Predicted lineup: 1 Liverpool 2 Napoli 3 Ajax 4 Rangers
Group B
What Team B lacks in star power it makes up for in intrigue. Sérgio Conçeiçao’s Porto have become typically difficult opponents in recent years, knocking out Juventus last season. There has been the usual summer flux at the Portuguese champions, with six players leaving, including Fabio Vieira to Arsenal, and four coming in, but their domestic form so far has not been affected, with three wins from three in the league. For Atletico, the story is telling whether Diego Simeone can develop into a more progressive style, with financial pressures starting to bite. Bayer Leverkusen finished third in the Bundesliga and have largely held this team together, but this campaign has started with four straight defeats. Club Brugge are Belgian champions, but with Karl Hoefkens replacing Schroeder as manager, it looks like a season of transition. Predicted lineup: 1 Porto 2 Atletico 3 Leverkusen 4 Brugge
Group C
Arguably the most glittering group, with 14 titles between the sides. For Barcelona, Bayern, who beat them twice in the group stage last season and caused them to lose 8-2 in the 2020 quarter-finals, is a useful test. After years of stagnation, Barça are perhaps ready to compete with the elite again, having brought in Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessié, Andreas Christensen and Jules Koundé in a frankly inexplicable and very risky spending spree. Inter beat Barca and Bayern on their way to the 2010 title and have replicated the Romelu Lukaku-Lautaro Martinez partnership. Bayern, having signed Sadio Mané and Matthijs de Ligt, have started the season winning three out of three, but domestic form is rarely a problem. Czech champions Viktoria Plzen make up the group. Predicted lineup: 1 Bayern 2 Barca 3 Inter 4 Plzen
Group D
For Tottenham, the draw could have been worse. They have the pitch, they have the manager and with the arrival of Richarlison, Yves Bissuma and Ivan Perisic they can now seriously challenge again, but in terms of their progress perhaps most importantly they have drawn Eintracht Frankfurt, the weakest of Pot 1 .sides. They finished 11th in the Bundesliga last season, lost Filip Kostic and haven’t won a league game yet this season. Sporting finished six points behind Porto last season and have already lost 3-0 this season. Add in a 3-3 draw with Braga on the opening day and there are big concerns for Ruben Amorim’s side. After last season’s second-place finish, Marseille spent a tidy £60m to add Alexis Sánchez, Jordan Veretout, Chancel Mbemba and Mateo Guendouzi. Predicted lineup: 1 Tottenham 2 Marseille 3 Sporting 4 Eintracht
Group E
Winning the Scudetto for the first time in 11 years was a first step in restoring Milan’s greatness. Next up is European progress — but it’s 10 years since Milan last reached the quarter-finals. Divock Origi and Charles De Ketelaere have arrived to bolster the attack, but the most significant transfer activity may be the departure of Franck Kessié. Chelsea have been maddeningly inconsistent already this season and will likely add to their squad before the window closes, but the biggest problem remains the lack of a consistent goalscorer. RB Salzburg reached the “16” for the first time last season, but their existence remains Sisyphean, building a squad and then selling their best talent: 10 players left this summer. Dinamo Zagreb remain trapped between the levels: they have won 16 of the last 17 Croatian titles, but have won just three of their 36 group matches. Predicted lineup: 1 Chelsea 2 AC Milan 3 Salzburg 4 Dynamo Start your evenings with the Guardian’s view of the world of football Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Group F
Perhaps the most notable aspect of Group F is that, despite the war, Shakhtar are able to take part, despite playing home games in Warsaw, having lost a large number of players after FIFA allowed them to terminate their contracts. The visit of the European champions, Real Madrid, will be exciting. How good Madrid is remains unclear. Their success last season seemed less the result of any grand plan than Karim Benzema’s finishing, Thibaut Courtois’ goalkeeping and an unrelenting confidence. Casemiro left, with Aurélien Tchouameni and Antonio Rüdiger arriving. RB Leipzig lost Nordi Mukiele and Tyler Adams and gained Timo Werner, but had a difficult start, picking up just two points from three games. Celtic, much improved under Ange Postecoglou, have a reasonable chance of a notable win or two and maybe even second. Predicted lineup: 1 Real Madrid 2 Leipzig 3 Celtic 4 Shakhtar Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema has been named UEFA Men’s Player of the Year following the Champions League group stage draw. Photo: Kristian Skeie/Uefa/Getty Images
Group C
The obvious headline is the meeting between Erling Haaland and Borussia Dortmund, the club he left for Manchester City. It is to win the Champions League that he has signed in a big way as City look to find more toughness in front of goal in the most difficult games. However, they are unlikely to reach the group stage. Dortmund, who have replaced Haaland with Sebastian Haller and Anthony Modeste, remain inconsistent under Jurgen Klopp’s former assistant Edin Terzic. Sevilla had a vague title challenge for a time in Spain last season, but defeat to Osasuna and then a draw at home to Real Valladolid suggests a repeat is unlikely despite a summer where the only player of real importance who missed out was center back Diego. Carlos. Copenhagen return to the group stage after a six-year hiatus. Predicted lineup: 1 Manchester City 2 Dortmund 3 Sevilla 4 Copenhagen
Group H
Benfica’s quality will determine Group H. Roger Schmidt’s side have made an impressive start to the season, knocking out Midland and Dynamo Kyiv in the play-offs by an aggregate score of 12-2. If they get points from the Pot 1 and 2 sides, the group could be very difficult. PSG have scored 17 goals in their first three league games as Lionel Messi has been rejuvenated. But forging the opposition in Ligue 1 is not the highest level of European competition. Juventus are desperate to return to former glory after finishing fourth in each of the last two seasons. Paul Pogba, Ángel Di María and Filip Kostic arrived with Matthijs de Ligt, Aaron Ramsey and Paulo Dybala departing. Maccabi Haifa, in their first group stage appearance in 13 years, are the lowest ranked team in the competition. Predicted lineup: 1 PSG 2 Juventus 3 Benfica 4 Maccabi Haifa
