Champions League 2016/17: 5 things we can expect in the group stage
The most awaited club competition in Europe is back as the 2016/17 Champions League group stage kicks off on 13 September, Tuesday. 32 teams who entered the draw have been drawn into eight groups and fans will get to see some sumptuous fixtures on Matchday 1 itself.
Usually, one group stands out as the toughest of the lot; the so-called ‘Group of Death’. However, this time, we may see at least two such groups with teams leaving no stone unturned in their bid to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.
Here are five things we can expect before the group stage is done and dusted.
1) Manchester City could get a favourable result against Barcelona
In his three years in the Bundesliga, Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich were knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-final stage all three times. To make matters worse, every opponent who eventually knocked them out were La Liga sides (Real Madrid in 2014, Barcelona in 2015 and Atletico Madrid in 2016). A side that won the treble in 2013 had failed to reach the final and the Catalan manager did take a lot of the blame even though they were winning league titles at a canter.
This time, Guardiola returns to the Camp Nou with a different club and a new squad that has already taken to Guardiola’s tactics like a duck to water. Even if the Premier League is only four rounds old at this point, they are top of the league and look unstoppable, even if Guardiola says it won’t be enough in Europe.
“If you ask me whether we are ready to compete in Europe, we are not ready,” Guardiola said. “We create, but in front, we need more. But it is just two months together, so we have time to get better.”
Drawn in a group with Barcelona, Celtic and Borussia Monchengladbach, it certainly is a group of death if there ever was one. But City and Barcelona are expected to go through.
Barcelona, themselves, do not look up to the mark so far. A La Liga defeat to Alaves at home may be attributed to Luis Enrique starting a second-string side but it’s the vulnerable back-line that the Catalan club needs to worry about. And with the firepower at Guardiola’s disposal, one would fancy City to even get all three points in one of the fixtures.