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How have the teams fared over the past 3 gameweeks and what does the other half have in store for the teams willing to take home the shiny trophy in May '19?
Paris Saint-Germain’s expensive squad looks way too unbalanced to make any material impact in this season’s competition while Inter's Marcelo Brozovic has found a cool and new way to defend a sneaky low free-kick.
Manchester United look shaken, Juventus are marching on as expected while Barcelona are soaring high unlike their El Clasico rivals who are just hoping for the best in the latter stages of the competition.
We look at individual groups and try to predict what the outcome of the group stages will be while reviewing the first half of the Champions League group stages.
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Group A
Borussia Dortmund are top of the Bundesliga charts, but it was surprising to see them beat Atléti by a flattering 4-0 scoreline. It was Diego Simeone’s heaviest defeat in his seven-year stint as Atlético Madrid manager.
Lucien Favre has so many options in attack and his compact 4-2-3-1 is working perfectly at the moment. Axel Witsel has shamed his critics and has been an inspired signing in the defensive midfield position and it will be interesting to see how far this young and exciting side can go in the competition.
Atletico were struggling at the start but they will comfortably secure the second spot in the group. Monaco have a new coach at the helm as club legend and PL champion Thierry Henry returns to the club where he started it all. He would be happy to lead his team into the Europa League as they failed miserably to replace their most important players
We expect the group to look the same come December,
Group B
Everyone knows that it takes time to adapt to the UEFA Champions League and for Tottenham Hotspur, it is proving a painful experience. Last season they had the mighty Juventus on the ropes in the RO16 but despite an inspiring 2-2 draw away to Turin in the first leg and an early 1-0 lead at home until the hour mark, they threw it away.
They said that they had learned their lesson the hard way but this season is the same story as they have surrendered leads at the San Siro and PSV Eindhoven and Pochettino admitted in disdain after the 2-2 draw against PSV that Spurs’ hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds are “nearly over”. This is Tottenham’s third consecutive term in Europe’s premier competition but it looks as if they have taken a step back rather than one forward.
Barcelona are cruising as expected and shipped off the side from Italy even after club talisman Lionel Messi was ruled out of the game after he fractured his arm.
Barcelona and Inter will qualify in all probability unless a miracle takes place in Spurs' favour.
Group C
Ángel Di María got a point for Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc Des Princes against Napoli with his stunning left-footed goal but there is no going over the fact that Tuchel is having to play with an overly unbalanced squad of big money earners. The front three of Mbappé, Neymar and Cavani are influential enough but the midfield and the backline are simply not well equipped to win the elusive trophy. Rabiot looks like his defensive duties are optional against the opponents like Napoli while there were loads of spaces for Mertens and Insigne to exploit behind PSG’s back four.
There is a real chance that PSG might miss out on the Knockout stages of the UCL while Napoli would be applauded if they do manage to secure the second spot. Liverpool are likely to go through irrespectively.
Group D
Even we were scratching the bottom of the barrel to find something here but we were way out of luck. This is the group where the teams qualifying for the Knockout stages would be the most sought after once the draw for the RO16 takes place.
Lokomotiv Moskva are out of contention because they simply do not have the resources to fight it out in the big leagues while Schalke and Galatasaray are making a return to the Champions League after a three year absence and they will be quietly confident of making the knockout stages in a group which is as wide open as any.
Porto look comfortable at the top but things in this group could change in one Gameweek.
For everyone who denounces the small teams like those in Group D are the ones that make the UEFA Champions League what it should be, a carnival of football for everyone and teams of all abilities.
Group E
The side from Amsterdam are not quite up there with BVB when it comes to fluency and threat in attack but they are gradually becoming a side to watch under the tutelage of Erik ten Hag who came in for Marcel Keizer as manager in December of 2017.
Ajax, just like Borussia Dortmund, are filled to the brim with youthful potential like, centre-back and Barcelona target Matthijs de Ligt (who is also the captain at a tender age of 19), Noussair Mazraoui (20), Frenkie de Jong (21) and striker Kasper Dolberg (21) playing with a sense of maturity beyond their years.
Against SL Benfica they simply did not give up till the end and Mazraoui scored the winner in injury time. They have already drawn away to a struggling Bayern side and are joint top with the German powerhouse after three matchdays.
For the next 3 games, all eyes would be on Ajax and Bayern to see who slips up first.
Group F
Catalan master-tactician, Pep Guardiola said that the first half performance against Ukraine side Shakhtar Donetsk was the best that Manchester City had ever played since his arrival in 2016 and they look to have certainly shrugged off that early home defeat to Olympique Lyonnais and should qualify for the last 16 of the competition as group winners.
Big money signing Riyad Mahrez has given Guardiola even more options going forward adding flair and creativity means competition for places in midfield is staggeringly high giving Pep the right kind of headache.
After a meteoric rise through the German lower divisions, provincial side 1899 Hoffenheim, a team bankrolled by local businessman Dietmar Hopp, are making their UEFA Champions League group stage debut and they look to grab hold of the Europa league spot leaving Shakhtar with a one-way ticket back home.
Lyon will be content with a 2nd place finish but would certainly hope to pip City for the top spot.
Group G
The holders squeezed past Viktoria Plzen 2-1 with goals from Benzema and Marcelo as they sit joint top on six points with Roma in their group but there is very little to suggest that they are in it to win it. Goalscoring, for so long their strength, has become a problem and confidence has been affected immensely.
Julen Lopetegui appeared to be a dead man walking but the final nail in the coffin came when Barcelona humbled them in the El Clasico with a tantalizing 5-1 scoreline. Lopetegui was sacked the next day and Santiago Solari was brought in as interim manager. Madrid look out of their depth this term but they would comfortably qualify for the knockout stages at least.
Roma would be looking to grab the top spot when they play Madrid next and would do well to find themselves there.
Group H
The difference in class between the Bianconeri and Manchester United was almost ignominious for the team from the EPL. The game finished 1-0 in favour of Allegri’s side but they could have easily scored three or four goals on a trot. The complete control with which Juve dictated the proceeds of the game suggests that they will go very far this season, too.
Allegri has this astonishing capability to tweak his team just right to make it better and better despite losing key players almost every year. They certainly look stronger with a certain Cristiano Ronaldo up front rather than an ageing Gonzalo Higuaín.
Valencia would like to take their chances and unseat United from the second berth in the table and it wouldn't be a big ask from the Spanish side seeing how United are struggling to find any ground under their feet.
