Pretenders and Contenders: Predicting the Champions League Group Stage

Group C: SSC Napoli (Italy), Liverpool FC (England), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)

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Paris Saint-Germain's Neymar Jr.

Prediction:

1. Paris Saint-Germain
2. Liverpool FC
3. SSC Napoli
4. Red Star Belgrade

Paris Saint-Germain are poised to take Europe by storm. Though recent years have seen them be written off as "choke artists (let's not forget the calamitous 6-1 loss to Barcelona), this could finally be the year it all comes together.

Boasting what could be the continent's deadliest attacking trio in Brazil talisman Neymar Jr., World Cup champion, best young player and European Golden Boy Kylian Mbappé and Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani, they should be able to take the group.

Combining solid veterans and leaders like Thiago Silva and Gianluigi Buffon with some of the world's best young stars like Timothy Weah and the aforementioned Mbappé should be a recipe for amazing success. After winning 5 of their last 6 domestic titles, the French champions' focus lies almost solely on the Champions League.

Next up are Liverpool, last year's UCL runners-up and the Premier League's 4th-place finishers. Arguably the Premier League's best team along with Manchester City, the trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané is up there with PSG's own fearsome trident.

The summer additions of Brazil number 1 Alisson Becker (AS Roma, 62.50 million euros), Naby Keita (RB Leipzig, 60 million euros), Fabinho (AS Monaco, 45 million euros) and Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City, 14.70 million euros) make them even stronger than they were during 2017/18's run to the final, giving them the potential to even upset PSG if they play to the very best of their abilities.

Napoli finished second in Serie A yet again last season, and though their squad consisting of namely Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, Marek Hamsik and Kalidou Koulibaly would certainly be good enough for at least 2nd in most groups, luck wasn't on their side. The losses of manager Maurizio Sarri and pivotal midfielder Jorginho are also big blows to the Partenopei.

Poor Red Star Belgrade. The last time they competed in the Champions League was in 1991, back when it was still called the European Cup. They'll almost certainly be facing a swift exit this time around.