Champions League draw: Easy start for defending champions Real Madrid; Barca get Bayern again

The Champions League draw took place in Istanbul on Thursday with Yaya Toure and Hamit Altintop assisting in picking teams out of pots and sending them into their groups. There was something rather comforting in seeing Toure neatly taking off the top portion of the ball and Altintop focusing on the lower part. While the duo went about their job neatly, what didn’t change were some of the matchups. Death, Taxes and Bayern Munich-Barcelona as the saying goes. Or should go. The same could also be said for Real Madrid-Shakhtar Donetsk, Liverpool-Napoli, Borussia Dortmund-Manchester City, Dortmund-Sevilla. Haven’t we seen this before?

Let’s dive into the groups and what it means for the teams in Europe’s elite football competition. Group A (Liverpool, Ajax, Napoli, Rangers)

Liverpool finished runners-up in the last year’s edition while going for the quadruple. That high feels a distant memory after a dismal start to the league campaign with long list of injuries not helping at all. Jurgen Klopp-managed Liverpool have been to three of the past five Champions League finals and won one (losing the remaining two to Real Madrid). Ajax, who have caused upsets in Europe recently, are moving on after five seasons under Erik ten Hag. Now managed by Alfred Schreuder, they’ve lost quite a few talented players such as Lisandro Martinez, Sebastien Haller, Noussair Mazraoui with Antony likely to join in.

Napoli were in the running for the Serie A title but that faded rather badly later on. Facing criticism, the club have bolstered their attacking options with Georgian wonderkid Khvicha Kvaratskhelia joining forces with Victor Osimhen. Rangers are back in the Champions League group stage for the first time in 12 years, having climbed back from the Scottish fourth tier after going into liquidation. They beat PSV Eindhoven to book their place in the main competition. Prediction: 1. Liverpool, 2. Napoli, 3. Ajax, 4. Rangers Group B (Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge)

Porto and Atletico Madrid will battle for a second straight year. The Portuguese champions, for three years running, are embarking on their 25th group stage campaign —- second only to Real Madrid and Barcelona (26). Diego Simeone is into his second decade at the helm of Atletico. After a dreadful defence of league title, the Argentine has the challenge of becoming more progressive with club’s financial situation not in the best shape. Bayer Leverkusen scored a club-record 80 goals to finish third in the Bundesliga last season, but have had a miserable start to the campaign. They’re currently bottom of the table, without a point, through three games. Club Brugge, champions of Belgium in each of the past three years, have found the step up to the Champions League difficult to handle. They conceded four goals or more in four straight group matches last season. Prediction: 1. Atletico Madrid, 2. Porto, 3. Bayer Leverkusen, 4. Club Brugge Group C (Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen)

The Robert Lewandowski group. The group of death. Quite easily the most tantalising group of the draw. Between Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan there are 14 Champions League titles. For Barcelona, it is an opportunity to take revenge. Payback for the defeats last season (3-0 both home and away) and the more damaging 8-2 in the 2020 quarter-final. Both teams have made smart signings in the summer but the highlight is Lewandowski going back to the Allianz after switching to Nou Camp. With the prolific Pole gone, Bayern have not dropped in intensity and scored 15 goals after three games with arrival of Sadio Mane from Liverpool. But then again, domestic success is not an issue for Bayern . Despite financial issues, Barcelona have made multiple summer signings in an attempt at being competitive once again. After a disappointing draw, Barcelona grabbed a win with fit-again Ansu Fati proving decisive. Three-time European champions Inter hope the partnership of Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez can take them to supremacy. The Nerazzurri have won just one knockout tie since claiming a treble in 2010. Incidentally, in that season Inter went through Barcelona and Bayern to clinch the title. Czech champions Viktoria Plzen have never progressed from the group stage in three previous attempts. Prediction: 1. Bayern Munich, 2. Barcelona, 3. Inter Milan, 4. Viktoria Plzen Group D (Tottenham, Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon, Marseille) For 2019 runners-up Tottenham Hotspur , the draw is largely favourable. Of all the teams in Pot 2, they’ve drawn Europa League champions Eintracht Frankfurt. Boosted by the arrival of Richarlison, Yves Bissouma and Ivan Perisic under Antonio Conte, Spurs will fancy their chances of progressing. Frankfurt return to Europe’s top table for the first time since losing the 1960 European Cup final to Real Madrid. They finished 11th last season and have started slowly. Oliver Glasner-managed side lost the UEFA Super Cup to Madrid and are yet to win in three Bundesliga games. Sporting continue to play catch up with Porto in the Portuguese league having lost to them 3-0 already. Ruben Amorim’s team finished in the last-16 last season. Marseille, who finished second in Ligue 1 last season, have made some interesting-looking signings in Alexis Sanchez and Mateo Guendouzi. The French team have lost 11 of 12 games in the competition since making the quarters 10 years ago. Side note: Marseille vs Frankfurt would be a nightmare for police and stewards in both cities. Lest there be a stadium ban even before it takes place. Prediction: 1. Tottenham, 2. Marseille, 3. Sporting, 4. Frankfurt Group E (AC Milan, Chelsea, Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb)

