Champions League draw: possible Group of Death
As the 2022/23 edition of UEFA’s showpiece competition draws nearer, the idea of four beasts battling it out for two places always catches the imagination.
The draw for the Champions League that takes place on Thursday 25 August in Istanbul contains several tough pairings for all the teams. Not even the seeded ones, those from Pot 1, are likely going to find themselves with easy passage to the knockout stage.
UCL Group of Death: a selection of options
The highest ranked national champions, plus Eintracht Frankfurt, winners of the Europa League, will nervously await what Pots 2 and 3 have in store for them, in which there are top level rivals. Even Pot 4 has one or two rather tricky ties.
In any case, no one is safe. Recently crowned Real Madrid, for example, could be paired with Liverpool (who they overcame in last season’s final), as well as Inter Milan and Marseille in a group that would have all eyes on it. Then again, you could make changes to the top two there and see Man City (1) and Barcelona (2) take their place.
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The UCL teams to avoid in the draw
The three Spanish sides in Pot 2 -- Barcelona, Atlético and Sevilla -- will, of course, avoid last year’s victors thanks to UEFA keeping teams from the same country apart early on. But they could be picked with one of three real favorites for the title: namely Manchester City (Haaland now in place), Bayern Munich or PSG, the latter two having started the season with a bang.
Remember that the top two per group qualify for the round of 16 and the third goes into the Europa League. Having two or three difficult rivals at this first stage in the tournament can complicate the future. The ideal situation, seen by many of the bigger sides, is to be landed with one other top side as you are assured to avoid them in the next round.
Here’s a few potential ‘groups of death’ to watch out for:
- Real Madrid - Tottenham - Dortmund - Marseille
- Man City - Barça - Napoli - Marseille
- Bayern Munich - Liverpool - Inter - Marseille
- PSG - Chelsea - Dortmund - Celtic
Here is the full list of teams and their Pots
But if your team is indeed given a painful looking set of fixtures when the draw is made, take some comfort in several examples of it not mattering one jot.
Take Liverpool’s situation just last season. Paired with Atlético, Milan and Porto, it was considered a serious challenge to qualify. Jürgen Klopp’s side then proceeded to win all six games (with a +11 goal difference), something that no English side has achieved before.