Don't expect shocks - only the  strongest survive in the Champions League

2016 will go down in football history as the year of the underdog. Leicester City led the way with their against-all-odds Premier League title success while, at the European Championship finals, there were the table-turning heroics of Iceland and Wales to warm the heart and, when it came to the crunch, Portugal finally ending their trophy drought by beating hosts and hot favourites France.

Closer to home, there was that unforgettable night in Tallaght when Dundalk stunned Champions League regulars BATE Borisov with a 3-0 win, a result upon which the Lilywhites only narrowly failed to capitalise when going out of the competition against Legia Warsaw, with the group stage tantalisingly close.

But that’s the Champions League for you.