The Champions League is now underway with eight groups of four teams, the most prestigious yearly soccer competition. The groups vary from A-H, with the supposed groups of death being group H and group G. This year’s competition should be very interesting as there are various competitive groups; The defending champions, Bayern Munich, look to top Atletico Madrid and RB Salzburg in group A, and Group B respectively.

The record champions Real Madrid facing up against Russian team Shakhtar Donetsk, Borussia Mönchengladbach of Germany, and a very formidable opponent in Inter Milan. Group C has Manchester City facing up against FC Porto, Olympiacos, and Olympique Marseille. Group D faces up 2018/19 champions Liverpool with a young Ajax side, looking to make their mark after the departure of two star players Van de Beek and Ziyech. An intimidating Atalanta who last season proved they can play with the big clubs, and Champions League newcomers FC Midtjylland. Group E has a very overlooked Spanish side in Sevilla, record champions of the Europa league, facing up against English giants Chelsea, Kransodar, and French Stade Rennais. Group F has Russian Zenit facing up against Club Brugge, as well as Italian side Lazio and German giants Borussia Dortmund.

Group G has Barcelona, Juventus, Dynamo Kyiv, and Ferencvaros. This is considered a group of death because it matches Leo Messi’s Barcelona, with another all time great, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus. This matchup can be crucial as Barcelona have been in turmoil recently with the rumored departure of Messi at the end of the season. Messi will be looking to put on a top performance in what may be his Champions League swan song with Barcelona. All time Champions League top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo on the other hand, looks for redemption, as his Juventus suffered an earlier exit than expected in the 2019/20 campaign. Losing on aggregate to French side Olympique Lyon. This group should be relatively easy for Juventus and Barcelona to come out on top of, but you never know when Barcelona’s defense will slip up and make a costly mistake. If Barcelona wants to come out on top, they have to recognize that those teams are there for a reason and are looking to shock the world,the same goes for Juventus.

The classic rivalry Manchester United and Paris Saint Germain are the top two teams of group H, with the bottom two teams being right back Leipzeig and İstanbul Başakşehir. This group will be one to watch as Manchester United and PSG are the two favourites but Rb Leipzeig could have an unexpected run. After just losing their star player Timo Werner, they have to rely on youngster Hwang-hee-Chan who replaces his position, and captain Marcel Sabitzer to dominate during the group stage. Manchester United has had a rocky start to their league season with two losses and just one win which puts them in 16th place near relegation zone. Manchester United is going to have to regroup themselves if they want to make it out of the “group of death”. İstanbul başakşehir was the fourth team put in the group but being from the turkish league, they could pose many threats as the under dogs if the three other teams in the group did not take them seriously.

Last year’s Champions Bayern Munich look stronger than ever with new signings during the transfer window with the likes of Leroy Sane and Douglas Costa. This year’s Champions League will be different as there are no fans in the stadiums and some teams strive with the emotion of their fans and environment. The Champions League start is October 20th with an opening match between Club Brugge and Zenit.