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Later than planned, the 2020/21 Champions League group stage finally begins this week. The start of this season’s competition has been delayed due to last season’s extension and the Lisbon summer tournament.
Bayern Munich, victorious in Portugal after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the final, will look to defend their title this time. However, they will have competition from Spain, as the best LaLiga clubs seek more European glory.
No European league has registered more European Cups than Spain’s top flight in 18 (13 for Real Madrid and five for Barcelona). Behind them are England (13 titles), Italy (12) and Germany (eight). Los Blancos and La Blaugrana will not be alone in 2020/21, with three-time runner-up Atlético de Madrid and six-time Europa League champion Sevilla also involved.
Bayern Munich
The headlines have been strengthened this summer, with Leroy Sane being the prominent addition to his transfer business. The forward will compete with Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman in the Hansi Flick scoring machine.
Atletico Madrid
The last minute departure of Thomas Partey has ruined Diego Simeone’s plans for the season, although Lucas Torreira has been hired as a substitute. With Jan Oblak in goal and Joao Félix and Luis Suárez up front, Atlético will seek to show that their elimination from Liverpool last season was not just a flash in the pan.
RB Salzburg
The Austrians beat Liverpool and Napoli in their group last season thanks, in part, to Erling Haaland, and now face the ordeal of finding a way to beat both Atlético and Bayern.
Lokomotiv Moscow
It will be a third consecutive season in competition for the Russians, who faced Atlético in the group stage last year.
Real Madrid
The kings of the Champions League have spent the last two seasons saying goodbye in the round of 16. Zinedine Zidane has more or less the same team as last season, adding Martin Odegaard to the mix in midfield. With the lack of goals in the whole team, Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos will be in charge of leading the team to glory in that department while Thibaut Courtois keeps the back door closed.
Shakhtar Donetsk
A staple in the group stage of the Champions League, the Ukrainian champions are struggling to advance ahead of Real Madrid and Inter.
Bury
Antonio Conte has one of the most complete squads in Europe. Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martínez are dynamite up front, Christian Eriksen and Arturo Vidal offer different qualities in midfield, while Ivan Perisic has returned from his loan to Bayern.
Borussia Monchengladbach
The Bundesliga team will hope to be lucky for the third time in terms of advancing to the round of 16, having failed in their two previous attempts at this level.
Porto
The Portuguese champions were significantly weakened during the transfer window, losing Alex Telles, Fabio Silva, Danilo Pereira and Ze Luis. Felipe Anderson is your prominent West Ham acquisition.
Manchester city
Pep Guardiola has beefed up his defense with the arrivals of Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake as he looks to bring the Champions League trophy to Manchester’s blue half for the first time. The creativity of Kevin de Bruyne and the goals of Raheem Sterling make City one of the favorites.
Olympiacos
Youssef El-Arabi is Olympiacos’ big star these days, shooting his team for the Greek title last season. The Moroccan joins the attack by players like Mathieu Valbuena and Kostas Fortounis.
Marseilles
After six seasons away, Marseille return to the Champions League with a team full of offensive talent, such as Florian Thauvin and Dimitri Payet.
Liverpool
The 2018/19 Champions League winners and the defending Premier League champions have been affected by the misfortune of injury, and Virgil van Dijk will now miss most of the season. As a result, there is even more emphasis on the attacking departure of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.
Ajax
Hakim Ziyech, Donny van de Beek, Sergino Dest, and Joel Veltman may have moved on, but Erik ten Hag still has the likes of Dusan Tadic, David Neres, and Andre Onana at his disposal.
Atalanta
After reaching the quarter-finals in their first Champions League campaign last season, Gian Piero Gasperini’s attacking team will have their sights set on another memorable European adventure.
Central jutland
Danish minnows, owned by my math fanatic Matthew Benham, owe much of their success to using statistical algorithms.
Seville
The success of August in the Europa League will still be fresh in the minds of Julen Lopetegui’s men. Back in the big moment this season, they acquired the stellar name of Ivan Rakitic, for the second time, and kept Diego Carlos and Jules Kounde on defense, although Sergio Reguilon has not returned.
Chelsea
After spending more than any other club in Europe this summer, € 247 million to be precise, Frank Lampard has work to do to integrate new signings Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech and the like into a team capable of achieving the success in Europe. However, the problems remain on the defense.
Krasnodar
In an open group, the Russians have a good chance of qualifying for the round of 16 for the first time in their history.
Rennes
Newcomers at this level, Rennes has added the likes of Daniele Rugani, Dalbert and Jeremy Doku to a team that already contains the talented Eduardo Camavinga.
Zenith
Champion of Russia for the last two seasons, Zenit have signed Dejan Lovren to add a touch of European pedigree to their ranks.
Borussia Dortmund
Lucien Favre has an arsenal of weapons on the attack, including Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho, Thorgan Hazard, Julian Brand, Marco Reus, Reinier Jesus and more.
Lazio
Simone Inzaghi’s men were the surprise package in Serie A last season, booking a place in the Champions League thanks in part to goals from Ciro Immobile.
Bruges Club
After being eliminated in a group with PSG and Real Madrid last season, the Belgians have a better, if still minimal, chance of qualifying for the round of 16 this time around.
Juventus
Winning another Serie A title was not enough for Maurizio Sarri to keep his job, and Juve brought in Andrea Pirlo in the hope that their former player could finally conjure up a winning Champions League team. With Cristiano Ronaldo, top scorer in the competition, anything is possible.
Barcelona
Following humiliating departures from Rome and Liverpool in recent years, the 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in Lisbon was the final straw for Barcelona’s latest generation. Arthur Melo, Nelson Semedo, Rakitic, Suárez, Rafinha and Vidal have left, allowing Miralem Pjanic, Dest, Trincao and Pedri to refresh the squad. Lionel Messi has stood still after a turbulent summer and Ronald Koeman is still pondering how to get the best out of Antoine Griezmann.
Dynamo Kiev
After three years of watching it on TV, the Ukrainian giants are back in Europe’s elite club competition after knocking out Gent and AZ in the playoffs.
Ferencvaros
The 31-time Hungarian champions find themselves in a group packed with superstars. They have waited 25 years for another appearance in the Champions League.
Paris saint germain
Revenge is in the air at the Parc des Princes. Last season’s defeated finalists have been paired with Manchester United, who knocked them out of the 2018/19 edition in sensational fashion.
United manchester
The arrival of Bruno Fernandes in January propelled Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team to a place in the Champions League. A 6-1 win at the hands of Tottenham led the Red Devils to bring in Edinson Cavani and Telles, among others, on the day of the transfer deadline.
RB Leipzig
As unlikely semi-finalists last time out, Julian Nagelsmann’s team will be calmly confident that they can advance from this group against expectations again. Werner’s absence was not felt in Lisbon and the German team will hope it continues that way.
Istanbul Basaksehir
The Turkish champions have gotten off to a torrid start defending their Super Lig title. They have teamed up with two giants of the European game in their debut season in the Champions League.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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