Champions League draw talking points: a Battle of Britain and Spurs eye an opportunity
EASTERN PROMISE: The groups and club names are displayed on the screen at the end of the soccer Champions League draw in Istanbul, Turkey.
As Real Madrid prepare to defend their title, Liverpool look to put right the wrongs of last season, and Manchester City and PSG continue their desperate search for a first Champions League, the draw for the 2022-23 campaign has already set up some serious talking points.
Here we sum up what to look forward as all 32 teams bid to reach the final in Istanbul next June:
Glasgow Rangers are back in the Champions League for the first time in 12 years, so their Group A fixtures against Liverpool is already being highlighted as one of the ties of the round.
Rangers also face Ajax and Napoli on their return to the big time but the Liverpool game at Ibrox promises to be something special.
Remarkably, this is the first time the two sides have ever met in a competitive tie. So, expect an incredible atmosphere in Glasgow and on Merseyside in what is certain to be described as a Battle of Britain. You probably won't get better in the group stages.
Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who guided his team calmly through a frenetic qualifying tie against PSV Eindhoven, will need all his powers to keep the powder keg from exploding.
But as a manager being earmarked as ‘one to watch’ by clubs across Europe, it is a test which he will relish.
Tottenham look to have an excellent opportunity to reach the knockout stages after being drawn against Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon and Marseille.
But there’s a word of caution. Eintracht may be the lowest ranked of the top seeds but they won the Europa League last season. Marseille, too, are a team on the up. Even so, Antonio Conte won’t be disappointed.
Manchester City, up against Sevilla, Dortmund and Copenhagen look strong favourites, too, as do Atletico Madrid who were drawn against Porto, Leverkusen and Bruges in Group B.
Chelsea won't complain too much, either. AC Milan are a tough opponent in Group E but they will expect to beat RB Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb.
Liverpool’s Group A looks full of banana skins and awkward battles. Rangers, Ajax and Napoli each bring their own problems, especially away from home.
But the 'Group of Death' is probably Group C. Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Victoria Plzen - that's three former winners all in competition to make the last 16.
There was a feeling last season that the French giants were out-fought and out-manoeuvred by Real despite being the better side with more attacking flair. So, it was interesting to see new club president Nasse al-Khelaifai suggest a change of approach to this year’s competition after appointing new coach Christophe Galtier.
He said: “We must be realistic. We don’t want flashy, bling-bling anymore. It’s the end of the glitter.” If PSG are going to add mental steel, hard work and canny tactics to their team of Galacticos, then perhaps this could finally be their year. But the tests come early - Juventus, Benfica and Maccabi Haifa in Group H is tasty.
Celtic v Real - and Shakhtar chasing a fairytale
Celtic captain Callum McGregor insisted fans wanted Real in the group draw, and they got their wish. The teams haven’t met since 1980 so the tie at Celtic Park should be a humdinger. Real, as defending champions, will be big favourites in Group F, however, with RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk their other opponents. Shakhtar, of course, will be a story in their own right. The Ukrainian champions have been granted permission to play despite the war, but will play home games in Warsaw, Poland. They may well have a lot of neutral fans on their side.
Liverpool's mission to wipe out memories of last year
The Champions League Final defeat against Real Madrid in Paris hurt a lot last year, but the way fans were treated in the French capital hurt a lot more. It's an incident which never be forgotten but one that adds an extra edge to Liverpool's determination to reach the final again.
When you consider the Premier League is the richest in the world, continually attracting the biggest talent and paying the biggest transfer fees, it’s significant that the Champions League has only been won by an English club in two of the last 10 finals.
Even so, all four will consider they have an opportunity to reach the final this time and all have been there before. So, you would hardly write off their chances this time – especially with Erling Haaland, potentially the next ‘best player in the world’ contender’ having arrived at City.
Looking at the groups, you'd expect all four to make the last 16. Perhaps the biggest pressure is on Chelsea who, under new ownership, have made a poor start in the Premier League.
There’s a thin line between needing and craving.
Who craves the Champions League the most? Well, that hasn’t changed in a long time: it’s Manchester City and Paris St Germain, the two clubs funded by countries whose owners long ago set European dominance at the top of their KPIs.
Perhaps they will be joined by Newcastle United in future, who knows. But for the minute they stand alone as ‘superclubs’ who have earned that status through investment rather than history.
It would be hard to say that City have under-achieved considering their remarkable record in the Premier League, but it still hurts Sheikh Mansour that he has been kept waiting to tell the world that his club conquered Europe.
City’s agonising defeat to Real Madrid last season at the semi-final stage sums up a fear in the east side of Manchester that the trophy is rapidly becoming a heavy weight on their shoulders. Despite recruiting the best manager in the world and some of the best players in the world (arguably, in Kevin de Bruyne the very best), fate always seems to conspire against them – including a painful defeat to Chelsea in the final of 2021.
The pressure on PSG is even greater, however. Winning umpteen Ligue Un titles was never going to be enough considering the lack of serious opposition, certainly from a financial perspective, in France. Managers, plenty of them, including Mauricio Pochettino this year, have been sacked despite winning a hatful of domestic trophies because the one and only goal is a European Cup for a club that was only formed in 1978.
The fact that they missed out last season, also knocked out by canny Real despite having Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi in their attack, heaps pressure on new coach Christophe Galtier.
As for who ‘needs it’, well PSG join that list too. But there are possibly clubs out there who need it more.
Barcelona, whose standards have dropped so dramatically in the midst of a financial crisis, desperately need success to begin a new era – especially after effectively mortgaging future tv income in a desperate bid to build a squad this season. So, their placement in such a difficult group is a massive test.
Juventus, drivers of the doomed European Super League, haven’t lifted the trophy since 1996 and face up against PSG. AC Milan haven't won it since 2007. And Bayern, having allowed Robert Lewandowski to leave, need to prove it was the right decision in possibly the toughest group of the round.
It promises to be a fascinating season.
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