2021 Champions League winners Chelsea will be favourites in a group that looks comfortable on paper. Such is Premier League’s financial might that even the Serie A champions (AC Milan) look significantly meek in comparison. For Chelsea, the biggest hurdle is in finding goals and they’re likely to add in that department before the transfer window is shut. Milan won the Scudetto for the first time in 11 years last season and the next logical target is European success. It has been 10 years since the Rossoneri reached the Champions League quarter-finals. They returned last year after seven seasons away but exited in the group stage. But this draw means they can have no excuses this time around. Salzburg made it to the last-16 last season before losing to Bayern Munich. Domestically, they claimed a ninth consecutive Austrian title. However, they have since lost key players in top scorer Karim Adeyemi to Dortmund and both Rasmus Kristensen and Brenden Aaronson to Leeds United. 10 players have left in the summer. Dinamo Zagreb make up the group having come through three qualifying rounds. Their record – three wins in last 33 group games – suggests they will be whipping boys. But they’ve won 16 of the past 17 Croatian league titles so they’ve got that going for them. Stat: One has to go back to 1999 to find the last meeting between Chelsea and Milan in the group stage. Prediction: 1. Chelsea, 2. AC Milan, 3. Salzburg, 4. Dinamo Zagreb [caption id=“attachment_11121441” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] UEFA Champions League group stage draw for the 2022-23 season was conducted in Istanbul, Turkey. AP[/caption] Group F (Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic) Defending champions Real Madrid should have few problems getting through the group stage once again. But it shouldn’t be forgotten that they lost at home to Sheriff Tiraspol last season, or that they lost both games against Shakhtar in 2020. This is the third consecutive season in which the teams from Spain and Ukraine have been drawn together. For Shakhtar, it will be an emotional setting given Ukraine is in the midst of a war against Russia and are being forced to play their ‘home’ games in Warsaw, Poland. RB Leipzig have enjoyed some fine European results in recent years. They’ve kept hold of star player Christopher Nkunku and added Timo Werner, so they should progress. Scotland’s Celtic will hope to make an impression on their return to the group stage after five years. Stat: Real Madrid have progressed from the group stage for 30 consecutive years Prediction: 1. Real Madrid, 2. Leipzig, 3. Shakhtar, 4. Celtic Group G (Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, FC Copenhagen)

Like Lewandowski’s return, this group is highlighted by Erling Haaland’s visit to Borussia Dortmund. The Norwegian striker was brought in to push towards Champions League glory and the games could suggest the gulf between the two teams. It could also make clear that City will go through comfortably. Sevilla have struggled in the Champions League while enjoying so much success in the second-tier Europa League. To make things tougher, they’ve lost defensive pillars Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos in the close season. The race for the second spot should come between Dortmund and Sevilla with Copenhagen expected to make up the numbers. The Danes are in their first group-stage campaign since 2016. They have lost three of their first six games in the Danish Superliga. Stat: 1997 champions Dortmund were knocked out in the group stage last season but in 2021 they defeated Sevilla in the last-16 before then losing to City. Prediction: 1. Manchester City, 2. Borussia Dortmund, 3. Sevilla, 4. Copenhagen Group H (Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa)

PSG vs Juventus has never been played before in the Champions League. It will be interesting to see how they measure up, with the Parisians looking formidable at the start of this season and Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi in fine form. Juventus, who finished fourth in Serie A last season, have strengthened with Angel Di Maria, Paul Pogba and Brazilian defender Bremer. For the Italians, the hurdle will be the last-16 where they’ve tripped for three years running. If they do fall short again, Benfica will be waiting to pounce, just like last season when they reached the knockouts at Barcelona’s expense. They named German Roger Schmidt as their manager after coming third in the Portuguese league last season and have lost star man Darwin Nunez to Liverpool. The group could well be defined by how well Benfica do against Juventus and PSG. If they’re able to squeeze points from both or either, it could make things very tricky. Maccabi Haifa are making their first group-stage appearance since 2009 and are the lowest-ranked side in the competition. Prediction: 1. PSG, 2. Juventus, 3. Benfica, 4. Maccabi Haifa Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .