Image Credit: FC Barcelona – Twitter
The full group stage draw for the 2015-2016 UEFA Champions League season has been carried out with a lot of talking points surrounding the draw.
In Group A, Real Madrid will face tough competition from french Champions Paris Saint Germain and both teams will take long trips in away fixtures against Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. The three teams are UCL big names and are joined by Swedish side Malmö who put up a perfect display in the play-offs to see of Scottish side Celtic 4-3 on aggregate. The biggest talking point from this group is the return of Angel di Maria to the Santiago Bernabeu and also, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will go against his hometown club Malmo.
Group B is a very tricky group. Manchester United fans will be happy to be here alongside PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow and German powerhouse Wolfsburg. New winger Memphis Depay will play against his old club when the Red Devils take on PSV. In this group, anything can happen… Just like in every other group.
Group C is among the least talked-about group as it consists of Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray and newcomers Astrana. Atleti will be the happiest among the four and they are clear favourites to top the group but will get competition from Gala and Benfica, who are also experienced when it comes to Europe’s elite club competition.
Group D is the Group of death and the most interesting group in the draw. It consists of Italian Champions Juventus, English powerhouse Manchester City, Europa League Champions Sevilla and German giant-killers Borussia Mönchengladbach. The Italians are favourites to top this group but will surely face tough competitions from the other three. Manchester City and Sevilla have thoroughly strengthened their squad this season and they will surely give a fight.
Group E is where the Champions lie. Barcelona are probably the happiest team after the draw as they face competitions from Bayer Leverkusen, who they hammered 10-2 on aggregate in 2012 (the second leg was 7-1 when Messi became the first player to score 5 goals in a game in the whole UEFA Champions League’s history), AS Roma who they beat 3-0 in the Joan Gamper Trophy friendly in pre-season and BATE Borisov who they beat 9-0 on aggregate in 2011/2012. However, it won’t be easy for the Champions as all three teams are good and can pull out a shocker but the fact still stands, Barça are favourite to top this group.
Group F will provide a cracker, no doubt. German Champions Bayern Munich are joined by English big boys Arsenal, their tie promises a great encounter over two legs. Moreover, they are joined by Olympiacos and Dinamo Zagreb, the latter was mauled by Arsenal the last time they met but this is a new era. Bayern and Arsenal are likely to progress here.
Group G will see English Champions Chelsea FC make two long trips to Ukraine and Israel to take on Dynamo Kyiv and Maccabi Tel-Aviv respectively, but they are still favourites to top the group but will face a tough task against last year’s UCL quarter-finalists FC Porto.
Group H, the last group is a loose one. It consists of Zenith St. Petersburg, Valencia, Olympique Lyonnais and Gent. Not so talked about but the group is a tough one.
GROUP A
– Paris Saint Germain
– Real Madrid
– Shakhtar Donetsk
– Malmo FF
GROUP B
– PSV Eindhoven
– Manchester United
– CSKA Moscow
– Wolfsburg
GROUP C
– Benfica
– Atletico Madrid
– Galatasaray
– Astana
GROUP D
– Juventus
– Manchester City
– Sevilla FC
– Borussia Monchengladbach
GROUP E
– FC Barcelona
– Bayer 04 Leverkusen
– AS Roma
– BATE Borisov
GROUP F
– Bayern Munich
– Arsenal FC
– Olympiacos
– Dinamo Zagreb
GROUP G
– Chelsea FC
– FC Porto
– Dynamo Kyiv
– Maccabi Tel-Aviv
GROUP H
– Zenit St. Petersburg
– Valencia CF
– Olympique Lyonnais
– Gent
Match-day one of the campaign will take place on Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th of September, 2015 with the Final at San Siro on May 28, 2016.
This post was last modified on December 14, 2018 9:55 am