It’s that time of the year again. The 2018/19 Champions League is just around the corner, with the draw for the group stages taking place Thursday evening.
The qualifying rounds were concluded on Wednesday night and we now know the 32 teams that will be taking part in this year’s competition.
Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool make up the English sides competing in the tournament, but there will be no representation from Scotland, with Celtic crashing out in the third qualifying round after being beaten by AEK Athens.
When is the Champions League draw?
The draw will take place in Monaco at 18.00 CET on Thursday evening. One team is drawn from each pot, but no team can play a club from their own association at this stage – as well as Russian and Ukrainian teams being kept separate – meaning none of the English teams will feature in the same group.
The first group matches are to be played on September 18/19.
Below, Squawka have drawn up the best and worst case scenarios for each of the English teams involved in Thursday’s Champions League draw.
Manchester City
Last season’s Premier League champions feature in pot 1 of the draw, along with the holders Real Madrid, last season’s Europa League winners Atletico Madrid and the five other champions of the UEFA’s six highest ranked national leagues.
Best possible group
Pot 1: Manchester City (England)
Pot 2: Benfica (Portugal)
Pot 3: Ajax (Netherlands)
Pot 4: Club Brugge KV (Belgium)
There would be no complaints from Pep Guardiola if City somehow managed a draw like this. At one stage, it didn’t look like Benfica were going to qualify at all. They found themselves 2-1 down on aggregate away to Greek side PAOK at one point on Wednesday evening but fought back to win 4-1 on the night and 5-2 on aggregate.
Ajax fell short of winning the Dutch league title last season and have struggled in the Champions League in recent years, whilst Club Brugge have featured in the group stages of the competition just one since 2005.
Worst possible group
Pot 1: Manchester City (England)
Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Pot 3: Valencia (Spain)
Pot 4: Inter (Italy)
This group would present City with some very difficult challenges and give Guardiola a real headache in terms of prioritising Premier League and Champions League matches.
Dortmund look as if they could fire under new manager Lucien Favre this season, Valencia were well worth their fourth-placed finish in La Liga last season and Luciano Spalletti’s Inter Milan side will be looking to impress on their long-awaited return to the Champions League.
Manchester United
It’s been an underwhelming start to the Premier League season for Jose Mourinho’s side, but United will be desperate to improve on their lacklustre display in last season’s competition, where they crashed out in the last-16 at the hands of Sevilla. United have the third-highest coefficient ranking in pot 2, behind Borussia Dortmund and Porto.
Best possible group
Pot 1: Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)
Pot 2: Manchester United (England)
Pot 3: Ajax (Netherlands)
Pot 4: Club Brugge KV (Belgium)
United’s inclusion in pot 2 does, of course, mean that they will come up against a pot 1 side, a pot that is jam-packed with some of Europe’s elite clubs, bar one. Lokomotiv Moscow, last season’s Russian Premier League winners, will be the side that most clubs hope to be drawn against from the top pot.
Worst possible group
Pot 1: Real Madrid (Spain)
Pot 2: Manchester United (England)
Pot 3: Lyon (France)
Pot 4: Inter (Italy)
The nightmare group for United. This draw would see Jose Mourinho face two of his former clubs. Real Madrid have lost Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus but are still the team that always seem to perform in this competition.
Lyon feature in the group stages for the first time since 2015. Their counter-attacking style of play could cause United problems, though, and the retention of Nabil Fekir following the collapse of his proposed move to Liverpool could be significant.
Tottenham
Mauricio Pochettino’s side have the second-lowest coefficient ranking in pot 2, but they won’t mind one bit. By featuring in this group, Spurs avoid potential clashes with the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Napoli.
Best possible group
Pot 1: Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)
Pot 2: Tottenham (England)
Pot 3: Ajax (Netherlands)
Pot 4: AEK Athens (Greece)
You would think that playing a side like Ajax would suit Tottenham down to the ground. Their open, expansive style should play right into their hands, with Spurs’ superior players giving them the edge.
AEK Athens did win the Greek Super League last season but would still be a favourable draw for the English sides.
Worst possible group
Pot 1: Barcelona (Spain)
Pot 2: Tottenham (England)
Pot 3: Lyon (France)
Pot 4: Inter (Italy)
Where Spurs’ quality should see them get past an open, expansive side like Ajax, playing Barcelona could easily work the opposite way. Pochettino’s side would probably fancy their chances up against Real Madrid again, having beaten them last season, but we think Barcelona would probably be too big a challenge.
Liverpool
The Reds only just missed out on a place in pot 2 after Benfica came back to beat PAOK on Wednesday night. Had PAOK qualified, Liverpool would have been pushed up to pot 2. But given their excellent showing in last season’s Champions League, Jürgen Klopp may not be too bothered.
Best possible group
Pot 1: Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)
Pot 2: FC Porto (Portugal)
Pot 3: Liverpool (England)
Pot 4: Young Boys (Switzerland)
FC Porto will have bad, bad memories of their last Champions League tie with Liverpool, which came last season, of course. An enthralling display from the Reds in Portugal, lead by a Sadio Mané hat-trick, saw them brush Porto aside with a 5-0 first leg victory.
The Reds will also look back fondly on their last clash with Young Boys in 2012, with a Jonjo Shelvey brace giving them a 5-3 victory in Bern.
Worst possible group
Pot 1: Atletico Madrid (Spain)
Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Pot 3: Liverpool (England)
Pot 4: Inter (Italy)
What a group this would be. A clash between Atletico Madrid and Liverpool would be a hugely intriguing contest. If the Reds could break down Diego Simeone’s trusty backline in the same way they have plenty of other sides in the last year, then they really could be a strong contender to go one better than last season and win this years tournament.
A tie against Borussia Dortmund would, of course, be a special match for Jürgen Klopp. We all remember how that Europa League quarter-final ended in 2016.
The post Champions League draw: best and worst possible groups for Man City, Man Utd, Spurs and Liverpool appeared first on Squawka News.
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