The Champions League returns to give teams hope of conquering the biggest prize in European football and we look ahead to the chances of the English clubs in this competition. The last team to win the Champions League from England were Chelsea in 2012. England hasn’t done better than the semi-final stage ever since and will be hopeful of a better performance this season.
The four teams to make it to the group stages are Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United. United have returned to the Champions League after missing out last time around and will be looking to bring back the glory nights at Old Trafford. They have been provided a relatively easy group compared to others. They are to face PSV Eindhoven, Wolfsburg and CSKA Moscow. The trip to Moscow would be an arduous one and PSV would provide a happy return to Memphis Depay, the new Manchester United star. Wolfsburg could provide United with their toughest test in the group stage, but United should be able to squeak past the stage into the knockout round. That is where their journey would end unless Louis van Gaal can get them to play effective football more than anything else. United have not looked convincing and would need a miracle to win the Champions League this season.
Manchester City has started the season on fire and are the best chance England have at the moment. The English club has won every single game this season but have been given a tough group in the Champions League with Juventus, Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach. The good thing for City at the moment is that they are firing on all cylinders and Juventus and Monchengladbach are struggling in their leagues. They would be missing out on the services of Sergio Aguero for the first tie against Juventus, but the club should make it out of the group stage easily if they play the way they are at the moment, they could make it to the semi-final stage at least, it all depends on the fitness of Sergio Aguero.
Arsenal will face Bayern Munich once again in the Champions League and also have to take on Olympiacos and Dinamo Zagreb. Bayern would provide a stern test for the Gunners who only brought in Petr Cech as the signing of the transfer window. Olympiacos and Zagreb should be easy for the Gunners but how far might they go in the competition? It all depends on how many of their players stay fit and if they have the likes of Ozil and Sanchez firing on all cylinders, qualifying from the group stage should be easy but making it all the way to the final would be a tough task for the team from London.
Chelsea has been given the easiest group out of all the English clubs, they have to take on Porto, Dynamo Kyiv and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Chelsea should be easily making it past the group stage but the way they have started this season, they might end up coming second in the group. Jose Mourinho has a tough task to get his and Chelsea’s season back on track and this group could provide him a chance to rectify that. The Blues need to have a good set of results and this could start with the Champions League matches. One big win for Chelsea could give them the chance to kick-start their season, but they probably wouldn’t win the Champions League this season at least.