Champions League : Part 2

Hey guys, welcome back to another edition of Champions League!

Last time we talked about the format and this year’s contestants, this time, let us do a sort of jumping back and forth thing. Let’s briefly talk about the history of this tournament, and then go over this year’s edition…

History

The first edition of the UCL was in 1955. For around 30 years before that, there was talk of starting up a European Club Tournament. The first European tournament included teams from mostly Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. This tournament ran between 1900-1909.

Another attempt happened in 1927 with the Central European Nations that actually lasted all the way until 1992, but it did not feel comprehensive enough. There needed to be something for all of Europe.

After the highly successful South American Championship in 1948 which involved teams from all over the continent, French Newspaper L’Equipe proposed the idea of a continent wide tournament, with one of their editors-in-chief, Jacques Ferran, claiming that the South American Championship was his inspiration.

He and his partner, Gabriel Hanot, proposed their idea to UEFA, and finally in 1955, the greatest sports tournament (after the World Cup) was born.

Here is a full list of winners from Wikipedia : 

Talking points so far

So, we are two thirds done, 4 of the 6 games have been played. At this stage, there are always at least 2 teams that qualify to the round of 16. The 4th game is the earliest time any team can qualify for the Round 16. 

SIX of the sixteen teams have been confirmed. These are : Bayern, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Inter Milan, Manchester City and RB Leipzig.

That means 2 of the 8 groups have both of their qualifying teams, but their order can change, and there is still the 3rd place drop down to the Europa League spot.

Now, some more talking points : 

• Manchester United, considered heavy favourites to make it out of their group, now actually have 1 win in their first 4 games. Their games are extremely high scoring, but their defence is horrible. They now sit last and have 2 hard games next, so their chances of making it out are very low. On a personal note, as a Liverpool fan, this makes me very happy.

• Group F was considered to be the group of death before the tournament started with 4 strong teams that all could virtually finish anywhere. However, after the first 2 games it looked to be pretty boring actually. But now, PSG have lost 2 games (against Milan and Newcastle), and Dortmund, who were last and who started with 1 point in 2 games went on to beat Newcastle (one of the best defences in the world) TWICE, and they now sit in first place. No one knows how it will end 

• Benfica, who was considered a favourite to make it out of their group, currently sit last with zero points and 1 goal scored. It’s pretty sad considering they’re first in their league.

Games of the Season : 

Bayern 4-3 United

• High scoring games are very fun, and this is HIGH SCORING in its definition. This is also considering the fact that Bayern was expected to demolish United, but the game ended up being a pretty close match. 

Kobenhavn 4-3 United

• High scoring and underdog winning. Perfect in footballing terms. (Also, I hate United).

United 2-3 Galatasaray

• You heard me. I hate them, and it is an underdog story again. It also included a penalty miss which is pretty fun, but the player made it up 5 minutes later with a goal.

Lazio 1-1 Atletico Madrid

• Nothing much of interest except a goalie scored by heading it in the 90+4th minute from a corner kick to earn his team Lazio a draw. That was only the second time in this tournament’s history that that has happened.

Newcastle 4-1 PSG

• Rule number one of most footballing communities: Hate Manchester City and PSG. These are clubs that popped up recently because of oil money, and they suddenly have good players and can challenge for titles. So PSG losing by four is amazing. Especially to a team like Newcastle who were still an underdog. It was their first time back in nearly  20 years, so this win was MASSIVE.

Games to Watch for:

• Both of United’s games (Bayern at Home and Galatasaray away) are key for them, and will surely be high scoring if they follow the trend.

• Paris VS Newcastle : Newcastle after their strong start are now last, and PSG is looking for revenge

• All Group F games due to their importance

• All Group E games because it is also close there

Odds:

It is way too early to predict which teams are likely to win, but we can look at the teams most likely to qualify from their groups to join the 6 mentioned. Groups E and F are too close to call, making predictions challenging. However, based on current standings, Galatasaray, Arsenal, PSV, Napoli, Barcelona, and Porto are the probable, expected qualifiers to join the confirmed six teams in the knockout stage.

In the next segment, focus will shift to the Round of 16 Draw and fixture analysis, potentially delving into favourites for the tournament. It’s too close and exciting to talk about now.