5 top teams who are in danger of not qualifying from their UEFA Champions League group
The second gameweek of the 2022-23 Champions League has drawn to a close with plenty of exciting matches and surprising results. The Champions League groups are starting to take shape and several clubs are yet to really get their campaign going.
Quite a few top sides have kicked off their European campaign on a promising note. But a few others have struggled and after two gameweeks, they are in desperate need of getting their act together and starting to earn some favorable results.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five top teams who are in danger of not qualifying from their UEFA Champions League group.
#5 Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid have gotten off to an ordinary start to the 2022-23 season. They're seventh in the La Liga table and while it's not yet time for alarm bells to start ringing, Diego Simeone and co. need to improve their performances.
The latest setback came in the form of a 2-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday (13 September). Atletico conceded two goals in the last 10 minutes of the game but it was no less than what Leverkusen deserved.
They are currently third in Group B with one win and a loss in their first two matches. The Rojiblancos have a double-header coming up against group leaders Club Brugge. Things could get really tricky for Atletico Madrid if they don't get a positive result in either of those games.
#4 Inter Milan
Inter Milan managed to bounce back from their 2-0 loss against Bayern Munich by registering a win by the same scoreline against Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday (September 13). Edin Dzeko and Denzel Dumfries were on target for the Nerazzurri but qualifying from the group is tricky.
That is because Group C is the 'group of death' in this season's Champions League. Inter Milan have to do better than either Bayern Munich or Barcelona to progress to the knockout stages.
They have endured a rather inconsistent start to the season and if things don't improve drastically from here, they won't make it past the group stage of the Champions League.
#3 Tottenham Hotspur
Sporting CP stunned Tottenham Hotspur with two stoppage-time goals in their Champions League group stage clash on Tuesday. Paulinho and Arthur Gomes scored in the 90th and 93rd minutes respectively to hand the Portuguese outfit a 2-0 win.
Spurs never really got going in the game as they failed to follow up their 2-0 win over Marseille in the opening gameweek of the Champions League with another victory. For now, Antonio Conte's men are second in Group D. They will face tough tests against Eintracht Frankfurt, Marseille and Sporting CP again.
Unless they brave those challenges, they might not be in Europe's elite competition for much longer.
#2 Juventus
Juventus have lost both of their Champions League group stage matches so far and it's not looking good for Massimiliano Allegri's men. After getting off to a poor start to the season, Allegri is in danger of losing his job.
They suffered a 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in their CL opener before losing to Benfica 2-1 on Wednesday (September 14). The loss leaves them third in Group H, only above Maccabi Haifa, who have lost both their games so far as well.
The Bianconeri have an uphill battle from here to advance to the knockout stages. They cannot afford to slip up anymore.
Juventus have only won ONE of their last SEVEN games 😳❌ https://t.co/YUPfBgXWe1
#1 Chelsea
No other big team in Europe has had as dramatic a start to the 2022-23 season as Chelsea. They've already sacked Thomas Tuchel and replaced him with Graham Potter and they've looked like a very disjointed side in the new campaign.
Drawn in Group E alongside AC Milan, Dinamo Zagreb and RB Salzburg, Chelsea were tipped to progress without much hassle. However, after losing 1-0 to Dinamo Zagreb on September 6 and settling for a 1-1 draw against RB Salzburg, their chances of advancing have taken a major hit.
They are fourth in Group E right now and haven't even faced AC Milan yet. Potter has a huge task on his hands and he will be hoping that his players will respond to him well and soon. Otherwise, the European champions from the 2020-21 season won't feature in the knockout stages.
Last place in their Champions League group after two games and still have to face Milan twice.
Chelsea's bid to recapture the trophy they won in 2021 is already starting to go up in flames 🧨 https://t.co/qJMJ0S1zEt