The first European competition returns less than two months after Bayern Munich won the 2019-2020 title in Lisbon, but who is best equipped to win this time around?
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Last season’s Champions League was finally able to resume and then end under changed circumstances for obvious reasons, but – for now – we’re back to the classic format as the 2020-21 group stages start Tuesday evening
Bayern Munich lifted the famous old trophy in Lisbon just 59 days ago, and the Germans are seen as the favorites to do so again as European heavyweights converge on the first continental table
Here, ahead of the big kickoff, we take a look at where the 32 clubs are going in the competition and rank them based on their likelihood of lifting the big shiny stuff.
Note: This is not necessarily a ranking of the best clubs, but rather their likelihood of winning the Champions League based on their group stage draw, their team’s strength and their current form
One of the former names that evoke Europe is returning to the Champions League for the first time in 25 years, and they are doing so at Camp Nou
Given that the Hungarians were also placed in a squad with Juventus, a repeat of their third place in 1995 is surely the best they can hope for,
Having arrived at this stage for the very first time, the Danes seem ready to have some fun
They were chosen from a group that has made purists green and includes Liverpool, Ajax and Atalanta, the squad owned by Brentford supreme Matthew Benham certainly set up to play his part in this society
Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Salzburg are surely a slightly better group than last year’s Juventus, Atletico and Bayer Leverkusen, and the Russians will therefore have at least a good chance at a third place
Third in their group last season, then Europa League semi-finalists, the Ukrainians deserve to be higher than that if we determined the list on ability alone
But after being joined by Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Borussia Moenchengladbach in Group B, you are worried about what is not a vintage Shakhtar group
Well beaten by Manchester United in the Europa League last season, the Belgians will be delighted with what appears to be a relatively open group
It’s just a shame for them that Borussia Dortmund, Lazio and Zenit St Petersburg are all better than them
Unfortunately, Emmanuel Adebayor, Robinho and Gael Clichy jumped out of the vehicle for former Premier League footballers who were champions of Turkey, but there are still many more recognizable names
Demba Ba, Martin Skrtel, Nacer Chadli and Fabio da Silva will all emerge from the start of the last decade and in a squad that includes Fabio’s former side Manchester United
A top team that is well supported by their Russian owner and looking to make a splash in Europe Chelsea are also part of Krasnodar Group E
Londoners will be the toughest test for the Russian Premier League side, but they’ll want to beat their heads against themselves, as well as Sevilla and Rennes in what looks like an entertaining squad
Former Newcastle midfielder Remy Cabella and seasoned Swedish striker Marcus Berg can be a handful
To overcome one of Barcelona or Juventus in Group G would be the story of this season and many others in the Champions League, and while that doesn’t appear to be happening, a third place in the above Ferencvaros awaits the Ukrainians
Veteran boss Mircea Lucescu is in his 15th job and sixth decade as manager, though his long association with Dynamo rivals Shakhtar Donestk means his summer date won’t end. did not go very well with the fans of the club
Erling Haaland and Takumi Minamino made Salzburg fun to watch on their way to third place behind Liverpool and Napoli last season, and their squad this time around looks just as intimidating
Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid will surely put them in the top two places, but like Patson Daka and Dominik Szoboszlai, they have players who should make third place a chance
The perennial group stage contenders almost always depend on how good their opponents are when it comes to their chances of qualifying, and they might have a sniff this time around
They won’t beat Manchester City, but could see Marseille and Porto as two teams they can attack as they seek to reach the knockout stages for the first time since 2014
The Russians are full of enough seasoned activists to make life difficult for their opposition, and a place in the top two is not out of the question as they face Dortmund, Lazio and Club Brugge
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If they get there, it will be their first knockout appearance since 2016, although a decent Europa League run could be on the horizon as well
The Bundesliga roster can test anyone on the same day, and their home games with Real Madrid and Inter Milan in Group B could end up being some of the most watchable games in the competition
Passing those two to qualify is another matter, and a Europa League tilt may need to be settled for
One of France’s big names is playing some great football under the helm of rejuvenated André Villas-Boas, and they are hoping to get out of Manchester City Group C, which looks quite open under Pep Guardiola’s men
Olympiakos and Porto will make fascinating opponents, but either is unlikely to have a player as skilled as Côte d’Azur darling Dimitri Payet
Eighteen months after being seconds away from facing them in the Champions League final, Ajax face Liverpool on Wednesday looking about as far as they can get from this 2018/19 squad
The names of the stars have disappeared and have been replaced by promising talents and those who have returned to Dutch football, such as former Everton midfielder Davy Klaassen
Young forwards Antony and Lassina Traoré could cause problems in a seemingly goal-filled squad, in which a second-place battle with Atalanta looks likely
Making their first group stage appearance since 2007, the Italian giants could be guilty of focusing too much on the Champions League, already given their sub-par start to the Serie A campaign
Two losses and a draw in four matches are not very good, but their group of Dortmund, Zenit and Club Brugge seem like a good reintroduction to the top of European football
One of the Champions League must-haves is back and thrown in a squad that could be perfect for them
The Portuguese club’s star players will have the opportunity to strut their stuff against Manchester City in the kind of game where reputation is built and lucrative transfers guaranteed
They will also face Olympiakos and Marseille as a place in the round of 16 will be the expected result from inside the club
They may have lost goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to Group E opponents Chelsea, but Rennes reinvested this money and are still unbeaten with seven matches in the Ligue 1 season
40-year-old head coach Julien Stephan is an ambitious figure, and he has built a squad that can target the knockout stage qualifiers, with new France international Edouard Camavinga and young Belgian striker Jeremy Doku to watch
