The playoff rounds have concluded and we are on our way to the UEFA Champions League Group Stage. 32 teams from 17 countries including for the first time, Kazakhstan, will find out their Group Stage opponents tomorrow morning at 11:30 AM ET on FS1.
This will be the first year in which Pot 1 in the Group Stage draw will consist of the previous Champions League winner and the seven (or eight) league champions from the top eight countries in overall UEFA coefficient. Here is the list of teams in each pot.
Pot 1
Barcelona (ESP)
Chelsea (ENG)
Bayern Munich (GER)
Juventus (ITA)
Benfica (POR)
PSG (FRA)
Zenit (RUS)
PSV (NED)
Pot 2
Real Madrid (ESP)
Atletico Madrid (ESP)
Porto (POR)
Arsenal (ENG)
Manchester United (ENG)
Valencia (ESP)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Manchester City (ENG)
Pot 3
Shakhtar Konetsk (UKR)
Sevilla (ESP)
Lyon (FRA)
Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
Olympiacos (GRE)
CSKA Moscow (RUS)
Galatasaray (TUR)
Roma (ITA)
Pot 4
BATE Borisov (BEL)
Borussia Monchengladbach (GER)
Wolfsburg (GER)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR)
Gent (BEL)
Malmo FF (SWE)
Astana (KAZ)
Now while these draws are completely random, that doesn’t mean we can’t speculate who will go where. I mean there could be a chance it’s not as random as it’s made out to be. I mean, how do you explain Manchester City being in the same group with Bayern Munich and CSKA Moscow in each of the last two years? Anyway, we’re going to predict the groups and see how correct we are.
Now it’s important to note that no more than two teams from the same country on the same match day so that needed to be considered when choosing the groups. Groups A-D play one day and E-H play another day. Also, teams from Ukraine and Russia cannot be grouped together and there cannot be more than one team per country in a group. So with all those restrictions in mind, here is how the groups will look. So obviously, there’s no need to watch the draw tomorrow because this is what UEFA is going with.
Group A
PSG
Atletico Madrid
Dynamo Kyiv
Borussia Monchengladbach
Group B
Bayern Munich
Manchester City
CSKA Moscow
Astana
Group C
Barcelona
Porto
Roma
Malmo
Group D
Chelsea
Valencia
Galatasaray
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Group E
PSV
Manchester United
Lyon
Gent
Group F
Benfica
Arsenal
Shakhtar Donetsk
Wolfsburg
Group G
Juventus
Bayer Leverkusen
Sevilla
BATE Borisov
Group H
Zenit
Real Madrid
Olympiacos
Dinamo Zagreb
As you can see, I am going with the traditional Bayern, Man City, Moscow group and for this year, I’m adding Astana. Because what’s worse for Manchester City to be in a Group of Death? Have them travel the regualar 1,500 miles to Moscow as well as an additional 3,000 miles to Kazakhstan. The rest of the groups are filled out with top teams getting relatively easy draws. And as far as Arsenal, I have them in a group where there isn’t one clear favorite and all four teams have a chance to advance. Seems like an Arsenal thing to see. Anyway, if you’re satisfied with where your team is placed, no need to worry about tomorrow. If you’re not satisfied, I’m sorry but that’s the way it’s going to be.
(NOTE: 32 Flags believes the UEFA Champions League draw, like all draws, is done legitimately and conducted in a way where the teams chosen is completely random. Although, if we are correct, the 32 Flags staff is going straight to the lottery.)
