Home   >   Opinion   >   Champions League group stage draw – Four Thoughts

Champions League group stage draw – Four Thoughts

By on August 28, 2014

It’s done. It’s over. *sigh of relief*. It was going to have to happen eventually, as it does at the start of every season. Europe’s elite have been pooled together into eight groups. No more killing your fingernails over whether your side would draw Barcelona or Real Madrid. It’s done, and while some will end up disappointed and heartbroken, others joyful. But at least the Champions League Group Stage draw is over with, and…

There isn’t a “group of death”
So often one group attracts all the attention after the draw. One group, the “group of death”, that holds three or four of the top contenders. Two years back it was Group D, containing Real Madrid, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, and Manchester City. Before that it was Group A, with Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and Napoli. But this time around, there isn’t that one group.  Attention has been spread all across the board, to Group E, where Munich have drawn City again as well as Roma, to Group B, in which Real Madrid will face Liverpool, and to Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain in Group F.

There should be clear winners in all of the star-studded groups – Real and Liverpool have to face FC Basel and Ludogorets, Atletico Madrid and Juventus have Malmo and Olympiacos alongside them in Group B, while Barca and PSG are accompanied by Apoel and Ajax. An upset or two could certainly be pulled off, but we may have to find our tightest races in those like Group H with Porto, Shakthar Donestk, Athletic Bilbao, and BATE.

Those who got away easy – Chelsea
All too often those who smile at their “easy groups” come back to rue their premature celebrations.  Take Manchester United in 2011/2012. Chelsea will be cracking open the champaign bottles tonight to celebrate, but it hardly seems as if they will end up on the wrong end of Group G. The English club have kicked their leave campaign off solidly and promisingly – it would take nothing short of a disaster for them to end up on the wrong end of a group containing Schalke 04, Maribor, and Sporting Lisbon.

And those who didn’t…
And there are those like Ajax and Galatasaray, who had high hopes of being able to quality out of their respective groups, only to wind up with Barcelona and PSG, and Arsenal and Dortmund, respectively. Zenit Saint-Petersburg and Monaco, while both favorites in Group C, will also feel unlucky to have to face Bayer Leverkusen and Benfica in their groups – look out there, as one slip from either of then could mean their elimination from the competition.

Meanwhile, Lugogorets might have hoped for an easier group following their incredible qualification, but in the end have wound up with Madrid and Liverpool, although with talent quite spread out this season anything would have been tough for the Bulgarian side.

Monaco are back, and ready for the spotlight
Monaco’s golden days seemed to have passed with James Rodriguez’s departure to Real Madrid, but they are hardly in decline following their money spurts. On the whole a slightly more rounded side than they were last season, when they clinched their first trip back with Europe’s elite in nearly nine years, though they still undoubtedly have flare in Falcao (for now), along with that odd mix of youngsters and aging former greats. And for a squad like theirs tackling Zenit, Leverkusen, and Benfica should be easy enough – the question is will they have the maturity and round squad to advance further? For years they have spent and spent just for this moment – now they have to take their chance.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.