The UEFA Champions League has returned!
On Tuesday night, the new Champions League season will officially begin, with numerous clubs competing for the top-flight league trophy in Europe.
This season’s 32 Champions League teams have already been divided into a number of groups, ranging from Group A to Group H.
The draw for the Champions League group stage was made public by UEFA in August, and it was broadcast from Istanbul, Turkey, on the UEFA website.
On Tuesday night, Dinamo Zagreb will play Chelsea at Stadion Maksimir, and Dortmund will host Copenhagen.
Sevilla will play Manchester City, while Benfica will square off against Maccabi Haifa.
Other matchups are PSG vs. Juventus, Celtic vs. Real Madrid, RB Leipzig vs. Shakhtar Donetsk, and RB Salzburg vs. AC Milan.
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On Wednesday, the remainder of this week’s Champions League group stage matches will be played.
Recall that Real Madrid defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the Champions League final in Paris last year, with Vinicius scoring the game’s sole goal.
As the Champions League officially begins this season on Tuesday, we take a look at the five clubs to watch out for.
The first team will be Real Madrid, who are the defending champions.
The defending LaLiga champions are undefeated thus far this season and are entering the competition in excellent shape.
Real Madrid can now compete for the Champions League championship thanks to the additions of midfielder Aurelien Tchounameni and defender Antonio Rudiger this summer.
The team of Carlo Ancelotti has yet to drop a game this year and leads the LaLiga standings after four games with 12 points.
Manchester City is the second team to be on the lookout for.
After coming close in recent years, the Premier League champions are eager to claim their first Champions League victory.
Pep Guardiola’s team was ousted from the Champions League semi-final just one year ago when Real Madrid pulled off an incredible comeback to win the match 6-5 on aggregate with a 3-1 second leg victory after extra time at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Man City, though, strengthened their team throughout the summer transfer window.
With the additions of players like Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, and Kalvin Phillips this summer, the Citizens have a solid chance to contend for the Champions League.
Man City hasn’t dropped a game thus far this season and is presently sitting in second place in the Premier League standings, one point behind league-leading Arsenal.
The third, fourth and fifth teams to keep an eye on are Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain.
This season, PSG, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona have all yet to suffer a defeat.
With 16 points after six games, the Parisians currently hold the top spot in French Ligue 1, followed by Bayern Munich in third place in the Bundesliga with 11 points after five games, and Barcelona in second place in La Liga with 10 points after four games.
While Bayern Munich and Barcelona are in Group C with Inter Milan and Victoria Plzen, PSG is in Group H with Juventus, Benfica, and Maccabi Haifa.
The three teams have recently been on the verge of winning the Champions League and strengthened their squads during the summer transfer window.
