The football world bared witness to the Champions League draw last night to where we’ve seen several interesting storylines that might unfold in the next few weeks.
One of them is the possible matchup between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. These two football GOATs were supposed to meet last season in the same stage when Juventus and Barcelona are grouped together, but COVID-19 had other plans.
Speaking of Barcelona, their fans aren’t going to be pleased knowing who they’re grouped with in Group E. On the other hand, reigning champions Chelsea will commence their title defence in Group H.
These are just the tip of the iceberg of what we can expect when the tournament officially starts in mid-September. So for now, read on below as we’ll analyze the key matchups in the group stage.
Group A is the “Group of Death”
Group A is seen as the toughest out of the bunch given the contenders present. The first group features two mega-rich clubs who are hungry to win their first-ever Champions League trophy as well as a semifinalist two seasons ago and an underdog club.
Manchester City, PSG, RB Leipzig, and Club Brugge will all battle, and the Champions League 2021 odds expect the Sky Blues and the Parisiens to come out of the group stage.
City versus PSG is the matchup to look forward to obviously because of their loaded rosters. These two clubs aren’t afraid to break the bank to stack their decks and their recent transactions have been on the headlines for the most part this summer.
PSG’s summer transfer window was highlighted by the arrival of Lionel Messi, and they’ve reinforced their defence with the additions of Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi, and Gianluigi Donnarumma.
City, meanwhile, have splashed a big amount of cash for Jack Grealish and he’s adjusting well to his new home. And perhaps another big addition is on its way back to England should their negotiations with Juventus go according to plan.
According to the recent Champions League 2021 news, City are close to acquiring Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus since it’s been an open secret that the latter wants to offload the 37-year-old’s mammoth wage bill.
Just imagine if this deal is going to be completed right before the deadline. And with fans allowed to cheer on their respective teams in the venues, the admission fee to watch the Messi-Ronaldo matchup is going to be worth it.
Group B has a tough draw too
Another group to look out for is Group B since it will also feature a couple of former Champions League winners.
Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, AC Milan, and Porto are all in here, and all of them are capable of coming out of the group especially when momentum is on their side.
After an injury-riddled season, Liverpool are out to reclaim lost glory with a healthier roster. They’ve yet to lose a game this season and we wouldn’t be surprised if they’ll return to their world-beating form sooner or later.
Atletico Madrid’s recent performances in European competition have been poor, but they’re the defending La Liga champions for a reason and they can make a deep run into the competition as well.
Porto surprised us all when they eliminated Juventus and beat Chelsea last season, while AC Milan will continue their rebirth under Stefano Pioli and they’re back in the competition for the first time since 2014.
Familiar foes meet anew
Group D, E, and F will have several mouthwatering matchups given their recent history together.
Group D is essentially the same as Group B of last year’s edition. The only difference is that Borussia Monchengladbach are replaced by Sheriff Tiraspol – who became the first-ever Moldovan side to reach the Champions League after seeing off Dinamo Zagreb in the play-off .
Real Madrid led the group in the knockouts while Shakthar Donetsk were dropped down to the Europa League and Inter Milan are aiming for a bounceback after finishing fourth last term.
Group E, on the other hand, will see Bayern Munich and Barcelona square off and they’ll be joined by Benfica and Dynamo Kiev.
Barca fans still have nightmares about Bayern Munich as the Bavarian giants pummeled them 8-2 in their previous meeting.
In Group F, Villarreal and Manchester United figure in a rematch of last season’s Europa League Final and completing the bunch would be Atalanta and Young Boys.
Manchester United supporters, including this SBOTOP writer, still have that bitter taste left by Villarreal when the Red Devils lost the final via penalties.
But with a more favourable group as well as a stronger roster, United should easily join Villarreal to move on to the knockout stages.
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