Who Won the Champions League Draw?
The football gods smile upon Manchester but aren’t so kind to Europe’s biggest cities
Champions League soccer is here at last! Well, not quite actually here, but the draw is set with eight teams of four and we now know who we’ll be throwing on the Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon second screen in the office for the next few months when the games kick off on September 12th.
Most of Europe’s biggest giants were paired into groups together, while England’s teams almost all got very favorable draws — sorry, Tottenham. It’s entirely possible that four of the eight UCL groups could be won by a Premier League club, and some of those giant matchups will provide epic showdowns on the world’s biggest stages.
So who won and lost today’s Champions League draw, and how do the groups shape up going forward? Let’s take a look…
Group A — Typical United
Benfica, Manchester United, Basel, CSKA Moscow
The last time Manchester United made Champions League two years ago, their group draw included PSV, Wolfsburg, and CSKA Moscow. The year before that it was Galatasaray, Cluj, and Braga. Before that was Benfica ,Basel, and Otelul Galati in 2011; Rangers, Valencia, Bursaspor in 2010; Besiktas, Wolfsburg, CSKA Moscow in 2009; Villarreal, Aalborg, Celtic in 2008… listen you get the point. Manchester United’s draws are a complete joke.
This year is no different. Benfica is a familiar opponent. United has drawn them into their UCL group four times now in the past decade, and Jose Mourinho got his start against them. This is United’s third time in ten years against both Basel and Moscow.
There’s going to be a lot of ugly, boring football in Group A and not many goals. Tune your TV elsewhere.
Winner & runner-up: Manchester United & Benfica
Group B — Two Slightly Overrated Giants
Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain, Anderlecht, Celtic
Munich and Paris will battle, and it will be glorious. Both teams come into the year a little overrated. Bayern are slowly going backwards in European football. After finally winning the Champions League in 2013, they went out in the semifinals three straight years before crashing out in last year’s quarterfinals. PSG seems to be moving in the other direction, especially now that they’ve signed Neymar. Both of these clubs will be looking to make an early statement in a couple Whose Is Bigger games.
Poor Anderlecht and Celtic are just along for the ride. But a couple weekday evenings in Paradise will be absolutely rocking as two of the world’s most historic clubs visit one of the world’s finest stadiums and 60,000 home fans at Celtic Park. What a spectacle those two games will be.
Winner & runner-up: Bayern & PSG
Group C — Low Key the Most Interesting Group
Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Roma, Qarabag
This is probably the hardest group to predict. Chelsea dominated in England last year but are off to a questionable start and failed to reinforce their squad much over the summer. There are some Antonio Conte questions already, and maybe there should be for a man who is running his same 11 into the ground. Will Chelsea be able to manage a war on two fronts now that they’re back in Europe?
It’s possible all three of these contenders (sorry Azerbaijan) could find themselves quickly behind in domestic races and turning their attention to Europe. Atleti has made the semifinals three of the last four years and seems to have a winning Champions League formula. This is their last chance to convince Griezmann to stay. It’s been a decade since Roma made it past the final 16. Dzeko and El Shaarawy are a tough scoring duo, but Roma will have to play spoiler to advance here.
Cinderella story Qarabag stole a late goal in Copenhagen to advance to the UCL group stage for the first time ever, but the clock struck midnight here.
Winner & runner-up: Atletico Madrid & Roma
Group D — Two Familiar Giants
Juventus, Barcelona, Olympiakos, Sporting
Barcelona and Juve are quite familiar with one another of late. The two met in the 2015 final with Barcelona notching a 3–1 victory, but Juventus got their revenge with a dominant 3–0 win across two legs this spring as Barcelona was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Barca have now lost in the quarters in three of the last four years, an embarrassment for a giant club that seems to be fading quickly. Ousmane Dembele is good, but he is no Neymar, and Barcelona seems to have aged itself out of competition in both Spain and Europe. Juventus have made the final two of the past three years and dominated along the way. Last year Juve allowed only three goals the entire contest before being crushed 4–1 in the final by Real Madrid. Buffon, Chiellini, and co. keep getting older but stay the same in defense and Juve seems to have a winning defensive UCL formula.
