Champions League Group E Rundown
Group E: CSKA Moskva, Bayer Leverkusen, Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco
CSKA Moskva is the team from pot one selected in to group e. CSKA competes in the Russian Premier League. The team currently sits in second place with seventeen points from seven games. CSKA have won three of the Premier League titles in the past four years, showing their recent strength in the home league. The roster features many athletes that also play for the Russian national team headlined by the two big center backs Vasiliy Berezutskiy and Sergey Ignashevich. Former Russian national team coach Leonid Slutskiy manages the team. This will be CSKA Moskva’s tenth trip to the Champions League with their best finish coming in 2009–2010 when the team made it to the quarterfinals. In last years tournament, CSKA finished last in their group behind; Wolfsburg, PSV Eindhoven, and Manchester United.
Bayer Leverkusen is the next team in group e. Bayer is a German team that is currently in the Bundesliga. In the Bundesliga, Bayer are tied for eleventh place with three points after three games, they lost their opener to Borussia Mönchengladbach. The top scorer last year, Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, will be the likely man to score the goals for Bayer Leverkusen in the upcoming tournament. This year marks Bayer Leverkusen’s eleventh time in the Champions League. Their best finish in the tournament came in 2001–2002 where they narrowly lost to Real Madrid in the final of the tournament. Last year, Bayer came third in their group in the Champions League and got transferred to the Europa League. The team won their first game in the Europa League against Sporting CP but loss their second to Villarreal and were knocked out.
Tottenham Hotspur is the third team picked in to group e. Tottenham compete in the English Premier League where they are in third after five games played. Last years team that made it to second place in the league remains largely unchanged, led by English striker Harry Kane. This will only be Tottenham’s second year competing in the Champions League. The last time they were in the tournament, they made it all the way to the quarterfinals in 2010–2011, which is their best finish in the tournament. Last year, Tottenham competed in the Europa League where they won their group but fell to Borussia Dortmund in the round of sixteen.
AS Monaco is the final team competing in group e. Monaco is located in France where they play in Ligue 1. The team is in first place with thirteen points after four games. After the team spent large a few years back to bring in top players, the team lacked the results to keep some of those key players. But Monaco still retains the services of João Moutinho and Radamel Falcao. Monaco has recently participated in the Champions League, this being their ninth time in the tournament. In 2003–2004, Monaco made it to the finals of the tournament but lost to Porto 3–0, Monaco have yet to win the tournament. Last year Monaco did not make it to the group stage of the Champions League but played in the Europa League. In the Europa League they finished third in their group behind Tottenham and Anderlecht, they were knocked out of European competition all together.
CSKA Moskva have not played against any other team in their group yet. Bayer Leverkusen have had games against both Tottenham and AS Monaco. They have played only one match against Tottenham, the match being played in the group stage of the 2006–2007 Europa League. Tottenham won the match 1–0. Against Monaco, the teams have met in the group stage of the Champions League twice. In 1997–1998, Monaco won the first match and the teams tied the second, in 2014–2015 Monaco won both games by 1–0 each time. Tottenham have had two previous meetings against Monaco in the 2014–2015 Europa League. The teams tied the first match, but Tottenham won the second 4–1. This group is wide open as all the teams are fairly evenly matched. It would not be surprising to see any combination of the four teams make it to the knockout stages of Champions League.
