It’s that time again. The UEFA Champions League is back! The group stage is set to start and 32 teams from 17 countries are vying to be the champions of the Champions League.
The 32 Flags writers each made their picks on who advances to the knockout stage, who goes to the Europa League and who gets eliminated. Except for a rare surprise or two, this seems to be a rather predictable group stage. And if that’s the case, chances are it’ll be the most unpredictable group stage ever.
Group A – Paris Saint-Germain (France), Arsenal (England), Basel (Switzerland), Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
Phillip – 1st PSG, 2nd Arsenal, 3rd Basel, 4th Ludogorets
Harrison – 1st PSG, 2nd Arsenal, 3rd Basel, 4th Ludogorets
Jeff – 1st PSG, 2nd Arsenal, 3rd Basel, 4th Ludogorets
Randy – 1st PSG, 2nd Arsenal, 3rd Basel, 4th Ludogorets
Pauly – 1st PSG, 2nd Arsenal, 3rd Basel, 4th Ludogorets
Pretty straightforward group here. A situation of the haves and have nots with French champs PSG and Arsenal going to the knockout stage, Basel in Europa and Ludogorets finishing 4th. One of the biggest games in the group will come right away as PSG and Arsenal face off on Tuesday so the winner will get a big boost for their 1st place hopes.
Group B – Benfica (Portugal), Napoli (Italy), Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine), Besiktas (Turkey)
Phillip – 1st Benfica, 2nd Dynamo Kyiv, 3rd Napoli, 4th Besiktas
Harrison – 1st Napoli, 2nd Benfica, 3rd Besiktas, 4th Dynamo Kyiv
Jeff – 1st Benfica, 2nd Napoli, 3rd Besiktas, 4th Dynamo Kyiv
Randy – 1st Napoli, 2nd Benfica, 3rd Besiktas, 4th Dynamo Kyiv
Pauly – 1st Napoli, 2nd Benfica, 3rd Kynamo Kyiv, 4th Besiktas
Group B is one of the more unpredictable groups. Only Benfica is in the top two among every writer. And except for yours truly, everyone has Napoli is in the top two. Also, everyone but myself has Dynamo Kyiv out of the knockout stage. The test for this group will be Napoli against Dynamo Kyiv and maybe after Tuesday’s game, things will be a bit clearer in this group.
Group C – Barcelona (Spain), Manchester City (England), Borussia Monchengladbach (Germany), Celtic (Scotland)
Phillip – 1st Barcelona, 2nd Manchester City, 3rd Monchengladbach, 4th Celtic
Harrison – 1st Barcelona, 2nd Manchester City, 3rd Monchengladbach, 4th Celtic
Jeff – 1st Barcelona, 2nd Manchester City, 3rd Monchengladbach, 4th Celtic
Randy – 1st Barcelona, 2nd Manchester City, 3rd Monchengladbach, 4th Celtic
Pauly – 1st Barcelona, 2nd Manchester City, 3rd Monchengladbach, 4th Celtic
Another straightforward group. No argument that Barcelona is going to finish top of the group and Manchester City is finishing 2nd. And with Celtic struggling to beat Lincoln Red Imps in the qualifying stage (even though they just beat Rangers 5-1), Monchengladbach falls at 3rd by default. Obviously, everyone will be focusing on Pep Guardiola and Manchester City going against his former team Barcelona. Barcelona and Manchester City face off October 19 and November 1.
Group D – Bayern Munich (Germany), Atletico Madrid (Spain), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Rostov (Russia)
Phillip – 1st Bayern Munich, 2nd Atletico Madrid, 3rd PSV Eindhoven, 4th Rostov
Harrison – 1st Bayern Munich, 2nd Atletico Madrid, 3rd PSV Eindhoven, 4th Rostov
Jeff – 1st Bayern Munich, 2nd Atletico Madrid, 3rd PSV Eindhoven, 4th Rostov
Randy – 1st Bayern Munich, 2nd Atletico Madrid, 3rd PSV Eindhoven, 4th Rostov
Pauly – 1st Bayern Munich, 2nd Atletico Madrid, 3rd Rostov, 4th PSV Eindhoven
The top two have Champions League mainstays Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid. A matchup that could be considered as a possible Final is in the group stage. Then, all except for Pauly chose PSV to go to the Europa League with Rostov going 4th.
