UCL draw: Group-by-group analysis and predictions

The groups for the prestigious UEFA champions league were announced yesterday after the draw held in Monaco. Manchester United and Barcelona were given an easy opening group yet again, which is bound to provide more fodder to the conspiracy theorists. Defending Champions Chelsea were handed a tricky draw featuring Juventus and Shakhtar, while Manchester city are in the ‘Group of Death’, yet again thanks to their low UEFA coefficient.

Here’s looking at all the 8 groups -

Group A: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Paris Saint-Germain, Dinamo Zagreb

Big spending PSG make a return to the Champions league after a gap of 8 years and will be glad to have avoided traditional European powerhouses out of pot 1. That said, Porto who have won the Portugese league consecutively, are a hard team to beat. The only real question is if PSG can gel well enough in coming months to advance to next stage.

Teams to advance – Porto, PSG

Group B: Arsenal, Schalke, Olympiakos, Montpellier

The Gunners have got off to a difficult start in EPL, struggling to find the net in the wake of RVP’s departure, and so will be relieved to find themselves in a manageable group. The French champions Montepellier are making their CL debut with their top scorer Giroud now at Arsenal, so it will be a tall task for them to advance while Schalke and Olympiakos are likely to fight for the second place.

Teams to advance - Arsenal, Schalke

Group C: AC Milan, Zenit St Petersburg, Anderlecht, Malaga

The Italian powerhouse Milan are clear favourites to top the group but since they have lost two of their star players in Ibrahamovic and Silva and are in sort of rebuilding phase, it will provide their opponents a bit of hope. On paper, Zenit look good to advance but we can expect Belgian champions Anderlecht to provide some shocks.

Teams to advance - AC Milan, Zenit St Petersburg

Group D: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund

Welcome to the ‘Group of Death’, containing the champions of Spain, Netherlands, England and Germany. All the teams involved in this group will be cursing their luck. Real Madrid should probably advance but it’s difficult to pick between City and the extremely dangerous Borussia Dortmund, who are hard to defeat at home.

Teams to advance – Real Madrid, Manchester City/Dortmund

Group E: Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, Nordsjaelland

Defending Champions Chelsea have been handed a tricky group..They have to contend with last year’s unbeaten Italian giants Juventus and a tough away game to Shakhtar in Ukraine. Nordsjaelland did well to reach the group stage but should only serve as fodder in this group.

Teams to advance – Chelsea, Juventus

Group F: Bayern Munich, Valencia, Lille, BATE Borisov

Bayern Munich might still be suffering from the heartbreak of losing the Champions League final on their home ground but should be able to get out of the group comfortably. Valencia are the best team in Spain after the Big Two and should also advance as Lille might struggle to cope with loss of Hazard.

Teams to advance - Bayern Munich, Valencia

Group G: Barcelona, Benfica, Spartak Moscow, Celtic

After a disappointing loss in semi finals last year, Barca will look to assert their dominance over Europe once more and are helped in the task by an easy group. The main fight should be for the second place with last year Quarter-finalists Benfica looking the most likely to advance.

Teams to advance - Barcelona, Benfica

Group H: Manchester United, Braga, Galatasaray, Cluj

Manchester United were handed a dream draw with none of the other teams expected to challenge them for the top place. Though they messed up an easy draw last year, Fergie will not allow the same mistakes. Galatasaray with a daunting home venue could advance to next round.

Teams to advance - Manchester United, Galatasaray