The UEFA Champions League is almost here. In recent seasons, the premier club competition has been dominated by Spanish sides, with five of the last six finalists – and the last three winners – coming from Spain.
Will this year be any different? Let us go through the teams representing England and Premier League in the competition.
1. Leicester City
The Champions of England – Leicester City will be kicking off their UCL campaign on Tuesday. Since Champions are drawn in Pot 1, it was known that they can get a favourable group. Leicester are in Group G with FC Porto, FC Kobenhavn and Club Brugge.
We cannot rule out Leicester from topping this group but the fans can surely expect them to qualify for Round of 16s. Even a good Europa League run (after finishing third in UCL group) is not out of the equation.
2. Arsenal
Arsenal who finished just behind Leicester last season in the Premier League are in Group A along with the French giant Paris Saint Germain, FC Basel of Switzerland and PFC Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria.
Arsenal can top this group as PSG are under new management and may take time to settle. At the very least Arsenal should qualify for round of 16.
Arsenal can become one of the dark horses for this competition if they top this group.
3. Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs qualified for the Champions League group stages directly by finishing third in the Premier League. They are drawn in Group E along with AS Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen and CSKA Moscow.
This group can be termed as a group of equals and any team can finish in any position. Tottenham will be hoping to qualify from this group and enter the round of 16.
4. Man City
Manchester City reached the group stage of the tournament after going through a playoff phase where they dismantled Steaua Bucharest 6-0 on aggregate. They are drawn in Group C.
Man City will face the Spanish superpower club FC Barcelona, Scottish champions Celtic FC and German side Borussia Monchengladbach. Barcelona and Man City are the favourites in this group. Under Pep Guardiola, Manchester City can compete for the Champions League glory.
Premier League clubs will hoping to give better performances this season in the UEFA Champions League and reach the deeper stages of the competition.
Lancey5times
Guest
And so your belief that Arsenal are smokeys to take out the whole thing is based on them avoiding good teams rather than beating them? Your logic would make sense if you felt they were smokeys to make it out of the round of 16 for the first time since Adam played fullback for Jerusalem if the draw fell favourably but at some stage they are going to play a good side/a side in form. This is where they will struggle. I do think however that the comp they will be most proud of this season is the UCL. I don't see them making a final in any of the English cups and have them as low as 7th in the EPL.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Yeah pretty much on the money there. I think you're pretty kind to put Tottenham in that 3rd tier even haha.
AZ_RBB
Guest
You're kidding right. They had one of the greatest GKs of all time. Easily the best back line in the world. A midfield that included Pogba, Pirlo and Vidal. Then two brilliant strikers in the form of Morata and Tevez. Might have lacked the depth on the bench but an extraordinary best XI. They were beaten by one of the best teams I have ever seen take the field. Probably only bested by the team that won the 2011 Final.
AZ_RBB
Guest
and then came Fellaini.
SVB
Guest
Yes, that 1991 Cup Winners Cup team had Hughes, Ince, McClair etc, then came Cantona around 93, to the Scholes, Giggs and Beckam era in the late 90's. Then in the 2000's it went to Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy etc and so on.
Swanny
Guest
Scholes Beckham era began in 1996 ish. English teams weren't allowed back into Europe until 1991. man united win the final against Barcelona in the Europa cup of the time in 1991 So like I said they made 4 champion league finals in the scholes era in and Rinaldo helped also. But he kinda helps Real Madrid too . Great era for United.
Aneesh Chandoke
Roar Pro
haha yes i am a fan of Arsenal but I am not being biased here. My logic is that Atletico can beat Bayern and Dortmund can beat Real Madrid. In RO 16 Bayern then can face Barca Juventus etc. To win UCL luck is very important. Remember Juventus reached UCL final when they were not even top 4 material?
SVB
Guest
In the 90's they only made Champions League final once. They had better success in the 2000's making finals when Ronaldo joined the club.
Swanny
Guest
That united team made the champions league final 4 times in 11 years. That's a great result really in such a tough competition . Can't win em all .
punter
Guest
Hard to disagree there.
Brian
Guest
Man Cty an outside chance. Top 3 teams again looks to be Real Madrid, Barca & Bayern There's a 2nd tier which could win if a lot of stars line up. In that category I would include Man Cty as well as Atletico, Dortmund Juventus and Paris. Then you could add a theoritical 3rd tier who in a Leicester like run could win Arsenal, Tottenham, Napoli, Monaco, Porto, Sevilla
pauly
Guest
Yeah nah
Mark
Guest
I thought exactly the same thing. To cut the author some slack, it seems he's a fan of theirs, and we always like to think our teams have a chance. I, on the other hand, am not a fan of the Gunners, and I will be more brutal...they have no hope. They will be lucky to be a top 4 side in England this year and another Round of 16 exit from the Champions League looks a safe bet. Finishing outside the top 4 in England and/or not getting through the Group Stage in the Champions League would be a blessing for Gunners fans. It might wake the club management out of its long-running malaise. As to the chances of all the English teams, I totally agree with the person who said except for Man City, they're making up the numbers.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Interesting piece. You start with the question of whether an EPL club can win the Champions League, and then just analyse their groups and for the most part state they would be hoping they should be able to at least finish top 2 in their group and reach the round of 16. Hardly an analysis of any of those teams chances of winning the Champions League.
SVB
Guest
Buddy I think that team was a very good team. So good that they won the treble in 99 (League, FA Cup and European Cup). But there were teams like Juventus who had a Del Piero or Zidane who could destroy you with a single strike or bit of cunning play. Similar to today how you have a Messi or Ronaldo. So I don't think they necessarily should have made more finals. I remember Ferguson and Man Utd supporters were dying to win the Euro title because they were so dominant in the English league. It was like climbing Everest and getting to the top. No other English team had done anything similar for a long time.
punter
Guest
This Gunners team name always gets me into moderation.
punter
Guest
Yes agree with Man City, that 1st half was probably one of the best I have seen a English side completely dominate a quality rival. However, credit to Mourinho to change that in the 2nd half. Mourinho knows how to beat Barcelona, Guadiola doesn't have the players he had at Barcelona, food for thought on who may be better equipped to go futher in the competition. But yes Man city were awesome in 1st half last weekend.
punter
Guest
While Portugal played some boring football, they do have quality, they were able to hold the ball & move when they wanted to, this was very smart. Only Man City & Arsenal, maybe Chelsea can hold the ball in the EPL in the same way that Portugal does. It was the English media again, who were the biggest complainers of the style of the Portuguese play. They have no idea. There was a trophy at the end of their boring madness. Now for either of this team to beat Barcelona, they need to play like Portugal against Barcelona, even Real Madrid plays likes this against Barcelona. No-one can out Barcelona, Barcelona.
SVB
Guest
There's always been a naivety about the English punter. Saying that, after watching Man City over the weekend, I do give them a slight chance in the UCL. They have some players who could well cause problems for the other big European clubs.
Buddy
Guest
SVB - well 99 came down to 5 minutes of madness one way or another but as a follower of a team that has been in the mix year after year do you feel as a supporter that they should have been in more finals? Do you reckon their hearts are in it throughout the club? When you talk to english fans, there seems to be far more emphasis on the EPL title in terms of desire to win than on Europe, or if you prefer, the EPL appears to be the main goal and anything else is just a bonus and a way of raking in some extra cash. There have been some notable exceptions when teams have really looked single minded and wholly focussed but for the most part that does not appear to be the case...at least that's my reading. Maybe it reflects Brexit......... They don't really want to be part of it, but like some of the trappings!