What the Champions League Draw 23/24 has to Offer
The long-awaited Champions League draw for 23/24 has finally been completed and is packed with incredible fixtures. Kicking off with group F, which is the group of death. PSG, Newcastle, Dortmund, and AC Milan will compete against each other for those spots in the knockout stages. For Newcastle this is a harsh re-introduction to the competition, being paired with some giants of European football. None of these teams will feel safe, even PSG with the exodus of Messi and Neymar. They will be hoping their new signings manage to gel together as they will be fielding almost an entirely new frontline with the French champions being very active in the market this summer. Each game and each point will be crucial to all the teams here. Whichever two teams make the cut will be met with a boost of confidence which should help them bypass the early knockout rounds depending on fixtures. AC Milan has bought really well over the summer strengthening their team immensely and have a really good chance of getting through, last year they bowed out in the semi-finals so it will be interesting to see if they can produce some of the same performances they did a year ago. Away games in this group will be extremely tough, with teams having to visit the San Siro, Signal Iduna Park with the famous yellow wall, St James Park, and Parc De Princes. It is unfortunate that we will see two of these teams leave the competition so early as each of them have so much talent and promise to go deeper into the competition.
Another tough group is D. It hosts Inter Milan, Benfica, Salzburg and Real Sociedad. There is not a weak link between them, but Milan have to be favourites to top the group after a spectacular run last year saw them all the way to the final. The second spot in this group is up for grabs and each of these teams has a really good chance of claiming it, making for some intense games.
Man City, like they do most years, has a group that they should be able to walk through. They have Leipzig, Young Boys and Red Star Belgrave. Leipzig should also be able to get through this group with some level of ease, however, they have sold some of their top talents with the likes of Gvardiol, Szoboszlai and Nkunku all leaving the institute over the summer transfer window. In the same breath, they have managed to sign some new young players of their own in Benjamin Sesko, Lois Openda and Castello Lukeba and this will be a great place for them to test themselves against the European champions.
Returning to the competition after 6 years is Arsenal! It has been a long wait for fans to see Champions League nights back at the Emirates. They will play against PSV, Sevilla, and Lens. Sevilla managed to win the Europa League last year in a penalty shootout against Roma, Arsenal were also in the competition but lost in the round of 16 to Sporting in the same fashion. They also played PSV in the group stages, where both teams managed to beat the other over their two games. Lens had a great season last year, but they too have lost some important players in Seko Fofana who was their all-action defensive-minded midfielder and top scorer Lois Openda. This could cause issues for the French side in another competitive group. Arsenal and Sevilla should have the firepower to be able to comfortably go through to the knockout stages, but who knows what could happen?
Two Titans will clash with Real Madrid being drawn in the same group as Napoli - the Serie A holders who lost in the semi-final last year of the Champions League. These will be a couple of great games, watching two of the best teams in the world go toe-to-toe against one another. They should both be safe bets for making it through the group, but Union Berlin, who had a tremendous campaign in the Bundesliga last year, and Braga will be trying to cause them some problems.
Finally, Man United drew Bayern Munich in group A, alongside Copenhagen and Galatasaray who won the Super Lig last year. Bayern Munich looks like a serious contender this year. Last year they were missing the presence and goal-scoring ability of Lewandowski and looked defensively weak against Man City in the Quarterfinals where they lost 4-1 on aggregate. In the latest window, they have signed Harry Kane, one of the best strikers in the world and Kim-Min Jae, a world-class central defender who Man United also had an interest in. It would be a shock to see either Manchester United or Bayern Munich go out at this stage in the competition, but Galatasaray can cause an upset if they are not properly prepared.
