UEFA Champions League: Which group is toughest?

Published by William | Filed under Football (aka soccer), Predictions

UEFA Champions League – Odds | Fixtures | League Table | News


Obviously, when you make it to the Champions League group stage, the competition stiffens as you enter play with Europe’s best clubs. However, some of this year’s groups, on paper, appear a little more tricky than others. In this post, we rank which groups are most competitive and will come down to the final games to see who advances to the round of 16.


1. Group F: Barcelona | Inter Milan | Dynamo Kiev | Rubin Kazan


This group pretty much speaks for itself. Last year’s treble winning club Barcelona and the 4-time running Scudetto champions Inter Milan? Sorry Kiev and Kazan, maybe next year…


2. Group A: Bayern Munich | Juventus | Girondins de Bordeaux | Maccabi Haifa


Girondins de Bordeaux are the defending French Ligue 1 champions and currently sit atop the league standings. European juggernauts Bayern Munich and Juventus are predicted by many experts to take home the Bundesliga and Serie A crowns this season, respectively. That means a very good football club is going to go home disappointed this year (no offense Maccabi).


3. Group C: Real Madrid | AC Milan | Olympique de Marseille | FC Zurich


Real Madrid are the clear cut favorites to finish atop this group. Despite Milan’s slow start to the 2009-10 Serie A season, they seem to be somewhat coming together while Marseille is arguably the most dangerous team representing France. Depending on how Milan decides to play, this second spot is certainly up for grabs.


4. Group E: Liverpool | Olympique de Lyonnais | Fiorentina | Debreceni


This group is tough for me to call, especially after Liverpool’s 1-0 close call to Hungarian champs Debreceni. The Reds should make it out of this group alive considering how they have performed of late, I wouldn’t be surprised if they make the Anfield faithful sweat. Meanwhile, both Lyon and Fiorentina have had impressive starts to their seasons and Debreceni has shown that they will not bow down to anyone. To me, this groups is pretty wide open.


5. Group G: Sevilla | Glasgow Rangers | VFB Stuttgart | Unirea Urziceni


In my opinion, this group is perhaps the most balanced out of the entire group stage. Sevilla is probably the most talented, led by Brazilians Luis Fabiano and Renato. But not far behind are Scottish champions Rangers and dangerous German club Stuttgart. The only problem is that overall, this group lacks the juggernaut strength of the others.


6. Group B: Manchester United | VFL Wolfsburg | Besiktas JK | CSKA Moscow


Defending Premiership champions Manchester United should have little problem advancing to the round of 16 for the “god only knows” how many years in a row. Defending Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg on the other hand, have not yet been able to find the stride that carried them to the title last season. Additionally, Turkish champions Besiktas and Russian champions CSKA Moscow are two dangerous teams that could certainly make some noise if they decide to show up.


7. Group H: Arsenal | Olympiakos | Standard Liege | Alkmaar


The team that still remains the biggest mystery to me in all of Europe is Arsenal. I was totally against them coming into the season and was convinced this would be the year they drop out of England’s top 4. After falling behind early to Belgian champs Standard Liege 2-0, the Gunners managed to come back and win thanks to 3 unanswered goals. With the sporadic Gunners being heralded as this group’s favorites, you can’t consider this group as very competitive.


8. Group D: Chelsea | Atletico Madrid | FC Porto | Apoel Nicosia


The Premiership leaders Chelsea should breeze through this group with absolutely no problem. Atletico Madrid has yet to claim their first La Liga victory and sits among the bottom 3 of the league table. FC Porto looked decent against Chelsea but still doesn’t possess the fire power to compete with the rest of the big boys in the round of 16. Apoel is struggling in their own Cypriot league so not much hope for them either.