On Tuesday, a new UEFA Champions League season started. Yesterday, teams from the A-D groups began their battles, while today another 16 clubs will start their journey in the Old Continent tournament. Today, eight matches from groups E-H will be played in European stadiums, promising extraordinary battles for football fans. E Group This group can be called one of the "groups of death". Among themselves, Munich's "Bayern", "Manchester City", "Roma", and Moscow's CSKA will compete. The clear outsider is the Russian CSKA, but the remaining teams have equal chances to advance to the next stage. "Roma" returns to the Champions League after a long break, and "Man City" will once again compete in the group against "Bayern", which is the undisputed favorite for the title of this tournament. Predictions: 1. Munich's "Bayern" 2. "Manchester City" 3. "Roma" 4. Moscow's CSKA F Group The teams from Nicosia APOEL, Amsterdam's "Ajax", "Barcelona", and Paris's "Saint-Germain" are all part of the F group. The main contenders to reach the quarterfinals are undoubtedly "Barca" and PSG. It seems that in this group, two teams will battle for the third place and entry into the Europa League, while the other two clubs will fight for the top spot. "Barcelona" appears the most threatening, but Laurent Blanc's French champions have set even higher goals for themselves this season. Predictions: 1. "Barcelona" 2. Paris's "Saint-Germain" 3. Amsterdam's "Ajax" 4. Nicosia's APOEL G Group In this group, London's "Chelsea", "Maribor", Gelsenkirchen's "Schalke", and Lisbon's "Sporting" will compete. The main contender for the top spot is Jose Mourinho's "Chelsea" club, but "Schalke" and "Sporting" also have good chances to reach the quarterfinals. The status of the underdog has already been assigned to the Slovenian side Maribor, whose achievement is already qualifying for the group stage of the Champions League. Predictions: 1. London's "Chelsea" 2. Gelsenkirchen's "Schalke" 3. Lisbon's "Sporting" 4. "Maribor" H Group The H group may not be the most powerful, but a fierce battle should take place for a spot in the quarterfinals. Teams like Bilbao's "Athletic", BATE from Borisov, "Porto", and Donetsk's "Shakhtar" will compete. "Shakhtar" likely has the least chances, as the club is facing unrest in Ukraine and has lost many players, but they have been successful in the Champions League for several years now. The footballers of "Porto" and "Athletic" have good chances in the group. Predictions: 1. "Porto" 2. Bilbao's "Athletic" 3. Donetsk's "Shakhtar" 4. BATE from Borisov All Wednesday matches: "Roma" - CSKA "Bayern" - "Manchester City" "Barcelona" - APOEL "Ajax" - PSG "Chelsea" - "Schalke" "Maribor" - "Sporting" "Porto" - BATE "Athletic" - "Shakhtar"
Aivaras Katutis
