Lots of soccer attention, and rightly so, has been focused lately on the USMNT which begins the last round of qualifying for WC 2022 on Thursday. But lets not lose sight of what is typically the highest quality soccer around and this is the UEFA Champions League. The qualifying matches have been completed and the draw held to determine the 8 groups for this seasons play.
The deadline for teams to submit their rosters is September 2nd to give teams time to finalize their plans once the current transfer window closes on August 31st.
(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)
Play begins with Matchday 1 on September 14/15 and concludes with Matchday 6 on December 7/8. Over that 3 month window each team will play a home and home series with the other three teams in their group. Recall that the league is comprised of 8 groups of 4 teams each. When you factor in that all these teams are competing in their domestic leagues and domestic cups concurrently, not to mention duty with their respective national teams, plus the travel its a grueling stretch. This is where the depth of the big clubs becomes difficulty to overcome. The smaller clubs simply don’t have the overall talent and certainly much less depth to handle this as effectively.
The draw for the Round of 16 will be held on December 13th with that round conducted in February and March. The draw for the quarter and semi-finals is held on March 18th with play concluding in April and May. The final will be held on May 28 in Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
With that backdrop lets take a look at this seasons groups and what to expect over the next couple of months.
Group A
Club Brugge/Manchester City/Paris Saint Germain/RB Leipzig
This is a pretty tough group. PSG with the addition of Lionel Messi is clearly the favorite to win the group and the entire competition. An attacking trio of Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe is just hard to defend. Manchester City will be a strong club too but one has to wonder where their goals are going to come from having failed to acquire Harry Kane or another true striker. Leipzig is a very solid team especially defensively and has a legit shot to advance if they can find a way to steal some points on the road. Then there is Club Brugge. In other groups they’d have a shot to advance but with three top tier clubs they face a tough task.
Projection – PSG advances. Man C and Leipzig boils down to how their home and home goes. Brugge goes home.
Key Players – PSG attacking trio. Man C – Kevin DeBruyne and Jack Grealish. RB Leipzig – Yussuf Poulsen and Emil Forsberg
US Players to Watch – Tyler Adams (DM for Leipzig) and Zach Steffen (G Man C)
Group B
AC Milan/Atletico Madrid/FC Porto/Liverpool
Four of the top 6 teams favored to win the title this year are from the EPL. Talk about power and depth, surprisingly enough Liverpool is the lowest rated EPL team to win. But first things first and that is to advance. Liverpool is deep and well coached. They should win the group and advance. AC Milan and Atletico Madrid should be closely matched and fighting for second. Milan having added the experience of Olivier Giroud will be a tough test but they may not have quite the depth as Atletico. Porto is a sound club but not strong enough over the long haul. Probably to be considered the “Group of Death.” Interesting story line in this one is Luis Suarez facing his old club Liverpool. News Flash: Things in this group just got more interesting at the close of the transfer window. Antoine Griezmann has left Barcelona and moved back to Atletico Madrid. Clearly ups Atletico’s chances.
Projection – Liverpool and Atletico Madrid advance
Key Players – Liverpool – Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah, and Naby Keita. Atletico Madrid – Luis Suarez and Kieran Trippier. AC Milan – Brahim Diaz and Giroud. FC Porto – Antonio Martinez and Diego Costa
US Players to Watch – None
Group C
Ajax/Besiktas/Borussia Dortmund/Sporting CP
Three teams in this group are good enough to advance and the one that’s not can still cause trouble. Dortmund and Sporting are the class but Ajax is a young and fast team that presents trouble for opposing defenses. Besiktas is around every year it seems but just not quite up to the needed level. The good news for Dortmund fans is that goal scoring phenom Erling Haaland is staying another season.
Projection – Dortmund’s depth and Ajax. I really like the Dutch youth and speed in a format like this.
Key Players – Dortmund – Haaland, Gio Reyna, and Jude Bellingham. Ajax – Nikita Tromp (watch this kid. Only 19 and he is a very dangerous attacker). Sporting CP – Pole. Besiktas – Mert Gunok (the only way they have a chance is if this keeper pulls a Tim Howard WC 2022 Belgium performance).
US Players to Watch – Reyna (AM for Dortmund)
Group D
FC Sherriff/Internazionale/Real Madrid/Shakhtar Donetsk
This is one of the easiest groups. Two solid European clubs, one nobody, and one who the hell are they? If you are a fan of of real life outsiders breaking barriers then you have to love the feel good story of FC Sherriff. Never heard of them? Don’t worry me neither, in fact even the most ardent soccer fans in Europe haven’t. So how’s this for a storyline. They played themselves into the tournament after winning the Moldovan National Division. Now here’s where it gets weird. Sherriff doesn’t technically even reside in the Moldovian Republic. They are from a breakaway “country” called Transnistria. No I am not making this up. Transnistria isn’t even a recognized country. So while a cool story I’ll be shocked if they earn more than a single draw.