Group E – CSKA Moscow (Russia), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Tottenham Hotspur (England), Monaco (France)
Phillip – 1st Leverkusen, 2nd Tottenham, 3rd Moscow, 4th Monaco
Harrison – 1st Leverkusen, 2nd Tottenham, 3rd Monaco, 4th Moscow
Jeff – 1st Leverkusen, 2nd Tottenham, 3rd Moscow, 4th Monaco
Randy – 1st Tottenham, 2nd Leverkusen, 3rd Monaco, 4th Moscow
Pauly – 1st Tottenham, 2nd Leverkusen, 3rd Monaco, 4th Moscow
We’re not showing a lot of love for the Russian champions. Despite being in Pot 1 and the fact that it’s always tough for visiting teams to play in Russia, everyone has CSKA Moscow outside of the top two. Leverkusen and Tottenham would takeover the top two spots.
Group F – Real Madrid (Spain), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Legia Warsaw (Poland)
Phillip – 1st Real Madrid, 2nd Dortmund, 3rd Sporting, 4th Warsaw
Harrison – 1st Real Madrid, 2nd Dortmund, 3rd Sporting, 4th Warsaw
Jeff – 1st Real Madrid, 2nd Dortmund, 3rd Sporting, 4th Warsaw
Randy – 1st Real Madrid, 2nd Dortmund, 3rd Sporting, 4th Warsaw
Pauly – 1st Real Madrid, 2nd Dortmund, 3rd Sporting, 4th Warsaw
Another group that is going to be rather predictable. No reason to think Real Madrid won’t win the group. Borussia Dortmund will be cool to take 2nd in the group. And then Sporting Lisbon would be off to Europa and Legia Warsaw will enjoy a trip to the Bernabeu and Signal Iduna Park as they get to be in the Champions League group stage for the first time since 1995.
Group G – Leicester City (England), Porto (Portugal), Club Brugge (Belgium), Copenhagen (Denmark)
Phillip – 1st Porto, 2nd Leicester, 3rd Brugge, 4th Copenhagen
Harrison – 1st Porto, 2nd Brugge, 3rd Leicester, 4th Copenhagen
Jeff – 1st Porto, 2nd Leicester, 3rd Brugge, 4th Copenhagen
Randy – 1st Porto, 2nd Brugge, 3rd Leicester, 4th Copenhagen
Pauly – 1st Porto, 2nd Leicester, 3rd Brugge, 4th Copenhagen
Group G is all about where Leicester is going to end up. With an expected drop off in performance for the defending Premier League champions this season due to the added competition and loss of N’Golo Kante. It seems as though that the battle for Leicester to make the knockout stage will come down to the showdown against Club Brugge. And that test will start this Wednesday as Leicester play away in Belgium.
Group H – Juventus (Italy), Sevilla (Spain), Olympique Lyon (France), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Phillip – 1st Juventus, 2nd Sevilla, 3rd Lyon, 4th Zagreb
Harrison – 1st Juventus, 2nd Sevilla, 3rd Lyon, 4th Zagreb
Jeff – 1st Juventus, 2nd Sevilla, 3rd Lyon, 4th Zagreb
Randy – 1st Juventus, 2nd Sevilla, 3rd Lyon, 4th Zagreb
Pauly – 1st Juventus, 2nd Sevilla, 3rd Lyon, 4th Zagreb
Last, but not least, Group H has a rather predictable group with the Italian champions Juventus 1st and defending Europa League champions Sevilla in 2nd. Then, Lyon would go to Europa while Zagreb repeats from last year and hopes to scrape as many points as they can and finish 4th.
