The UEFA Champions League group stage draws were held on Thursday and it churned up some really interesting pools
Group A: Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Arsenal (ENG), Basel (SUI), Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL)
Granit Xhaka meets his old club Basel as Arsenal draw with the Swiss side. Group A also is a recap of PSG taking on yet again an English side but this time really early on in the tournament. Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad are the underdogs in Group A and they will look to forget the 4-0(agg) defeat at the hands of Basel in the 2014/15 season.
Group B: Benfica (POR), Napoli (ITA), Dynamo Kyiv (UKR), Beşiktaş (TUR)
Group B seems to be the most competitive amongst all the groups with all teams hopeful of a top 2 finish. Two time winners Benfica against Besikitas while Italian side Napoli who finished 2nd in Serie A look to kick off their campaign against the top team in Ukraine Dynamo Kiev.
Group C: Barcelona (ESP), Manchester City (ENG), Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER), Celtic (SCO)
Last year’s semifinalists Barcelona face their former boss Pep Guardiola as they meet Manchester City. Group C can be regarded as a rather difficult group because of the presence of two play off winners making their way late into the draws, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Celtic. Barcelona defeated City in the Round of 16 in their last meeting back in 2013/14.
Group D: Bayern München (GER), Atlético Madrid (ESP), PSV Eindhoven (NED), Rostov (RUS)
“There is a score to be settled,” said Thomas Müller as Bayern prepare for a Group D meeting with Atlético, the side that knocked them out in last season’s semi-finals. This would certainly prove to be a mouthwatering prospect with last year’s finalists and semi finalists along with PSV Eindhoven and Rostov who would look to make life difficult for both these European giants.
Group E: CSKA Moskva (RUS), Bayer Leverkusen (GER), Tottenham Hotspur (ENG), Monaco (FRA)
Tottenham find themselves in a rather tough group alongside Russian champions CSKA Moskva. CSKA boss Leonid Slutski gave his reaction to the draw “”We almost never get an easy UEFA Champions League draw”. “It will always be a tough competition,” said the Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Group F: Real Madrid (ESP, holders), Borussia Dortmund (GER), Sporting CP (POR), Legia Warszawa (POL)
Last year’s champions Real Madrid face off again against Borrusia Dortmund. The two teams are facing off each other for the tenth time in the Champions League, joking about the draw Thomas Tuchel said “Matches against Real Madrid are now becoming like derbies” – also in the group are the runners up of the Portuguese league and Cristiano Ronaldo’s boyhood club Sporting CP. The real underdogs are the Polish champions Legia Warszawa who are only making their 2nd appearance in the group stages since 1995/96.
Group G: Leicester City (ENG), Porto (POR), Club Brugge (BEL), FC København (DEN)
Leicester City have avoided what it seems like a tough group stage pool and ended up in a group where the only real candidate seems like Porto. Ranieri reacted to the draw with the following remarks, “I want to see my players fight against the best in Europe. Every team in the competition will fight like champions and we must give 100% to make our supporters proud. Last season was wonderful but I want more.”
Group H: Juventus (ITA), Sevilla (ESP), Lyon (FRA), Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
Juventus seem the favorite in Group H to qualify, they are joined by Sevilla who yet again won the Europa league to register their place in the Champions League. Lyon finished strongly in the Ligue 1 and will also pose a threat and will try to better their last year’s performance where they couldn’t make it out of the group stages. The wild card entry is from the Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb after a play off win.
