Matchday 1 of the Champions League is upon us. Fans will be looking forward to unparalleled entertainment in the form of brilliant goals, mind-boggling saves, and last minute drama.
In this blog, I will look at the group of 32 as a whole. There are a few teams I will highlight outside of the group setting.
The Big Dogs
Manchester City
City is the odds-on favorite (+450) to win the 2018-2019 Champions League, and for good reason. Boasting what may be the most complete squad in Europe, no other team will want to face the Cityzens at any point in the competition.
However, skeptics will be quick to point out English teams' recent struggles in the competition. Last year, whilst in search for the famous treble, they were knocked out by fellow Englishmen Liverpool, who eventually fell in the Final of the competition.
Not only does City boast world class attacking talent, namely Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, just to name a few; they are also managed by arguably the best manager in world football, Pep Guardiola. Guardiola has won two Champions Leagues with Barcelona, and led Bayern to three semi-finals. He is widely renowned as one of the best managers in the game.
Real Madrid
It truly wouldn't be fair to mention the "big dogs" of the Champions League without including Real Madrid. Madrid are the winners of 13 Champions Leagues and are the first ever team to win back-to-back Champions Leagues in 2016 and 2017. They then made it three in a row last season in their 3-1 final victory over Liverpool.
They will be looking to cop with the loss of all-time Champions League leading goal scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, who departed to fellow challengers Juventus in the offseason. However, a recent statement by Welsh winger Gareth Bale expressed sentiments that the squad has more team spirit without Ronaldo.
Either way, Madrid (+800) will be on the hunt to essentially put history out of reach by winning the trophy four years in a row. Last season, the team's Champions League domination was shown by their sweeping off the UEFA Champions League goalkeeper (Navas), defender (Ramos), midfielder (Modric) and attacker (Ronaldo) awards. They still have plenty of fire power without Ronaldo.
Juventus
The reigning Serie A champions come in as second favorites (+600) to win the competition, undoubtably fueled by their addition of Ronaldo. Juventus are looking to avenge their 2017 Champions League final loss to Madird.
Playing the classic Italian style, they "Old Lady" will look to defend first and hit on the counter attack, through Ronaldo and others.
FC Barcelona
The other Spanish super power did not lose their superstar in the summer. Barcelona (+600), looking to avenge their recently-embarrassing string of Champions League results, will be lead by superstar Lionel Messi.
Bayern Munich
The German Champions (+800) often make a splash in this competition. They will be motivated to reclaim the headlines after a few years on the outside looking in, as the aforementioned teams have overtaken them a bit.
Lead by veterans Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery each cutting in off the wings, they will be an attacking force to be reckoned with. Much will depend on the health of world class goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who has struggled with injury over the recent months. Neuer is regarded as arguably the world's best goalkeeper when healthy.
Paris St. Germain--PSG
The French forerunners (+700) are a force to be reckoned with. Headlined by a devastating attacking trio of Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Brazilian superstar Neymar, defenses will have to be on alert at all times.
The deciding factor may be the addition of Juventus legend Gianluigi Buffon (shown above). The goalkeeper made his professional debut in 1995 and played over 500 matches for Juventus. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time.
In the Hunt
There aforementioned teams are widely recognized as the favorites to win the tournament. However, there are always a group of teams that could challenge for the title in a surprising fashion. These teams are usually expected to make it out of their groups, but not to win the whole tournament.
By me including them on this list, I have a feeling that they could advance to at least the semi-final if they find form.
Liverpool (+1000)
-League Position: 4th in English Premier League last season
-Key Player: Mohamed Salah: 45 goals in 54 games in all competitions last season
-Biggest Transfer: Alisson--goalkeeper, AS Roma
Atletico Madrid (+1100)
-League Position: 2nd in La Liga last season
-Key Player: Jan Oblak (record-breaking clean sheet record for Atletico in his career)
-Biggest Transfer: Thomas Lemar--winger, AS Monaco
Manchester United (+2500)
-League PositionL 2nd in English Premier League last season
-Key Player: David De Gea (in the conversation for best goalkeeper in the world)
-Biggest Transfer: Fred--midfielder, Shakhtar Donetsk
AS Roma (+5000)
-League Position: 3rd in Serie A last season
-Key Player: Edin Dzeko (a pure goalscorer, has played for a number of large clubs)
-Important Fact: AS Roma were surprise semi-finalists last season, overcoming a 3-0 first-leg defecit to defeat European giants Barcelona. Can they do it again?
Borussia Dortmund (+6600)
-League Position: 4th (on goal difference) in Bundesliga last season
-Big Name Player: Marco Reus (captains the side as he enters his 6th season with the club)
-Player Profile: Christian Pulisic, a young American, has broken through the Dortmund ranks and continues to contribute at the highest level. He will be key if they want to make a run in the tournament.
Just Happy to be Here
There are many teams that realistically don't have any chance of winning the tournament, and some that don't really have much of a chance to even get out of their group. Although these teams would never admit this, they are just happy to be in the Last 32. The TV revenue and publicity make the 6-0 thrashings to the favorites somewhat worth it. These teams have realistic goals of finishing 3rd in the group for an automatic spot in the Europa League. These teams often don't receive much attention, so I will highlight a few of them. They provide some interesting and heartwarming stories.
FK Crvena zvezda--Red Star Belgrade
This Serbian side will be playing the ultimate underdog role, as they are the only team of the 32 to not even be listed on the odds list to win the competition. It's not often you see a team from Serbia in the Last 32 of the Champions League.
With that said, Red Star won the Champions League in 1991, and went on to win the club world cup that same year. The current squad went through eight matches in qualifying, never losing. In the final qualifying round, they went down 2-0 away at Austrian Champions Salzburg, before channelling some absolute magic to score two goals in as many minutes and win the tie 2-2 on away goals.
Fans in Serbian are known as some of the most passionate in the world, and no side will enjoy paying their away tie there. Residing in a difficult Group C, the Serbian's look to win the hearts of many as they will face three powerhouses in Liverpool, Napoli, and PSG.
BSC Young Boys
As the only Swiss team in the competition, they will have their whole nation supporting them. Young Boys (+75000) have Champions League experience, but are never really favored to advance past the group stage.
The Young Boys needed second leg, away goal magic as well to book their place in the Champions League proper. Facing off against round of 32 regulars and Czech Republic champions Dinamo Zagreb, forward Guillaume Hoarau scored two goals in three minutes to force his side through. The number 99 essentially carried his team into the knockout stages.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim (+25000) have never reached the Champions League proper before this season. Therefore, there will be an extreme sense of excitement surrounding their campaign this year.
Residing with tournament-favorites Manchester City in group F, the German side may favor their chances to finish runner-up. They will have to beat out both French side Lyon and Ukrainian superpowers Shakhtar Donetsk in order to accomplish this feat.
They will try spring off their best-ever Bundesliga finish--3rd--last season. This group of relatively unknown players have done so well to accomplish what they have already, they will be playing these matches with no fear; a dangerous thing for any opponent.
Conclusion
The Champions League is upon us, and these are some of the teams to watch. However, if a team is not included in this blog, it doesn't mean they are not important. All 32 teams deserve equal recognition and attention going into the first gameweek.
My next blog post will highlight my predictions for the group stage.
Note: The reason why I included betting odds in this blog is because I talked a lot about favorites and underdogs. I feel that the Vegas odds do a good job in expressing these positions. Here is a full list of odds, top to bottom.
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