Champions League Group B Preview
The prodigal sons return! Manchester United made it into the Champions League with a convincing 4-0 away win over Club Brugge and were part of the draw for the group stages. The English club weren’t part of the competition last season, but they will be jumping for joy at the start of the night, but they haven’t been given the easiest of draws.
Home is calling for Louis van Gaal
The English team have been clubbed with PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow and Wolfsburg in a rather tough looking group. There is one side story, apart from Louis van Gaal travelling back to his native, Memphis Depay, Manchester United’s new signing and star player will face his former club in the competition and the Dutch ace will be looking to do well against his former employers.
United could have done better, but they have to face Moscow, and travelling to the Russian capital will never be easy and with United not hitting their top gear yet, there still is an opportunity for both Moscow and PSV to get a result against the English team.
Wolfsburg will be the club that provides them the toughest test, but United should have just about enough to defeat the Bundesliga runners-up. Kevin de Bruyne might have been the x-factor against United but he seems set to join the city rivals, Manchester City before the end of the transfer window and that would make Wolfsburg weaker in the long run.
United will be looking to ensure they qualify for the next round, that would be their first aim. Louis van Gaal would have drilled his team really well to make sure there are no slip-ups and that United complete the qualification for the knockout stage before the last game of the group stage. There might be a few nerves for the players, but Van Gaal is a coach with a lot of Champions League experience, which will come handy for a revamped team.
There really should be no doubt that Manchester United start as favourites for the group. They should easily make it through to the next round if they play to their potential. In theory, the games should be easy for the record English champions but this is football and nothing can be taken for granted. The Champions League gives an opportunity for all the top clubs in Europe to have a real go at each other and the rest of the teams in the group will be fighting it out for the runners-up spot, United should be confident of their chances to make it into the next round.
Group B: PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Wolfsburg