Hey, I like predictions, and I like soccer. If you don’t tough. This is my blog. At this point, if you are still reading, I assume you know a thing or two about how it works. The first matchday of the group stage was today, so I’m not too far behind the curve. Besides, I made these picks before the games even began again. So instead of going to deep into the Groups, I will instead give you the winners and runners up from each group, since they will be moving on to the knockout stages. If you want the full groups, check in here. For now, my picks.
Group A
- PSG
- Porto
– PSG (Short for Paris St Germaine) got an influx of money and started throwing it around like crazy this last transfer period. Nobody else in the group is terrifying, and I think they will take it easily. Porto always seems to hang around. Heck, every Portuguese team seems to hang around.
Group B
- Schalke
- Arsenal
– As they say in Germany, Arsenal is Nicht sehr gut. Of course, Montpellier is more representative of French soccer (chokingly dull) and Olympiacos out of Greece represents a less quality league. Arsenal will skate through, but they aren’t going to match Schalke (who is from Gelsenkirchen, Germany).
Group C
- Zenit
- Malaga
Zenit, like most teams owned by Russian billionaires, started cavalierly spending money recently, so I selected them to advance as group winner. Of course, Malaga in Spain is owned by a Middle Eastern oil sheikh. Malaga walloped Zenit in St. Petersburg today.
Group D
- Man City
- Real Madrid
Manchester City and Real Madrid played a cracker of a game today in Madrid. They share the division with Dutch champs Ajax and German champs Borussia Dortmund, but it will come down to these two.
Group E
- Juventus
- Shakhtar Donetsk
If Group D is the Group of Death, this might be the Group of Life. If a team from the Ukraine can make it out of this group, and I think they will, even past holders Chelsea, hen it can’t be too bad.
Group F
- Bayern
- Valencia
Bayern Munich was a given to come out of this group. Other than that, Valencia, Lille and Bate Borisov are all kind of… meh. If all else fails, take the team from Spain.
Group G
- Barcelona
- Benfica
Barcelona couldn’t have asked for a better group. Like I said, I like Portugal to stick around, so I have to put Benfica through.
Group H
- Man United
- Braga
Manchester United, the most storied team in English football will likely come into the group stage with a little more focus than last year, when they were knocked out by Basel. And then, of course Braga is from Portugal. Viva Iberia!
I like Bayern Miunich to win this thing overall. They are just unflappable in the Champions League, with two trips to the Finals in the past three years (though they lost both times)
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