Top 5 teams who could be eliminated in the Champions League group stages
The 2014/15 draw of the UEFA Champions League provided us some exciting groups in the competition with a handful of highly anticipated fixtures to look forward to. While some European heavyweights like AC Milan and Manchester United failed to book their place amongst the 32 teams that qualified, former 5-time champions Liverpool, Roma and AS Monaco returned to Europe after a while. As expected, the usual suspects to top their respective groups were immediately recognised while some of the dark horses were also figured out after the draw concluded. Real Madrid’s La Decima dream finally became a reality last season and rest assured, they will be looking to become the first team to defend the Champions League title. Bayern Munich’s consistency in recent years is what that makes them a potential contender while Barcelona will have a statement of their own to make after suffering a quarter-final exit last year.But alongside these potential title winners, we also have some quality sides, even domestic league champions, that have the capability to turn the tables and win matches convincingly, but due to the tough group fixtures and oppoenets hold a chance to get eliminated for reasons of their own. In this slideshow, we talk about the top 5 teams who could get knocked out in the Champions League group stages:
#5 AS Monaco
From the second tier of French football, to the biggest club competition in the world. It has been a roller coaster ride for the Ligue 1 outfit AS Monaco who also return to Europe after a decade long absence. Since their last appearance as finalists of the 2003/04 Champions League season which they lost to eventual winners FC Porto, a lot happened at the club inside the management level which led to their downfall, subsequently leading to a relegation in the 2010/11 season.
The team’s fortunes were turned around when the club’s major proportion of the shares were purchased by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. After finishing 8th in the 2011/12 campaign in Ligue 2, Claudio Ranieri was appointed and with the target set for promotion to the top tier, Monaco lost only four games and became the champions of Ligue 2, returning to the top tier of French football.
With Rybolovlev’s massive funds, Monaco were one of the biggest spenders in 2013 in all of Europe as they signed a few prolific players including Radamel Falcao, James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho. They finished second behind champions PSG in the league and qualified for the Champions League, as the campaign turned out to be a successful one considering the condition they were in a couple of years back.
But going into the competition, Monaco are an inexperienced side with players who are relatively new comers into the big stage. The task gets harder for Les Rouges Et Blancs as they have lost two of their marquee players James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao to Real Madrid and Manchester United respectively.
They have been seeded alongside Russia’s Zenit, Portuguese champions Benfica and the German outfit Bayern Leverkusen in Group C which is an open group to be honest and they have a realistic chance of progressing. But out of all these sides, Monaco are a bit down the pecking order in terms of experience and their opponents have been there before and have a better knowledge of how to get past into the knockout rounds.