere have arrived to bolster the attack, but the most significant transfer activity may be the departure of Franck Kessi\u00e9. Chelsea have been wildly inconsistent already this season and will probably add to their squad before the window closes, but the biggest problem remains the lack of a consistent goalscorer. RB Salzburg reached the last 16 for the first time last season, but their existence remains Sisyphean, building a side and then selling their best talent: 10 players left this summer. Dinamo Zagreb remain trapped between levels: they’ve won 16 of the past 17 Croatian titles but have only won three of 36 group matches.<\/p>\n
Predicted order<\/strong>: one<\/strong> Chelsea 2<\/strong> Milan 3<\/strong> Salzburg 4<\/strong> Dynamo<\/p>\n\n\nKick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football<\/p>\n
Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/aside>\n<\/figure>\n<\/p>\nGroup F<\/h2>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Group F is that, despite the war, Shakhtar are able to take part, albeit playing home games in Warsaw, having lost large numbers of players after Fifa allowed them to break their contracts. The visit of the European champions, Real Madrid, in particular will be an emotional occasion. How good Madrid are remains unclear. Their success last season seemed less the result of any great plan than the finishing of Karim Benzema, the goalkeeping of Thibaut Courtois and an implacable self-belief. Casemiro has left, with Aur\u00e9lien Tchouameni and Antonio R\u00fcdiger arriving. RB Leipzig have lost Nordi Mukiele and Tyler Adams and gained Timo Werner but have had a difficult start, taking just two points from three games. Celtic, much improved under Ange Postecoglou, have a reasonable chance of a notable victory or two and perhaps even sneaking second.<\/p>\n
Predicted order<\/strong>: one<\/strong> real Madrid 2<\/strong> Leipzig 3<\/strong> Celtic 4<\/strong> Shakhtar<\/p>\n\n <\/picture><\/div> <\/svg><\/span>Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema was named Uefa Men’s Player of the Year after the Champions League group-stage draw. <\/span> Photograph: Kristian Skeie\/Uefa\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\nGroup G<\/h2>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
The obvious headline is the meeting of Erling Haaland and Borussia Dortmund, the club he left for Manchester City. It’s to win the Champions League that he has largely been signed, as City look to find a greater ruthlessness in front of goal in the toughest games. Those are not likely to arrive in the group stage though. Dortmund, who have replaced Haaland with S\u00e9bastien Haller and Anthony Modeste, remain inconsistent under J\u00fcrgen Klopp’s former assistant Edin Terzi\u0107. Sevilla mounted a vague title challenge for a time in Spain last season but defeat to Osasuna and then a draw at home to Real Valladolid suggests a repeat is unlikely despite a summer in which the only player of real significance they lost was the center-back Diego Carlos. Copenhagen are back in the group stage after a six-year hiatus.<\/p>\n
Predicted order<\/strong>: one<\/strong> Manchester City 2<\/strong> Dortmund 3<\/strong> Seville 4<\/strong> Copenhagen<\/p>\n<\/p>\nGroup H<\/h2>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
The quality of Benfica will define Group H. Roger Schmidt’s side have started the season impressively, dismissing Midtjylland and Dynamo Kyiv in the playoffs by a combined total score of 12-2. If they take points from the Pot 1 and 2 sides, the group could be very tough. PSG have scored 17 goals in their first three league games, with Lionel Messi apparently re-energized. But hammering Ligue 1 opposition is not the highest level of European competition. Juventus are desperate to return to former glories after finishing fourth in each of the past two seasons. Paul Pogba, \u00c1ngel Di Mar\u00eda and Filip Kostic have arrived with Matthijs de Ligt, Aaron Ramsey and Paulo Dybala all departing. Maccabi Haifa, in their first group-stage appearance for 13 years, are the lowest-ranked side in the competition.<\/p>\n
Predicted order<\/strong>: one<\/strong> PSG 2<\/strong> Juventus 3<\/strong> Benfica 4<\/strong> Maccabi Haifa<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Group A After Liverpool’s indifferent start to the season, the Champions League offers little respite. With Erik ten Hag departed after five seasons that yielded a number of notable European results, Ajax are something of an unknown quantity under Alfred Schreuder, who managed Hoffenheim and was an assistant at Ajax and Barcelona before overseeing the …<\/p>\n
Champions League 2022-23 draw: group stage analysis and predictions | Champions League<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55373,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/champions-league-draw-pots-set-for-group-stage\/","url_meta":{"origin":56443,"position":0},"title":"Champions League draw pots set for group stage","date":"August 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The pots for the 2022-23 Champions League group stage draw have been confirmed after Dinamo Zagreb, FC Copenhagen and Rangers secured the final three places on Wednesday evening.- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more (US)The draw will take place in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday at 4 pm GMT, midday\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56321,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ucl-draw-robert-lewandowski-barcelona-to-meet-bayern-munich-in-group-stage-erling-haaland-returns-to-face-dortmund\/","url_meta":{"origin":56443,"position":1},"title":"UCL draw – Robert Lewandowski, Barcelona to meet Bayern Munich in group stage; Erling Haaland returns to face Dortmund","date":"August 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Barcelona have been drawn against Bayern Munich in the group stages of the 2022-23 Champions League, which sees Robert Lewandowski facing an early return to his former club while Manchester City's Erling Haaland will reunite with his ex-club, Borussia Dortmund.Lewandowski ended his eight-year spell at Bayern acrimoniously in July to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55769,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/when-is-the-champions-league-draw-and-who-can-barcelona-face\/","url_meta":{"origin":56443,"position":2},"title":"When is the Champions League draw and who can Barcelona face?","date":"August 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The draw for the 2022-23 Champions League draw takes place this week and will once again provide plenty of intrigue as Europe's top teams discover their opponents for the group stages. Barcelona are back in the competition and expectations will be high that they can mount a challenge this season\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28378,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cristiano-ronaldo-reiterates-desire-to-leave-manchester-united-during-carrington-meeting\/","url_meta":{"origin":56443,"position":3},"title":"Cristiano Ronaldo reiterates desire to leave Manchester United during Carrington meeting","date":"July 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Cristiano Ronaldo has reiterated his desire to leave Manchester United during meetings at the club's Carrington training base, but executives continue to insist he is not for sale. After discussions, it is felt that a primary objective for Ronaldo wishing to depart is to spend the 2022-23 season at a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/320aa008b678f1a62a8d518ce44200096f237320\/0_0_5000_3000\/master\/5000.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom,left&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b2475cf9c100a6ad5afdad8d628372a0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56443"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56443\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}