The most prestigious European club football competition, the UEFA Champions League 2022–2023 season’s group stage, is all set to start on September 6, and this round will end on November 2. 32 clubs from across Europe will take part in the main event to earn a place in the tournament’s Round of 16 phase. Let’s take a look at the 2022–2023 UCL group stage predictions.
The UCL Group Stage Predictions for the 2022–2023 season
The groups were announced by UEFA at the end of August. There were 32 teams total, and they were split up into eight groups of four each. In each group, the top two teams will advance to the Round of 16. Here are the groups that stand the highest chance of advancing to the round of 16.
Group A
The four teams who will compete in this group are Liverpool, Ajax, Napoli, and Rangers. Last season’s Champions League runner-up, Liverpool, will be among the favourites to lift the trophy. They, along with the Italian team, Napoli, are expected to reach the next round from this group. Both Ajax and Rangers can give a hard time to Liverpool and Napoli.
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Group B
The four participating teams in Group B are Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, and Club Brugge. Atletico Madrid are favourites to finish on top of the group. On the other hand, Leverkusen and Porto are expected to fight for second place. Club Brugge is considerably less strong than them, and they have a minimal chance of advancing to the next phase.
Group C
The four teams who will compete in group C are Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Viktoria Plzen. Bayern are favourites to advance from this group, but that is not guaranteed. FC Barcelona and Inter Milan also have a fair chance to seal a place in the Round of 16. However, Viktoria Plzen will likely struggle to face off against these big giants. This is considered a group of death.
Group D
The four teams who will compete in Group D are Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham Hotspur, Sporting CP, and Marseille. This is another tough group as all teams have an equal chance of advancing to the next round. However, English club Tottenham may start as favourites to move to the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League 2022-2023.
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Group E
The four teams who will compete in this group are AC Milan, Chelsea, Red Bull Salzburg, and Dinamo Zagreb. Italian Serie A champions AC Milan and English club Chelsea are hot favourites to move to the next round from this group. Red Bull and Dinamo may find it hard to compete against these two giants.
Group F
The four participating teams in group B are Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Celtic. The reigning champions, Real Madrid, are overwhelmingly favourites to top the group. However, there could be stiff competition for the second spot from the other three teams.
Group G
Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, and Copenhagen are the four teams who will compete in Group G. The reigning English Premier League champions, Manchester City, are strong favourites to finish first in this group. There will be a strong fight for second place between Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund. The Danish club, Copenhagen, may find it difficult to compete against these strong opponents.
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Group H
The four teams who will compete in Group D are Maccabi Haifa, Benfica, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain. Italian giant Juventus and mega-rich club PSG are strong favourites to qualify for the Round of 16. However, Benfica of Portugal have a chance to finish top two in the points table and advance to the next round. The Israeli team Maccabi Haifa’s great achievement is their participation in the Champions League main event.
Bottom Line
The Champions League competition’s group phase usually ends in the first week of December. However, UEFA made some adjustments to their fixtures due to the upcoming Qatar World Cup 2022. The FIFA World Cup 2022 will start on November 20, so the group stage matches for the UEFA Champions League 2022–2023 will be finished as scheduled in the first week of November.
All of the teams will have to play a ton of games in the upcoming two months, which is taxing on the players’ minds and bodies. Therefore, early UCL group stage predictions favour the clubs with strong squads.
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Source: United News of Bangladesh