Author: Serg Atrakhov
The draw for the Champions League group stage was made in Monaco. 32 teams were divided into eight groups. The top two clubs from each quartet will advance to the Round of 16. The six group matches are scheduled to take place from September 19 to December 13, 2023.
Group A
Brazilians in the group: Casemiro, Anthony (both first team).
Something incredible would have to happen for Bayern (boosted by Kane) and Manchester not to make it out of this group.
Group B
Brazilians in the group: Gabriel, Jesus, Martinelli (Arsenal), Ramalho (PSV), Fernando (Sevilla).
The clear favorite of the quartet is Arsenal London. In times gone by, Sevilla would have been the second playoff contender, but now the team is in serious financial trouble. As a result, the reigning Europa League winners have sold their best players and have had a terrible start to the season: 4 defeats in 4 games. But since the Spaniards are the “kings of the Europa League”, let’s assume that they will finish third in their group and go on to their favorite tournament, where they will “make noise” out of habit. Let’s suppose that the “Arsenal” company is “Lance”. In the race between runners-up the Netherlands and France, their chances are seen as preferable.
Group C
Brazilians in the group: Jesus, Nathan (Napoli), Militao, Rodrigo, Vinicius (Real), Magalhaes, Carvalho (Braga).
Real Madrid are among the main contenders for the Champions League trophy every season. And Madrid have already achieved this goal 14 times (the most in this tournament). Automatically, we’d like to predict that Italian champions Napoli will go through with them from the group, but Union might not agree with that. The Germans started the season with three wins, scoring 4 goals a game. If they maintain this attitude, they could cause a sensation.
Group D
Brazilians in the group: Morato, Cabral, Neres (Benfica), Carlos Augusto (Inter), Fernando, Douglas Mendez (Salzburg).
Inter Milan, finalists in the last Champions League, had a competent transfer company and should win the group without any problems. Salzburg became Austrian champions for the tenth time in a row last season, but the title of Portugal’s strongest team is more up for grabs. So Benfica, with the help of the Brazilian trio in their line-up, should reach 1/8. Real Sociedad will certainly take a few points off their opponents, but no more than that.
Group E
Brazilians in the group: Paixao (Feyenoord), Lino (Atlético), Felipe Anderson, Marcos Antonio, Andre Anderson (Lazio).
In last year’s draw, Atlético failed, unexpectedly coming last in the group. Madrid has no right to allow this to happen for the second year running. Suppose that, along with Diego Simeone’s team, Lazio, the Italian runners-up, enter the playoffs, leaving the champions of Holland and Scotland behind.
Group F
Brazilians in the group: Marquinhos (PSG), Bruno Guimarães, Joelinton (Newcastle).
The most interesting group. Every team can surprise you. Milan, who reached the semi-finals in the last draw, have strengthened their squad and are now seen as the leaders of the quartet. PSG are putting together a new squad with high-quality players who haven’t yet played together. His chances will depend on Mbape staying at the club for another season. Borussia sold their main star, Bellingham, to Real Madrid, but reinforced Nmecha and Sabitzer. If Dortmund can take advantage of PSG’s restructuring, they should reach 1/8. Newcastle’s Saudi Arabian owners are investing generously in the club’s development (including the purchase of Tonalli from AC Milan), but this is yet to bear fruit this season.
Group G
Brazilians in the group: Ederson (Man City).
There is no intrigue in this quartet. The current winners of the tournament, Man City, should advance to the last 16 with Leipzig. Incidentally, in last season’s Round of 16, City beat the Germans 8:1 on aggregate (1:1, 7:0). The other two clubs are fighting each other for third place and promotion to the Europa League. By the way, it will be interesting to take a look at Josko Gvardiol. This summer, the defender was transferred from Leipzig to Man City for 90 million euros.
Group H
Brazilians in the group: Rafinha (Barcelona), Wendel, Galeno, Pepe (Porto), Pedrinho, Newerton (Shakhtar).
You will probably nominate the club that comes first in this group yourself. And so is the team that will surely come second. In the fight for third place, between the champions of Ukraine and Belgium, Antwerp seem to be the favorites.
Also during the draw, the UEFA Best Player and Best Coach for the 2022/23 season were announced.
In the first nomination, the award went to Manchester City striker Erling Haaland. Last season, he became the top scorer in the Champions League and helped City win the trophy. During the vote, he passed his teammate Kevin De Bruyne and Lionel Messi, who spent last season at PSG.
Josep Guardiola was voted the best coach of last season by UEFA. The choice is obvious – the Spaniard led Man City to victory in three tournaments at the same time: the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League. In this scenario, Simone Inzaghi, who reached the final of the Champions League with Inter Milan, and Luciano Spalletti, who won the Italian Serie A with Napoli, seem more modest.
It’s worth noting that the three finalists were determined by: coaches of the clubs that played in European competitions last season, coaches of the national teams that represent UEFA and various journalists.