It’s been exactly 3 months and 10 days since the 2019 UEFA Champions League tournament concluded with Liverpool beating Tottenham 2-0 in the first all-English UCL final since the famous 2008 UCL final between Manchester United and Chelsea. To be completely honest with you, last year’s UCL final was underwhelming for about 80 out of the 90 minutes played. Don’t get me wrong it had all the excitement within the first 2 minutes, as the Spurs conceded a penalty from an accidental handball within the first minute of play, which set up the penalty for Mohamed Salah. Then in the 87th minute it was Divock Origi that slotted home the second insurance goal for the Reds as they hoisted the Champions League trophy for the first time since 2005.
Let’s bring it back to the present day, shall we? We’re about a week away from the group stage of the 2019-2020 UCL group stage. With each group, I’ll provide my predictions to the final group standings with analysis, as well as who I believe will be a standout player in the group stage, group by group. I’ll conclude with who I believe will win the entire thing and who they’ll go up against in the final. So let’s get to it.
Group A:
- Paris Saint-Germain
- Real Madrid
- Club Brugge
- Galatasaray
Analysis:
Let’s be honest, the two teams fighting for supremacy within the group will be PSG and Real Madrid. After the summer signing of Eden Hazard for Real Madrid, they’re looking to make a big jump in the Champions League. However, he’s got big shoes to fill, as he’s essentially replacing Cristiano Ronaldo. Look forward to some heavy attacking play made by Hazard, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema. The midfield and defense has stayed relatively constant, with no real additional signings. If the club continues to increase their confidence in their new signing Luka Jovic, look for him to make an impact in the attack.
PSG’s has had a summer full of headlines and breaking news stories. But at the end of the day, Neymar has stayed in Paris, and has not moved to Barcelona… for the time being. The club’s confidence in him has obviously deteriorated with his transfer request, but his skill level will offset that when UCL resumes this year. Kylian Mbappe is going to be a problem for any defense, especially when he gets that extra acceleration on the counter-attack. Any defense will have their hands full. And if he struggles, look for him to find Edison Cavani or Neymar or even their new loanee from Inter, Mauro Icardi. Needless to say, they’ll have a bunch of attacking options, which will make them a huge threat to make a deep run in the knockout stages as well.
Player of the Group: Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
Group B:
- Bayern Munich
- Tottenham Hotspurs
- Olympiakos
- Red Star Belgrade
Analysis:
Bayern has had some immense changes over the summer. They’ve brought in players from the likes of Coutinho, Perisic, Pavard and Hernandez. That being said, they’ve also lost quite a few key players from last year’s run, which include Ribery, Robben, Rodriguez, and Hummels. This will definitely be a test of how quickly they can create team chemistry. All this added to their constant superstar striker Lewandowski makes them another big attacking threat in the group stage. You can expect multiple goals per game. However, they’re only real threat in this group will be the likes of the Spurs, who are coming off being in the UCL final.
The Spurs are an interesting bunch. It’s tough to distinguish whether they’ll put importance in the Champions League, or if they’ll focus on keeping their place in the Top 4, now that Arsenal and Manchester United have improved with their new signings. The x-factor for them will be Christian Eriksen and here’s why: should he chose to leave the club, they’ll lose their constant midfield presence that keeps them in control of defensive pressing situations. I’m looking to see if Deli Ali will finally step up on the attacking front, and finally help Son and Harry Kane in the attacking front. Defensively, they’ve also remained constant, but Bayern has too many attacking weapons.
It’s important to note that Red Star Belgrade did beat Liverpool in the group stages last year, but to be honest, after analyzing that game, it seemed like a one-off and I don’t expect them to make a lot of noise in this top-heavy group.
Player of the Group: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Group C:
- Manchester City
- Atalanta
- Shakhtar
- Dinamo Zagreb
Analysis:
So this is super weird. How is it that Manchester City gets pooled in the same group as Shakhtar Donetsk for the third straight year. I mean, don’t get me wrong, this works perfectly for Manchester City, as they’ve racked up a combined aggregate score of 9-0 in the last three years against them. This seems little cause for concern for Man City, as they seem poised to breeze through this group stage. In term of Manchester City’s potent attacking line.
I’m not going to pick Sergio Aguero to be the player of the group stage because I think that would be too obvious. I’m going with Raheem Sterling. We’ve all heard the stories of the racist chants during away games over the past several months towards him. He’s going to use that as fuel and really cause problems for every defense they go against. More importantly, it will give Aguero some rest before the real test begins in the knockout stages.
Second place is where it becomes more difficult to analyze. To be honest, it’s really between Shakhtar and Atalanta. On one hand, Shakhtar haven’t lost a domestic league match for over a year, but their manager, Paulo Fonesca has left for Roma in the summer.
However, my opinion is that Atalanta will end up finishing as runner-ups in the group. They’ve played well as a total unit, and their managerial style has been refreshing. They’ve played some of the best football in Europe over the last couple of months.
Player of the Group: Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Group D:
- Juventus
- Atletico Madrid
- Bayer Leverkusen
- Lokomotiv Moscow
Analysis:
Let’s be honest, this is another two-horse race within this particular group. But let’s not forget that these two teams went up against each other in last year’s Round of 16. If not for Ronaldo’s sensational hat-rick to save Juve, we would be possibly talking about an entire different outcome. In terms of Ronaldo, he knows the clock is ticking because as he turns 35 this season, his window to add his to his 5 champions league trophies is closing, and closing fast.
He will be as important as ever for Juve, but with the addition of Aaron Ramsey and Adrien Rabiot, they are definitely stronger on the defensive end and in the middle. Let’s also not forget their big summer signing of Matthjis de Ligt from Ajax, who has a chip on his shoulder and is looking to produce for a bigger club. Gonzalo Higuain will be an important factor for them, especially if the rumblings of Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic possibly leaving are true.
Atletico Madrid have weakened a bit since the departure of striker Antoine Griezmann. Their big summer signing of Joao Felix will be big, and I predict him as well as new midfield signing Kieran Trippier will have something to play for in the group stage. Juventus will not have an easy task against Atletico but their attack is too strong not to top the group. Madrid will end up as runner-ups.
Bayer Leverkusen will be weak especially with the departure of Julian Brandt to Dortmund, and there’s no need to talk about Moscow because, well…
Player of the Group: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid)
Group E:
- Liverpool
- Napoli
- RB Salzburg
- Genk
Analysis:
Napoli is much improved from last year, with the summer signings of Mexico forward Hirving Lozano, and Kostas Manolas brings some excitement and quality from a defensive standpoint. But again, similar to previous groups mentioned, it’s really clear to see why Liverpool won the UCL last year. They were dominant from top to bottom, and with their highly-ranked defense led by POTY Virgil van Dijk, they look poised to make another deep run.
Look for Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah to make big impacts on the attacking end, and at the end of the day, it’s really easy to picture Liverpool to at least make it to the semi-finals this year, with health being the most important factor to it. Napoli will have something to say about being group winners, but, at the end of the day, Liverpool is Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp will lead them to be the group winners that they are.
RB Salzburg and Genk are both too weak all-around to compete with the likes of Liverpool and Napoli, and the top two in the group will make short work of them in the group stage matches.
Player of the Group: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Group F:
- Barcelona
- Borussia Dortmund
- Inter Milan
- Slavia Prague
Analysis:
So there’s a viral video out of the Champions League draw, where the cameras caught the reaction of Slavia Prague as they found out they were pooled with the Group of Death. To be honest, I would have had the same reaction.
Slavia Prague couldn’t have asked for a worse group. With Barcelona, Dortmund and Inter all being head and shoulders above them on all aspects of the field, I see them probably securing only a couple of points from this group stage.
Now let’s get to the other three shall we? This is an interesting one, because you really don’t know who will end up reaching the knockout rounds. Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan mad some huge signings over the past couple of months. They strengthened up the attack with the addition of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez, but that’s only if they can go back to being in good form, which we haven’t seen in a while.
They’ve also strengthened their defense with the addition of Diego Godin. Their success is predicated on their new attacking signings showing out during the UCL and I don’t believe that to be the case, especially within the last couple of years at Manchester United. They will struggle to gel, and you can’t use that time to gel, when going up against the likes of Barcelona and Dortmund, which means they’ll probably end up in the third.
Leo Messi is still nursing his calf injury, but look for Antoine Griezmann to show out and prove he’s still a top 5 striker in the world. Top to bottom, I trust Barcelona more than Dortmund. Even though Dortmund has remained constant throughout the year, and they’ve added Hummels again, I still believe Barcelona’s attacking style of football, plus the addition of Frenkie de Jong will be a huge factor for them moving forward. Ultimately, they’ll look to rest Barcelona as much as possible, but it’ll be tough in this group. That’s why as he recovers with game, Griezmann will shine in this group stage, as Messi will provide his magic through playmaking.
Player of the Group: Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)
Group G:
- RB Leipzing
- Lyon
- Benfica
- Zenit St Petersburg
Analysis:
There’s really not much to analyze here, if I’m being completely honest with you. However, this is probably the most evenly-matched group within the entire UCL group stage.
Leipzing included key players such as Christopher Nkunku. Let’s also not forget about the lethal striker that is Timo Werner. They’ll be potent all around and it shouldn’t be a surprise.
Benfica has one reason for not making it to the group stage. That reason is Joao Felix. Since his departure to Atletico Madrid, they have significantly diminished in quality and young player development. If he was still on this team, it would be different and they could maybe even win this group, but we can’t talk about things that will never become true.
Lyon lost a ton of key players including Tanguy Ndombele, Nabil Fekir and Ferland Mendy. However, they still have their best goal scorer in Moussa Dembele. But that’s just not enough to compete with the likes of RB Leipzing and that’s why they’ll remain runner-ups.
Player of the Group: Moussa Dembele (Lyon)
Group H:
- Chelsea
- Ajax
- Valencia
- Lille
Analysis:
Chelsea’s return to the Champions League will not be easy to say the least for new manager and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard. Ajax is coming off a story book UCL last year, where they knocked off both Real Madrid and Juventus in succession. They’ll be just as hungry regardless if they lost two key players in de Jong and de Ligt. However, I’ve noticed that other than the pathetic effort put forth in their Premier League opener against Manchester United, they have played consistently throughout the attacking front and through the middle of the field. Their defense is still weak, and hopefully they can get some signings in January, but if they don’t, they could get upset by Ajax.
Ajax is also diminished since the departure of their two young stars. If Chelsea is strong in their attack, and Christian Pulisic steps up as a leader for Chelsea, they shouldn’t have a problem… except when it comes to Ajax. However, Pulisic is not my choice to shine in the group stage. That honour will go to Pedro who with his experience and ability to cut through defenses, will shine bright with some sensational goals.
Player of the Group: Pedro (Chelsea)
The Final:
As a football fan, I’m hoping and praying that we get to see Barcelona against Juventus. Leo Messi going up against Cristiano Ronaldo for just one more time. But I don’t think the soccer gods will cooperate with us.
I don’t know who they will go up against, but Manchester City looks poised to seek revenge upon everyone in the UCL after the controversial header that was disallowed as a result of VAR in last year’s knockout stage against Tottenham. They’ve got the Premier League trophies, but their focus will shift to winning the UCL this time around.
In regards to who they’ll go up against, it’s hard to say, but if I was a betting man (which I’m not), I’d go with Juventus or Barcelona. Their attacks are just more consistent and will cause headaches for opposing defenses. Liverpool will receive honorable mention but to be completely honest, I believe they’ll put their focus to winning the league now that they’ve won the UCL recently.
Final Predictions:
Champions League Winner: Manchester City
Runner-Ups: Juventus
Player of the Tournament: Cristiano Ronaldo or Kevin De Bruyne
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