One of the greatest competitions in all of sport, the UEFA Champions League, resumes again in earnest today as the eight-group, 32-team group stage gets underway.
Last season, Barcelona and Manchester United met in the final for the second time in three seasons, and as they did in Rome in 2009, Barca came out on top in London, with goals from Pedro, Lionel Messi, and David Villa giving the Spanish giants a 3-1 win.
There’s a good chance we could see those two face off in this season’s final, which will be held at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Both teams strengthened their squads in the summer and are among the prime favorites for the title, with online betting odds also thinking highly of Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich, who are looking to become the first team to play in the Champions League final in their home stadium since AS Roma in 1984 and the first team to win it in their home stadium since Inter Milan in 1965.
But before they or any of the other favorites can look ahead to next May, they have to navigate the group stage first, and there could be some tricky ties along the way.
Which teams will advance to the round of 16, which teams will land the nice consolation prize that is a place in the knockout phase of the Europa League, and which teams will be left to focus on their domestic competitions after December? Here’s how I see each group panning out.
Group A – Bayern Munich, Napoli, Manchester City, Villarreal
1. Bayern Munich
2. Manchester City
3. Napoli
4. Villarreal
Group B – CSKA Moscow, Inter Milan, Lille OSC, Trabzonspor
1. Inter Milan
2. Lille OSC
3. CSKA Moscow
4. Trabzonspor
Group C – Basel, Benfica, Manchester United, Otelul Galati
1. Manchester United
2. Benfica
3. Basel
4. Otelul Galati
Group D – Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb, Lyon, Real Madrid
1. Real Madrid
2. Lyon
3. Ajax
4. Dinamo Zagreb
Group E – Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea, Genk, Valencia
1. Chelsea
2. Valencia
3. Bayer Leverkusen
4. Genk
Group F – Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Marseille, Olympiakos
1. Arsenal
2. Borussia Dortmund
3. Marseille
4. Olympiakos
Group G – APOEL Nicosia, FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St. Petersburg
1. FC Porto
2. Shakhtar Donetsk
3. Zenit St. Petersburg
4. APOEL Nicosia
Group H – AC Milan, Barcelona, BATE Borisov, Viktoria Plzen
1. Barcelona
2. AC Milan
3. Viktoria Plzen
4. BATE Borisov
