Champions League draw 2019/20

Today the draw for the Champions League group stage was made. The draw for this new edition of theUEFA Champions League took place in Monaco.

UEFA Champions League – the most prestigious tournament in the world

The Champions League is, without a doubt, the most famous soccer tournament in the world. Therefore, all eyes turn to the Old Continent when this competition starts every year in September. The UEFA Champions League begins with a group stage where 32 teams play, divided into 8 groups. The first round of the group stage takes place on September 17 and the last on December 11. The two best from every group qualify for the next stage, the knock-out phase.

Then there is a new draw for first knock-out phase in Nyon (December 16, 2019). And another draw for the quarterfinals and another for the semifinals (March 20, 2020). The Grand Final of the Champions League will be played on May 30 in Turkey; at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.

The group stage of the 2019/20 Champions League

In the draw on Thursday, August 29, there was a lot of tension as always. Because there are many great teams. There are always some exciting surprises, and it hasn’t been missing this year either. The UEFA Champions League 2019/20 season groups are as follows:

Group A

• PSG
• Real Madrid
• Club Brugge
• Galatasaray

Group B

• Bayern Munich
• Tottenham
• Olympiakos
• Red Star Belgrade

Group C

• Manchester City
• Shakhtar
• Dinamo Zagreb
• Atalanta

Group D

• Juventus
• Atletico
• Bayer Leverkusen
• Lokomotiv Moscow

Group E

• Liverpool
• Napoli
• Salzburg
• Genk

Group F

• Barcelona
• Dortmund
• Inter
• Slavia Prague

Group G

• Zenit
• Benfica
• Lyon
• RB Leipzig

Group H

• Chelsea
• Ajax
• Valencia
• Lille

What great football teams, ladies and gentlemen! The sparks are going to fly. Below we will analyze the groups in more detail and talk about who the favorites are. We will also do a forecast about the teams that we think are going to qualify from the group stage.

Group A of the Champions League

PSG, Real Madrid, Club Brugge, Galatasaray. A nice group but with two clear favorites: Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid. So the two must go to the knock-out phase without problems. The excitement of this group will be in the double confrontation between the two big ones, PSG and Real Madrid . By misfortune (for them), the Belgian Club Brugge and the Turkish Galatasaray surely have little to do in this group. Because if we are sincere, they are quite inferior teams.

Group B of the Champions League

Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Olympiakos, Red Star Belgrade. In the same way as Group A, we have two clear favorites to pass: Bayern Munich and Tottenham. But they are going to face two really difficult games playing away from home, in Greece against Olympiakos, and in Serbia against Red Star Belgrade. However, Bayern Munich is one of the big and classival European teams and will surely win this group.
But nobody can ignore that Tottenham with coach Mauricio Pochettino is also one of the greats of Europe. Last season they were Champions League finalists and had a fearsome block led by Harry “The Citizen” Kane. Therefore, we think that Bayern Munich and Tottenham pass to the knock-out phase of 16 teams.

Group C of the Champions League

Manchester City, Shakhtar, Dinamo Zagreb, Atalanta. On paper, Group C has a huge favorite: Pep Guardiola´s Manchester City. It would be extraordinary if they didn’t win the group easily. However, there will be a great fight for second place, mainly between Shaktar and Atalanta.

Group D of the Champions League

Juventus, Atletico, Bayer Leverkusen, Lokomotiv Moscow. It is undoubtedly one of the most difficult groups. It is clear that Juventus and Atlético are favorites and should go to the knock-out phase, but they will have to sweat their shirts. Because neither Bayer Leverkusen nor Lokomotiv of Moscow will let them win easily. And we already know it is hard to play in Russia during winter, in the cold and the snow.

Group E of the Champions League

Liverpool, Napoli, Salzburg, Genk. Then we find a somewhat more “easy to predict” group, with two obvious favorites: English Liverpool and Italian Napoli. Liverpool is the current champion, and here they will not have any problems to go through to the knock-out phase. In the same way, Napoli should pass. Salzburg of Austria and Genk of Belgium will have a very difficult time against the two favourites.

Group F of the Champions League

Barcelona, Dortmund, Inter, Slavia Prague. Holy smoke, what a group !! No doubt the toughest group this season. We can only regret the bad luck of Slavia Prague because there will be three big ones up against them. It is clear that the favorite is FC Barcelona led by Ernesto Valverde and Leonel Messi, but in front, they have a German team that never stops attacking. And on the other hand, a classical team such as Italian Inter Milan. The latter with Icardi and Lukaku as attackers. In short: it is a group that every football lover has to follow!

Group G of the Champions League

Zenit, Benfica, Lyon, RB Leipzig. In Group G we find what is surely the weakest group in the Champions League this season. But just because of this, it doensn´t have to be boring at all. Who will pass from this group? This group is very tight, and we believe that all four teams have the possibility to get through to the knock-out phase. If we have to make a guess, we say that Zenit and Lyon will pass.

Group H of the Champions League

Chelsea, Ajax, Valencia, Lille. The last group of the Champions, Group H, is also quite exciting. Valencia will not have an easy time here… First, Frank Lampard’s Chelsea is always a tough opponent. And second, we already know what Ajax did last season. They have indeed sold important players, but they have a great plant school over there in Amsterdam and they always produce a bunch of great players. But we fear that Lille from northern France is going to have a tough time. A pretty and hard-fought group. Most likely, Chelsea will pass, and Spanish Valencia.

Calendar of the 2019/20 Champions League

Take note for the agenda; there is plenty of emotion here! The UEFA Champions League is played on these dates during this season:

September 17-18, 2019
First day of the group stage

October 1-2, 2019
Second day of the group stage

October 22-23, 2019
Third day of the group stage

November 5-6, 2019
Fourth day of the group stage

November 26-27, 2019
Fifth day of the group stage

December 10-11, 2019
Sixth day of the group stage

December 16, 2019
UEFA Champions League draw for the knock-out phase, 16 teams left

February 18-19 + February 25-26, 2020
First round of the knock-out phase

March 10-11 + March 17-18, 2020
Second round of the knock-out phase of UEFA Champions League

March 20, 2020
Draw for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and semifinals

April 7-8, 2020
First leg of the Champions League quarterfinals

April 14-15, 2020
Return of the quarterfinals of the Champions League

April 28-29, 2020
First leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinals

May 5-6, 2020
Return of the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League

Saturday, May 30, 2020
UEFA Champions League final at Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul (Turkey)

Who will win the UEFA Champions League season 2019/2020?

It is clear that we will see some great games from the first day of the Champions League. There are 32 really good teams, there is no bad team taking part. But who will be in the final of Istanbul on May 30, 2020?

Of course it is difficult to make a bet or a forecast. First, there are many good teams. And secondly, we do not know how the draws of the knock-out phases will come out. You have to have some luck not to be drawn against some of the big favourites. But even though it is difficult, we are here to show that we are good enough.

So we think that it will finally be the year of Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City. For now, they have not managed to go further than the Champions League semifinals. It is true that they fell unfairly against an excellent Tottenham with some good luck but… We believe that Manchester City can win the Champions League this season. If we have to guess the other team in the final, we say Atlético Madrid. They have made a great team this year, and if there are not many injuries, they can go far in all competitions, also in LaLiga Santander .