Manchester City, Bayern, Liverpool, PSG and Barca start as the main candidates to dethrone Real Madrid in a Champions League that returns on Tuesday
Three months and six days after Real Madrid lifted the fourteenth in Paris at the end of a lively final in which football overcame the organizational chaos in the French capital, the Champions League will raise the curtain on a new Fast-paced edition in which the superpowers of the continent, bolstered by checkbooks, strive to dethrone the king of Europe. Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool and PSG, without forgetting the reborn Barça, powered by the levers and an Atlético that does not give up in its efforts to win a title that resists him, despite even taking him out in three times has touched the fingertips, they emerge as the main threats to a team crowned last year after starring in an epic that further fueled the legend of its indomitable spirit.
Still tickled by the memory of those epic comebacks that shaped the most magical Champions League in history, the champion, who started the season like a shot, starts defending his title on Tuesday by taking it in the first game against Celtic in Glasgow from a group seemingly devoid of mines, where the daring but indulgent Leipzig is the main stumbling block and in which a Shakhtar very weakened by the war in Ukraine will raise the flag of pride to try to escape if a theoretical guest of stone.
With such competition, Real Madrid is forced to exercise an almost tyrannical dominance in the first phase, cementing its position as a rival to beat and increasing the intimidation capacity of a side that has placed signings at the forefront of the last two campaigns. a football increasingly dependent on physical strength.
The theoretically flat path that awaits Real Madrid contrasts with the steep terrain that Barca will face as a result of a draw it called for from the outset with Bayern and Inter. The scale of the challenge represented by the confrontation with the German behemoth and the ever-thorny team from Lombardy endangers Xavi’s team, which cannot afford to fail against Viktoria Pilsen at Camp Nou on Wednesday, who are eager to return. enjoy great European nights, after the vale of tears last campaign.
Now, with Robert Lewandowski as flagship, the Catalans can dream of the ‘orejona’, which they haven’t kissed since 2015, then with Messi as the reference and Xavi still in the engine room. The Polish striker will stir up morbidity in the double duel with the German champions who, after being knocked out by Villarreal in the quarterfinals last year, hopes to return to his ranks after meeting stars of the caliber Matthijs de Ligt, Ryan Gravenberch or Sadio. Mane, despite his hesitant start in the Bundesliga cast doubt on.
The best of the lottery came from an Atletico who kick off their new Champions League attack by challenging an old acquaintance like Porto at the Metropolitan on Wednesday. The same scenario and rival against which Simeone’s hosts embarked on a journey 12 months ago that ended in April when Manchester City knocked out the rojiblancos in a contentious quarter-final draw, sparking pending feuds with the ‘sky blues’ over those Pep statements. Guardiola alludes to “prehistory” to make the mattress ugly.
The dragons are a priori the biggest rival a team has won with the return of Morata and hopes to grow with the best version of Joao Félix, but that should not be neglected either with a Bayer Leverkusen who, despite the injury of the star Florian Wirtz, and his weak start to the season in Germany, has enough straws to keep Cholo’s troops in line, nor with a Bruges that isn’t an expert on sweets either.
Poisoned is the premiere presented for a Seville on fire. The crappy start to the competition has left Julen Lopetegui between a rock and a hard place. Sánchez Pizjuán is calling for blood for the meager results and in that predicament a devastating Manchester City lands in Nervión on Tuesday. With the signing of Erling Haaland, Pep Guardiola finally has the long-awaited predator of the territory that should propel the Mancunians to the top of the continent. The sky-blue team has an almost infinite offensive arsenal that, with Real Madrid’s approval, makes them the most solid candidate and a formidable opponent for a Sevilla destined to take second place in a group where Copenhagen starts as a group.
In addition to the four groups of the Spanish teams, many eyes will be on PSG’s umpteenth attempt to break the second place ceiling reached by the Paris team in 2020, whose trident of bells will open the splendor by hosting Juventus at Princes Park on Tuesday. Or in revenge for Liverpool, who, after succumbing to Real Madrid in the City of Light, will face a demanding first phase with two good swords in Naples and Ajax, in addition to the return to continental competition of the historic Glasgow Rangers, which have expanded the scope of will test their expectations, after a grayish uncork of the job in the Premier.
Source: La Verdad
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