In less than a week, the world's biggest club competition will start, as the best European teams will enter pitches around the continent to kick off the Champions League. The title holders, Chelsea, will start their campaign in London against Zenit St. Petersburg on September 14th, and the rest of their group is filled with Malmo FF from Sweden and Juventus.
Other two huge favorites, Manchester City and PSG are both in Group A along with German RB Leipzig and the Belgium outsiders Club Brugge. A lot of other groups also seem incredibly interesting, so here are 3 predictions of what will happen in this section of the Champions League.
Atletico Madrid will be third in their group
The Spanish champions had an amazing year, winning the title despite sharing the league with Real Madrid and Barcelona, and they will look to continue that momentum into a very difficult group. They were drawn with Liverpool, Milan and Porto, in one of the most balanced groups in recent memories. While most would consider Atletico to go through with Liverpool, it is clear that it will not be the easiest job in the world.
Milan is a very tough team that has a history in this competition, winning it 7 times in the past, with the most recent win coming in 2007. Their squad is full of players hungry to prove themselves on the biggest stage, and they will not be an easy opponent whatsoever. Porto, on the other hand, won the competition surprisingly in 2004, and reached the quarter-finals last year, losing by a single goal overall to the eventual winners Chelsea. Additionally, their squad is essentially the same like last year, when they upset contenders Juventus in the round of 16, by eliminating them in overtime of the second game.
In addition to this tough group in the Champions League, Atletico Madrid also did not impress fans at the start of this season. They won two games and drew one in La Liga, with both victories coming via a single goal of difference, and they only avoided defeat to Villarreal by a bizarre own goal by Aissa Mandi. Generally, the style of play Diego Simeone prefers is more suited for the knock-out stage, where he can prepare his team accordingly, while in the group stages, anything can happen in the Champions League. Milan and especially Porto have shown that they have the quality to be up with the best of teams, so a second place for one of these teams is not going to be a sensation.
Erling Haaland will score 10 goals in the group stage
To score 10 goals in the whole Champions League campaign is a feat that is very hard to do. If Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are taken out of the equation, most players were only able to score 7-8 goals in a full campaign. However, Borussia Dortmund superstar Erling Haaland is not most players, as he scored 10 goals last year in just 8 appearances.
The Norwegian striker is now a year older, and more experienced, so the overall consensus is that he will try to improve every facet of his game for the upcoming season. He already scored 3 goals in 3 games in Bundesliga, and will look to open his tally in the Champions League in the first game. Borussia will play on September 15th in Turkey against Besiktas.
The quality of Group C, where Borussia and Haaland will play, could be a bit easier to navigate as well. While it would not be smart to discredit any team playing at this stage in European football, it is also true that Borussia got the best possible group going out of the second pot which usually guarantees at least one marquee match-up in every group. From the first pot, where the champions of European leagues and European competitions reside, Borussia got lucky with the Portuguese champion, Sporting, and the group is rounded up by Ajax and the aforementioned Besiktas. Haaland and his goal-scoring prowess will definitely benefit from a somewhat underwhelming group for a competition of this magnitude.
Villarreal will top Group F, Atalanta will top Manchester United for 2nd
Group F is a very interesting one, as Villarreal and Manchester United are not strangers. The Yellow Submarine overpowered the Red Devils in last season's Europa League final in a marathon penalty shoot-out. While it's certain that the Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo-aided Manchester United will do everything to avenge that defeat, it is still going to be a very interesting group.
First of all, as Europa League champions, Villarreal demands respect and they are not an easy opponent whatsoever. They also did not lose anyone in the summer transfer window, and they added to their squad with promising prospect Arnaut Danjuma, who joined from Bournemouth, and center-back pairing Juan Foyth-Aissa Mandi who arrived from Tottenham and Betis, respectfully. The team still has Spanish striker Gerard Moreno, and promising center-back Pau Torres, with veteran Manu Trigueros holding down the middle.
On the other side of the Mediterranean Sea, from Bergamo, comes Atalanta which surprised the world two seasons ago and made the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Unfortunately for the Italians, eventual finalists PSG were two strong, but they still only squeezed out a 2-1 victory in Portugal, where the final tournament was played.
Last year, it was the Spanish giants Real Madrid squeezing out a 1-0 win through a late winner by Ferland Mendy, in a game where Atalanta showed how strong they can truly be. Regardless of the 3-1 defeat in the second leg, the Italians have shown they are strong, especially when their core of Robin Gosens, Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel is playing together.
While United is clearly the stronger squad in theory, Villarreal did show last summer why theory might not always work out in practice. Atalanta, on the other hand, has experience taking big scalps, so the work is definitely cut out for the Red Devils.
This season has the potential to truly be very exciting, with all eyes on group A and the huge clash of tournament favorites Manchester City and PSG. However, even outside of the top teams, there is still quality and excitement to be found in other groups, and all the neutrals will be eager to see what the best of the best in Europe has to offer.
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