In many ways, the history of last season in the Champions League, for a variety of factors the great artists of Gian Piero Gasperini are back after scoring 14 goals in their first four Serie A games of their season
You can expect some exciting, open-ended Group D games when the Italians take on Liverpool and Ajax, and while the Reds have too much attacking power in a shootout with them, they’ll want to reach second place
Julian Nagelsmann’s side probably would have hoped for an easier squad after failing in the semi-finals last season, and he certainly wouldn’t have wanted to see Paris Saint-Germain again
But with the squad they have, then the Bundesliga leaders can be pretty confident that a battle with Manchester United for second place will go to the end, when they host the Premier squad. League on the last day
There is no doubt that United have the individual talents to go far in the competition, but as Leipzig’s Angelino recently observed rather worryingly, they can also be incredibly inconsistent
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will have fond memories of his team’s trip to Paris 19 months ago, but they really don’t seem ready to worry PSG this time around, and a bad result could kick off to a very delicate group
They have yet to be considered more likely to qualify than Leipzig because of their squad, but it’s pretty close
Emboldened by another Europa League success, Sevilla arrive for another crack at the top table and in a decent squad
They will trouble Chelsea and will consider themselves favorites against Rennes and Krasnodar, which means that a top two – and therefore no Europa League football this season – seems likely
If a team were to award the Europa League trophy out of Sevilla’s reach, Inter seemed perfectly prepared to do so in August, only to move their lines
They only entered secondary competition last season because they were regrouped with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, but they will want to get the upper hand over another Borussia, Moenchengladbach, this time around
In fact, Antonio Conte will desperately want his team to have an impact, and his work could depend on it
Londoners and their exciting raft of new faces might be better prepared for the Champions League than the domestic chaos of the Premier League
After all, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech and Thiago Silva are used to impressing on this stage, and the open squad of Seville, Rennes and Krasnodar just seem to be clamoring for someone to take hold on
It would be a deep disappointment if Chelsea don’t advance to the round of 16, and Frank Lampard can’t really afford it
Jadon Sancho has stayed, Erling Haaland is progressing as everyone predicted and Dortmund have been given a group they can express themselves in
Lazio, Zenit and Club Brugge are the opposition for cool kids in the Bundesliga, and with a clear run in this group and a last 16 draw, this has the potential to be a tournament that opens for them
Atletico’s victory over Liverpool at Anfield last season was the last hurray for the Champions League as we know it, and it was arguably the team that suffered the most from the switch to settings Lisbon waste rock
They have Bayern in their squad this time around, which means they’ll likely be the second team everyone wants to avoid in the last 16
There is a chance that the sound of Champions League music will trigger an element of PTSD in Barca players as their spirits return to August 8-2, but you argue that Lionel Messi goes beyond that
In fact, the prospect of it being Messi’s last dance as he tries to bring a changing team back to glory would be as good a plot as anything on Netflix, especially when you can launch the character of Cristiano Ronaldo in the group stage
Both aging icons will go through this, but neither appear to have the support of a glorious ending
Ronaldo’s two seasons in Turin both ended effectively with an exit from the pitch after losing the last 16 years in this competition
Sure he’s won a few Serie A titles, but you don’t really feel like that’s what he’s here for, and the way of those European defeats to Ajax and in Lyon certainly seemed to sting
Juve will want to go at least a little further this time around, and if they can play one of the really big boys – like Barca in the squad – then maybe this is where Ronaldo comes to life
Inter and Gladbach won’t be without difficulties to navigate, but it’s Zinedine Zidane in the Champions League and you’d expect Real to do it
The loss to Manchester City in the last 16 games of last season meant he went a bit off the script, although it should be remembered that Real were leading in this first leg in the world of normal football before a late collapse
They will be as formidable as ever in this competition, and Zidane will think that nothing other than the last four is good enough
Developments inside Virgil van Dijk’s knee mean Liverpool have to give up a few places where they would have been, simply because of the uncertainty this devastating injury has created
They should go through an entertaining squad anyway, and in fact there is an argument that they will miss the Dutch a little less in the Champions League where Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Fabinho can all set foot the ball
Van Dijk will target the final stages of this competition to make his comeback, and his teammates have the quality to get him there
City’s affair with the Champions League is never an affair you might call love, but it’s clear that they want it above all else, as it now represents their sense of legitimacy, even if they don’t like UEFA
He’s still a reliable striker, but City maintains that ability to overwhelm teams that often can’t be managed across the continent, and the semi-finals will be the target they aspire to again, to continue to miss.
It remains to be seen if this unfortunate August stuff will be the closest Neymar and Kylian Mbappe will ever get the Champions League trophy with a PSG shirt
At least one of them, Mbappe you think, is about to embark on his latest attempt to win for the club for the very first time, but they have such a good chance this time around. that this disrupted 2019 / 20 season
Their group stage feels like a formality, and as the tournament continues there might be a sense of duty and fate fueling their two most recognizable stars
The holders return less than two months after pushing the trophy through empty stands in Lisbon, and unsurprisingly, they still look absolutely formidable
Hansi Flick has assembled a team that seems capable of doing anything and has dramatically reduced the age profile throughout their journey to recent success
There’s a chance they will just see the defense of this trophy as an extension of his victory the first time around, and the Bavarians are definitely the team to beat
Who will win the Champions League? Give your opinion in the comments below
UEFA Champions League, Manchester United FC, FC Bayern Munich, Liverpool FC
World news – UA – Champions League 2020-21 power rankings: the 32 teams classified before the group stages
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com