Olympiakos and Sporting are fine clubs that deserve more than a cursory mention, but they’re not getting one.
Winner & runner-up: Juventus & Barcelona
Group E — Welcome Back Liverpool
Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Liverpool, Maribor
Liverpool opened up a can on Hoffenheim the last two weeks to coast into the group stage, a Champions League level they haven’t escaped since 2009. If that streak extends another year, something has gone horribly wrong. This is the weakest draw in the draft with a bottom two team from both of the top two pots of teams, and the Reds are in perfect position to benefit. Sadio Mane and Mo Salah should dominate on the wings, with or without Philippe Coutinho. Liverpool could not have asked for a kinder draw, and they’ll have revenge on their mind when they face Sevilla after a 3–1 loss in the Europa final in 2016.
But Sevilla are no pushovers. That 2016 win was their third straight Europa title, which to be fair is sort of like being back-to-back-to-back NIT champions, but still impressive enough. For all their success in Europa, Sevilla have never made it past the final 16 in Champions League and they’ll know this is their chance to win the group and put themselves in position to do so. Can Eduardo Berizzo take them to the next level?
Winner & runner-up: Sevilla & Liverpool
Group F — Lots of Open Entertaining Soccer
Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City, Napoli, Feyonoord
As a City fan myself after years of group draw frustration, I couldn’t be happier with this one. City are a heavy favorite to win this group after spending the summer buying 17 fullbacks and half of Monaco. Guardiola’s boys love to attack, and you won’t find any dominant defenses here so the goals should pour in. City and Napoli play some of the most entertaining and exciting football in Europe, and Shaktar are always a tough, underrated club who will punish one of these teams for overlooking them. Expect goals in Group F.
Winner & runner-up: Manchester City & Napoli
Group G — Everyone’s Favorite Draw Next Round
Monaco, Porto, Besiktas, Leipzig
You’re not going to get many of these games on TV, which is actually a shame because there should be some entertaining football here… even if it feels a lot more like a Europa quarterfinal group than Champions League football.
Monaco was a darling last year but sold most of their team at their first chance without reinforcing much behind them. If Mbappe goes too, they’ll have a steep climb to repeat last year’s run. Besiktas are this year’s feisty Turkish team full of stars you forgot about, guys like Pepe and Negredo and Gary Medel. They’re never a fun opponent. Porto always show up in group stage but rarely make much noise, and there’s no real reason to believe this year should be any different but an open group gives them a shot.
Leipzig were Germany’s Cinderella story, but if Cinderella were actually the evil older stepsister no one wanted to see succeed. Leipzig was founded just eight years ago in 2009 by Red Bull and forced their way to the top, even giving Bayern Munich a run for their money early last season before falling off. Leipzig averaged 2,000 fans a game eight years ago and has since been promoted four times and qualified for Champions League in their first opportunity. They’d be quite the story if they weren’t so despicable.
Throw these four teams into a hat and pull out two names. This group is wide open, and both teams that advance will be everyone’s target next round.
Winner & runner-up: Monaco & Besiktas
Group H — THE GROUP OF DEATH
Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur, Apoel
Oh, Spurs. Poor, poor Spurs. Liverpool got Spartak and Maribor, and Spurs got this. Tottenham is loaded and might have the best starting 11 in the Premier League but may not have the depth to compete in Europe. Looks like we’re not going to find out this season since Spurs are far outclassed in this group.
Dortmund lost another couple big names this summer like they always do, but that never seems to stop them. They’ve still got Aubameyang, Schurrle, Kagawa, and American phenom Christian Pulisic. What an opportunity this will be for Pulisic to get big time minutes under the lights at Wembley and the Bernabeu.
But Real Madrid are the UCL favorites, and they should be. Madrid are so dominant at every level that if you were offered a choice of Madrid or the field in Europe this year, you’d at least have to stop and think about it before picking against Los Blancos. But don’t just assume they’ll walk through this group. Madrid and Dortmund have met eight times in their last five campaigns, and Madrid has won only two of them, with Dortmund winning three of the four home ties with by an aggregate 10–4. Could Dortmund do enough to eke out a shock group win here?
Winner & runner-up: Borussia Dortmund & Real Madrid
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