Projection – Real Madrid and Inter
Key Players = Real Madrid – Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale (ok they are deep!). Inter – Arturo Vidal and Edin Dzeko. Shakhtar – Pick a couple of their Brazilians. No I am not kidding they have 11 of them. FC Sherriff – um, well there’s that guy, then ….well never mind.
US Players to Watch – None
Group E
Barcelona/Bayern Munich/Benfica/Dynamo Kiev
Another group with two clear favorites in traditional powerhouses Barca and Bayern. While both Benfica and Kiev can cause some havoc its hard to imagine that the big two won’t move on. Now that said, Barca is a different club these days especially losing Messi. If they or Bayern have an off day then they could get upset, especially by Benfica. Flip side of the news flash update. Barcelona losing Antoine Griezmann is a big blow. Now Barca is still a very strong club but this certainly opens up the chance for somebody to sneak in over them.
Projection – Bayern Munich and Barcelona move on.
Key Players – Barcelona – Memphis Depay and Martin Braithwaite. Bayern Munich – Robert Lewandowski and Manuel Neuer. And then some scrubs like Alphonso Davies, Thomas Mueller, and Joshua Kimmich. I think you get the picture. Benfica – Lucas Verissimo and Nicolas Otemendi. Kiev – Whomever they put in goal.
US Players to Watch – Sergino Dest (RB Barcelona)
Group F
Atalanta/Manchester United/Villareal/Young Boys
An interesting group in that any of these four could advance and in fact could win the group. The story line here is going to be the matchup of Man U and Villareal. Back in May Villareal beat Man U in the Europa League final to win their first major European trophy. Man U, not resting on their laurels just pulled a rabbit out of the hat and are bringing back Cristiano Ronaldo. And with David DeGea back in terrific form they could make a very deep run. The problem for Villareal may be their ability to score enough. Keep and eye though on both Atalanta and Young Boys. If they get on a run they could cause a shakeup in this group.
Prediction – Man U and Villareal have enough to move on but his is a tough group.
Key Players – Atlanta – Matteo Passina. Man U – Bruno Fernandes and the rest of their goal scoring machine. Villareal – Arnaut Danjuma. Young Boys – Meschack Ella and Jordan Pefok (Seibatcheu).
US Players to Watch – Pefok (F Young Boys)
Group G
Lille/Saltzburg/Sevilla/Wolfsburg
My vote for the toughest group. Not because these are powerhouse teams but because all 4 of them could take any spot in the group. Fully expect this one to go down to the final matchday. All four managers have to be happy with this draw as they didn’t get a single big money club in there. So while not the big names many will be familiar with this should be a really fun group to watch. Expect close competitive matches throughout.
Prediction – Sevilla due to a bit more international experience and then pick one (my guess is Wolsfburg).
Key Players – Lille – Jonathan David and Jose Fonte. Saltzburg – Karim Adayemi. Sevilla – Morrocan strikers Youssef En Nesyri and Oussama Idrissi. Wolfsburg – Lukas Nmecha and Maxence Lacroix.
US Players to Watch – Tim Weah (F Lille), Brenden Aaronson (MF Salzburg), and John Brooks (CB Wolfsburg.
Group H
Chelsea/Juventus/Malmo/Zenit St. Petersburg
For a group with two stud clubs this is maybe the easiest one to handicap. Just hard to fathom that any two but the big guns don’t advance. They are too deep, too experienced, too well coached, and just too dang good. Chelsea won it all last year and may be even better with the addition of Romalu Lukaku. And Juventus is still really good even with the loss of Ronaldo.
Prediction – Chelsea and Juventus move on.
Key Players – Chelsea – Lukaku, Mason Mount, and Ben Chilwell. Juventus – Paolo Dybala and Giorgio Chellini. Malmo and Zenit – honestly I don’t know.
US Players to Watch – Christian Pulisic (F Chelsea) and Weston McKennie (MF Juventus)
Soccer Analyst
Steve is an avid fan of all things soccer and the O’s. Originally from the west, he grew up in the Baltimore area. He returned to the west for college where he earned a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University and spent 36 years working at the Idaho National Laboratory prior to retiring in 2013. It was during his school years in Baltimore where he learned to play soccer and that developed into a life long passion. He played competitively for over 40 years and was a four year starting goalkeeper at MSU. He also coached and refereed in the Idaho premier soccer and High School programs for many years.