Champions League Preview A-B

With the group stages now drawn, Britain will have 5 teams competing in the Champions League. England's four participants may no exactly be the usual's but the draw they have been given you would say all have a chance of progressing to the knock-out stages. In this I will analyse each group and how you can expect each one to unfold, looking at each team and what they have to try and make it to the last 16. Will Real Madrid become the first side to retain the title? Will Leicester make this fairy-tale even more amazing? Can Celtic do the impossible? All will not be revealed until Christmas or even the end of the season but we will take an analytical view before it has even started. This will be part 1 of 4 as we first take a look at groups A and B.

Group A

PSG

With Ibrahimovic leaving, Edinson Cavani has to be the striker he was at Napoli a few years ago. The club want to be competing for the the champions medal of this competition and with all the million that have been pumped into transfers the last 5 or 6 six years you can see why they're competing. Whether this year will be the year they can make a final remains to be seen but they have to make sure they win this group and get a good draw for the last 16. They just seem to be out of their depth when it comes to Barcelona and Real Madrid but maybe this can be the year they do challenge them.

Arsenal

Arsenal have found themselves as second favourites once again in the group stages as they face a PSG side that for once, may not have made progression this summer. It seems they always come second and face either Bayern or Barcelona in the last sixteen and the lack of getting to the latter stages frustrates their fans as much as their transfer policy. They are always in the competition, but need to show signs of progression and perhaps top this group and get to at least the quarter final.

Basel

Looking across the squad of the Swiss Champions you would think they cannot compete with the likes of Arsenal and PSG but they do have a winning mentality, winning the Swiss Super League for the last seven seasons. They have recognisable face with Seydou Doumbia, signed on loan, Serey Die, Eder Alvarez Balanta, a Football Manager wonderkid, signed this summer from River Plate, and also the brother of Arsenal's Granit Xhaka, Taulant, who played against his younger sibling in the 2016 Euros. They are the most likely to compete the other two clubs, out of themselves and Ludogorets but it would be a huge story for them to overcome one of them.

Ludogorets

One of the younger sides amongst Europe's elite, the Bulgarian side were only formed in 2001, but this is their second occasion in the competition after their brief appearance in 2014 when they were in the same group as Liverpool and Real Madrid. With the club odds on to finish bottom of the group you don't see them over-coming any sides, and most importantly challenging the top two, the best they can really hope for is a route into the Europa League via a third placed finish. As underdogs you can get the support of neutrals as they did when in the competition last time but I don't think that will be enough to see them over the line.

Sky Bet Prediction

1st - PSG

2nd - Arsenal

3rd - Basel

4th - Ludogorets

My Prediction

1st - PSG

2nd - Arsenal

3rd - Basel

4th - Ludogorets

Group B

Benfica

Benfica have been a huge club in Portugal for the last few years winning league titles over rivals, Sporting Lisbon and Porto. They did make the quarter finals last season and almost caused Bayern Munich a shock but could they go one further this season. In this open group this could be the year that Benfica go on to big things in Europe, they have been on top domestically but there comes a point where it needs to be more than that. They have some good players, Jonas had an unbelievable season last year, Julio Cesar is still a good keeper, Andre Carrillo is a good signing, although from bitter rivals, Sporting. They have the experience of Luisao and Jardel and the young prodigies of Grimaldo and Guedes this could be the season where they go even further than last but it won't be easy.

Napoli

Napoli will find this group tough. They are not as good as 5 years ago and also not as good as last season. They do have some talent in their team but when you lose your best player, in Higuain, the chances are, you won't be the same. If they can hold out against selling Koulibaly, they will not be too damaged. They have brought in Milik from Ajax, which could be an excellent signing. He scored a brace on his debut and if he can carry on that form he could be the perfect replacement to Higuain. They didn't even qualify for the Champions League last season but finishing runners up in the Serie A is not bad, especially when Juventus win the league each year. They could make the top two in this group because of the lack of one of the big clubs and lack of excellent teams in the group but it won't be easy.

Dynamo Kyiv

The Ukrainian champions did well to get out of their group last season when they were runner-up to Chelsea, but facing Manchester City in the knock-out stages seemed to difficult to overcome. Their squad is mostly homegrown with their policy consisting of a a large pool of Ukrainian player. They have managed to keep possibly the best Ukrainian player at the club, however, with Andriy Yarmolenko being linked to various clubs in the last few years. They have lost a couple of key players in Aleksander Dragovic and Miguel Veloso so that will not help them, but they could easily come anywhere in this group, it is so hard to call.

Besiktas

For the first time in 7 years, they won the Turkish league last season and that guaranteed them a place in the group stages. Mostly seen in the Europa League the last few years, winning the league brings them the revenue from Europe's elite and also a chance to prove themselves amongst the big clubs. They have a real chance to get through as well as you would not say any of the teams are too far ahead of them. They have signed Vincent Aboubakar and Talisca on loan, although the latter is from Benfica also in this group. They also have the talent of Quaresma, so their squad is not awful. They may be the pot four side in this group but that does not mean they have no chance.

Sky Bet Prediction

1st - Napoli

2nd - Benfica

3rd - Dynamo Kyiv

4th - Besiktas

My Prediction

1st - Benfica

2nd - Napoli

3rd - Besikats

4th - Dynamo Kyiv