Champions League 2019/20 (EPL, leagues, group, club)
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Group E is the easiest, I'd be very surprised if Liverpool drops any points. Maybe a draw vs. Napoli, but they should beat Genk & Salzburg.
Group F is the hardest. Poor Prague just like Liverpool I'd be very surprised if they record any points. Maybe they can draw with Inter at home, or on the final matchday the team they are playing is locked into their position and steal a draw there.
Group A is the most top heavy with Real Madrid & PSG.
And my final superlative....most competitive group is Group G. If I had to pick a favorite to win the group I'd pick Lyon, and if I had to pick a team I didn't think would win would be Red Bulls Leipzig, but really any of those 4 teams I could see finishing 1st, 4th, or anywhere in between.
Group A:
1) Real Madrid
2) PSG
3) Galatasaray
4) Club Brugge.
So far I'm liking Real Madrid better so far than PSG, and I'd like them even more to top this group if they make one more addition before the transfer window closes on Monday whether they be Eriksen from Spurs or maybe they finish the deal and bring in Neymar??
Group B:
1) Bayern Munich
2) Tottenham
3) Olympiakos
4) Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade).
Fairly straight forward. I think Tottenham can manage a scoreless draw in Greece which will be enough to send them through to the playoffs. Don't see anyone in this group even drawing at the Allianz Arena much less outright winning, but I think at least 1 of Spurs, Olympiakos, or Belgrade gets all 3 points in the home match.
Group C:
1) Man City
2) Atalanta
3) Shakhtar Donetsk
4) Dinamo Zagreb.
Man City should cruise through this as well, but the road games in Ukraine and Croatia could be challenging. Atalanta, Donetsk and Dinamo Zagreb all about on level pecking I went with Atalanta due to the better domestic league, but I wouldn't be shocked in Shakhtar ends up in second when it's all said and done.
Group D:
1) Juventus
2) Atletico Madrid
3) Bayer Leverkusen
4) Lokomotiv Moscow.
I'd take Juventus to finish top of the table, but it's not going to be as easy as the first 3 were. Atletico, Leverkusen, and Lokomotiv are all playing great in the domestic leagues so far, so this may actually be pretty fun.
Group E:
1) Liverpool
2) Napoli
3) Genk
4) Salzburg.
Liverpool will hardly break a sweat. Napoli is the next best team, they'll probably drop a road game to either Genk or Salzburg but they'll still finish 2nd. I have more trust in Genk getting the 3 points at Salzburg than Salzburg getting the 3 points at Genk (plus I think Napoli is more likely to lose @ Genk than at Salzburg) so that's why I have Genk dropping to the Europa League playoffs.
Group F:
1) Dortmund
2) Barcelona
3) Inter Milan
4) Slavia Prague.
With the additions of Thorgan Hazard and Mats Hummel among others I think Dortmund is one of the favorites to win the champs league and they'll edge out Barcelona and a vastly improved Inter squad with Diego Godin in the back and Lukaku and hopefully for them a turnaround for Alexis Sanchez on attack. If the 3rd place team cares about playing in the Europa League I think that team will be one of the top favorites in the Europa League, unfortunately out of the 3 I think Inter is the only one that will take the Europa League seriously.
Group G:
1) Lyon
2) Zenit
3) Benfica
4) Red Bulls Leipzig.
Really, really tough. Their midweek loss to Montpellier not withstanding, I love this Lyon team with Depay and Dembele. I have them beating out PSG for the Ligue 1 title this year and I picked them to advance to the champs league final 4 and they may not even make the Europa League.
Group H:
1) Valencia
2) Lille
3) Ajax
4) Chelsea.
It's looking like a rough season for Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge which opens this group up. I say Valencia takes top spot with Lille finishing just behind and Ajax dropping down the Europa League playoff, but really I could see all 4 teams, even Chelsea winning it. Like group G and a lesser case the bottom 3 teams in group D this was more just a guess and gut instinct than anything else.
Final 4 (obviously subject to change bases on prior matchups and standings):
1 semifinal I have Real Madrid beating Dortmund. By the time that first leg semifinal happens in April Hazard will be back, and than they'll have the rest of this window and all of January to make modifications to win a 14th champions league title. Even with no major transfer additions and even if they back track and end up selling James Rodriguez or Bale, they still have enough talent to make that possible.
The other semifinal I have Barcelona over Lyon. While I do love Depay and Dembele they don't have enough firepower to match Barcelona.
Barcelona over Real Madrid in the final.
It's about time we have an el classico in the Champs league final. If this were a 2 legged round I'd probably take Real Madrid's depth over Barcelona but in a 1 game winner take all am I going to take the best player that will be out on the pitch, and even though he is over 30 he is still scoring goals, and until he proves me otherwise Leo Messi will be the best player on the pitch and for that I am taking Barcelona to take home the hardware for the first time since 2015.
Group E is the easiest, I'd be very surprised if Liverpool drops any points. Maybe a draw vs. Napoli, but they should beat Genk & Salzburg.
The EPL doesn't adjust schedules for Champions League play. Man City is right after a Genk match. The other Genk match is sandwiched between Spurs and Man United. Liverpool's priority this year is likely to win the EPL after barely missing last year. I can see Liverpool coming out really flat and getting upset by a weaker team. Napoli beat Liverpool last year and Liverpool only won 1-0 at home. I think Liverpool will advance but it wouldn't surprise me if they dropped points along the way.
How will it end this season, or is there even still a season?
I heard potentially an early August restart, with the final at the end of the month. Of course that's the Lyon president saying that and well I've learned the last few weeks to take anything he says with a grain of salt.
Also, most of the domestic leagues are restarting. Belarus never took a break, though I think they did pause 2 weeks, Bundesliga, and the Portuguese league have returned along with the Austrian league. La Liga is due back next week, with the Russian league, EPL, and the Turkish League the next week or following week thereafter. So, I think in the end it will get played to a conclusion but likely with no fans.
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just like Liverpool I'd be very surprised if they record any points. Maybe they can draw with Inter at home, or on the final matchday the team they are playing is locked into their position and steal a draw there.
