AS the English clubs found out their fate for the group stages of the Champions League last week , there must have been sighs of relief from all but maybe Spurs.

Manchester United have on paper the easiest draw (as usual) considering their biggest worry is a long trip to Russia. Benfica are still one of the toughest teams out there but Jose Mourinho has added some steel to his squad this year and should progress out of this group with not much hassle. Basel and CSKA might on their day cause an upset but I don’t see that happening. 

Liverpool will also be smiling, considering what they could have been dealt with. Sevilla on their third manager in three years are the slight favourites but Liverpool with the enormous amount of firepower upfront should qualify with ease. Spartak Moscow currently 11th this season can’t seem to replicate their champions form from last season and Maribor has won only one of their 12 champions league games in their history.

Chelsea should have enough to get out of their group with Atletico Madrid being the favourite in this one, what with their record in the finals to date. It’s going to be all hands on deck for Antonio Conte and Chelsea as they negotiate the Champions League and the Premiership this season. They started shakily and will need to have some serious strength and depth to negotiate this group, but avoid qualifying at least second. 

 Manchester City will have no excuses this time as Pep has spent nearly 220 million pounds on the team, with the majority of that going to fix that defense of theirs. In a relatively straight forward group, Napoli are one of the most exciting teams in Europe right now with their goals coming from nearly every department, so they will be one of the biggest threats in this group for City . Feyenoord and Shakthar Donetsk providing the other opposition but not much else. 

Tottenham Hotspurs on the other hand have been handed the “Group Of Death “, with holders Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund for competition and Apoel Nicosia rounding it up. Spurs will need to get over their Wembley hangover as soon as a possible, which should be soon as they are playing they league home games there this season.

Dortmund will provide a stern test of Spurs credentials, as even with new manager in Peter Bosz they are a force to be reckoned with. Real Madrid look like they are on course to win a hat trick of champions league wins with most of their stars staying and having a new crop of players coming through. So Spurs will have their work cut out for them, which is basically beat Dortmund and get second in the group. 

Other notable sub-plots are Barcelona and Juventus in the same group and of course Bayern and PSG together as well.

I personally think it should be Real Madrid in the final again, and I hope against PSG with Manchester United an outside bet. – August 28, 2017.

* Gogulan Dorairajoo is manager of KL Galaxy FC and an all-round football pundit with a passion for the world’s greatest sport. He also happens to be a long suffering fan of Aston Villa FC.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.