Hello all, and welcome back for a big one! Today I’ve had the idea to try and predict the full standings of each group in this year’s Champions League. There are some newcomers to the competition in first time participants Royal Antwerp and Union Berlin, as well as some returning clubs who have taken a bit of a hiatus from UEFA’s premier competition in recent years like Arsenal! Will Manchester City repeat as champions of Europe, or will we see a new team take the glory? Below are the results of this year’s Champion’s League draw.

The clear “Group of Death” here is Group F, containing Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Newcastle United. Manchester City got a typically Manchester City-like draw, with their strongest opponents being RB Leipzig, a team which they smashed 8-1 on aggregate in last season’s Round of 16. Barcelona finally avoided Bayern Munich in the group stage, much to the delight of the culers. Their eternal rivals, and record winners of this competition, Real Madrid, were drawn into an interesting group with post-Spaletti Napoli, Braga, and Union Berlin. Now how will these groups look after the group stage (according to me)?

Group A

Bayern Munich. Ok, we can move on now. This group should be interesting to see if Galatasaray can manage to beat Manchester United to the 2nd qualification spot in this group. I think it’s almost a foregone conclusion that Bayern will top this group, especially with Harry Kane filling the squad’s greatest hole from last season. Early on in England, Manchester United have looked predictable and uninspiring. If Wolves were able to figure out United within the opening 15 minutes of their match, I have little doubt that the likes of Bayern and Galatasaray will be able to do the same. I’m sorry to Copenhagen, as I’d love to see them do well, but I do not see them having a great chance at qualifying to the next round or the Europa League. The matches between Galatasaray and United will likely determine who moves on from this group, so keep your eye on those fixtures.

Group B

In Arsenal’s return to the Champions League, they have been given a fairly reasonable group with PSV Eindhoven, Sevilla, and RC Lens. PSV Eindhoven have gotten worse since last season, losing several key players including Xavi Simons. Sevilla are the resident Europa League owners, and seem destined to continue the cycle of: Win Europa League, qualify for Champion’s League, finish 3rd in your UCL group and get sent to Europa League, Win Europa League… you get the idea. RC Lens are a very exciting young team that are certainly one to watch, but their task to qualify out of this group is a difficult one. Arsenal should be considered favorites to top this group, with PSV and Lens competing for the 2nd spot. No matter who gets that 2nd spot, Sevilla will finish 3rd and go win the Europa League. It’s just football heritage.

Group C

Group C looks to bring exciting football in all of its fixtures. UCL-debutants Union Berlin bring a high-energy style of play, and will look to disrupt the favorites to advance alongside SC Braga and their flair-filled Portuguese squad. The favorites, Real Madrid and Napoli, will both be looking to improve upon last season’s performances: Madrid looking towards the final in Carlo Ancelotti’s last season as manager, and Napoli looking to do themselves more justice than their R16 exit last year. Expect Victor Osimhen to bag the most goals in this group, but for Real Madrid to finish 1st.

Group D

Last season’s finalists, Inter Milan, return to the Champion’s League in a group with Benfica, Real Sociedad, and RB Salzburg. Inter are not the same team they were last year, but look to be a strong team still. Benjamin Pavard, Yann Sommer, Marcus Thuram, Juan Cuadrado, Kristjan Asllani, and Yann Bisseck have all come in to help balance out the losses of Andre Onana, Marcelo Brozovic, Gozens, Dzeko, and Milan Skriniar. Their competition to top Group D are a familiar foe, Benfica, who Inter Milan faced in the quarterfinals of last year’s competition. Benfica have also added some talent to their roster, acquiring Orkun Kokcu from Feyenoord, Arthur Cabral from Fiorentina, as well as David Jurasek, Anatoliy Trubin, Angel Di Maria, and Juan Bernat. Roger Schmidt’s side will be looking to get revenge on Inter, and finish first in this group. I don’t believe Real Sociedad or RB Salzburg should pose much of a threat to the top 2 of Group D.

Group E

Group E isn’t the most exciting one on paper. Feyenoord is the most appealing side to a neutral fan to watch, with Arne Slot’s side enjoying some attacking football. Atletico Madrid however, are not known for that. Diego Simeone’s squad play to win their battles and get results, not to entertain the fans. I believe they will do just that, and get the results needed to advance over Lazio and Celtic. Celtic look much worse than the side that qualified for this competition, with Brendan Rogers replacing Ange Postecoglu as manager and results falling off as a result. I predict Feyenoord and Atletico to finish tied on points at the top of the group, with just goal differential putting Feyenoord on top.

Group F

Sandro Tonali’s return to the San Siro, Ousmane Dembele, Alexander Isak, and Christian Pulisic’s returns to Signal-Iduna Park, and two of football’s modern day oil tycoons, Group F has it all. Newcastle United return to the Champion’s League and are immediately given a warm welcome with this draw. It is extremely difficult to predict how this group will turn out, with the only thing I’m sure of being that PSG will not win the Champion’s League. As much as I’m reluctant to praise a team that has a budget higher than many countries GDP, the transfers completed by PSG this summer have been solid business and in my opinion, enough to get them out of this tough group. AC Milan are not the most inspiring side here, still not as strong as their rivals Inter, and unlikely to qualify out of this group after selling their best player (Sandro Tonali) to another team in their UCL group. While it is nothing against Dortmund, they are in a group with 2 clubs owned by an entire country’s government and all the wealth that comes with it, and last seasons semi-finalists. I find it hard to see a future where Dortmund is able to finish in the top 2 here, but they could certainly sneak into the Europa League place in 3rd.

Group G

Manchester City were given a gift again by UEFA, and have little to no excuse for not winning 6 of 6 games in this group. Reigning treble-winners and holders of arguably the best squad in the world, RB Leipzig, Crvena Zvezda and Young Boys are going to be up against it. One of these teams will get the 2nd qualification spot, and for me it is between Leipzig and Crvena Zvezda. The away trip to Serbia is difficult for anyone, and Leipzig could struggle, leaving a window for the Serbs to qualify out of this group. Young Boys, representing Switzerland, have a promising team with some exciting young players to watch, but will not be expecting much in this group draw. Here’s hoping Manchester City’s draws for the knockouts won’t be as easy.

Group H

It only seems right that after finally avoiding Bayern in their UCL group, Barcelona will go on to top the group. Porto have a strong team, but have also lost their best player Otavio to the Saudi League, and do not have José Mourinho as manager. It’s not 2004, unfortunately for Porto. I think they will still be strong enough to make it out of the group, although a stumble against Royal Antwerp could give the debuting club a route to the knockouts. Shakhtar Donetsk will simply be happy to be here and taking a trip to the Camp Nou and Estadio de Dragao.

So, there’s my predictions for the group stages. To summarize, here are the teams I think will move on to the knockout stages of the 2023/2024 UEFA Champions League. Since the knockout stages will be drawn following the conclusion of the group stage, I cannot predict what the matchups will be at this point.

Final 16 – UCL

Group A: Bayern Munich, Galatasaray

Group B: Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven

Group C: Real Madrid, SSC Napoli

Group D: SL Benfica, Inter Milan

Group E: Feyenoord, Atletico Madrid

Group F: Newcastle United, PSG

Group G: Manchester City, RB Leipzig

Group H: FC Barcelona, FC Porto

When the knockout stages are drawn, I’ll be writing another prediction article for the rest of the competition! If you had any comments or disagreements, feel free to leave a comment. I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s article, and I’ll see you back soon!