To the pleasure of most soccer fans, the much awaited and thrilling Champions League has begun once again. From the group stages to the finals, this year looks to be an unusually exciting year.

The Champions League is an annual tournament in which the best club (not national) teams from around Europe meet. Having begun on September 17th, the group stages, where a total of 32 teams are placed in eight groups of four, will ultimately decide who will advance to the knockout stages which begin in February.

Teams qualify for the Champions League either through the place they finished in their domestic leagues the previous season, or through a qualification game played in late summer. Once all teams that will be in the tournament have been decided, a drawing will take place to decide which teams will play in what group, each one identified by a different number, from “A” to “H”. The top two teams from every group will advance to the round of sixteen, the third placed teams drop to the Europa league, which acts as a second tier to the Champions league, and the fourth will be eliminated from european play all together.

Without a doubt I would label Group H, which consists of Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax, and Celtic, as the Group of Death, because it is considered to be the group with the best teams and will be the hardest group to advance out of. Celtic, Barcelona, and Ajax were all champions of their domestic leagues last season with Milan coming in third. In addition, all of Milan, Ajax and Barcelona have won the Champions League in the past, therefore coming into this season with much experience backing them. I would expect AC Milan and Barcelona to advance through to the knockout stages as Ajax and Celtic haven’t made near enough improvements in the offseason transfer window, a time in which clubs are able to buy or sell players. Although, Celtic did come up with a stunning defeat over Barcelona in last seasons Champions league and Ajax are notorious for their younger talent, so there very well could be a surprise in store coming out of Group H.

“I’d go with group D (Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Viktoria Plzen, CSKA Moskva) as my group of death, because two great clubs are in there, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, who both have great players and playing styles,” sophomore Diego Avila said.

Manchester City is an interesting team in terms of European play as they have done extremely well domestically winning their league two seasons ago and finishing second last season, but failing to make it out of the Group Stage within the last two seasons. As one of the wealthiest clubs in Europe, Manchester City spent big over the summer transfer window, dishing out over one hundred million pounds on new players, so they will be expected to improve their form from recent history.

“I’ll be rooting for Atletico Madrid (group G), I’ve liked them ever since Radamel Falcao was there. I think they will come out on top in their group,” Avila said.

Bayern Munich, last seasons Champions League winner, comes into this season as favorites, but having done well in the transfer window both Real Madrid and last seasons runner-ups Borussia Dortmund will be expected to mount a serious challenge to the current title holders.

“I’d love to see Real Madrid (Group B) and Bayern Munich play in the round of sixteen, they’re very big clubs with big names in them. I would call a tie between them but Madrid would win in the case of penalties,” Avila said.
“The group of death for me would be Group F, Arsenal, (Borussia) Dortmund, Napoli and Marseille. Arsenal, Dortmund and Napoli are among the top ten best teams in all of Europe. Dortmund and Napoli would come out on top, Napoli did well this transfer window, which is the period of time in which teams can buy players from other clubs, buying Gonzalo Higuain and hiring a new coach in Rafael Benitez. Dortmund made it to the final of the Champions League last year so they’ll make it as well,” sophomore Jose Escobar said.

As I have been for a good five years now, I’ll be putting my Chelsea jersey on and will be rooting for them throughout this season. I’m expecting a good run into the Quarterfinals or the Semifinals as they have made many positive changes to their ranks including a new coach and many new young players, but unfortunately I don’t see them pushing for the title as they just haven’t had enough play time together.

“I’m rooting for Real Madrid as I’ve liked them since about 2009, that’s when I got really interested in european soccer. I like them because of Cristiano Ronaldo, my favorite player and arguably the best player in the world. I’m pretty sure Real Madrid and Juventus will advance, they’re the strongest teams in the group and Juventus won the Serie A (Italy’s top league) and Real Madrid came in second place in La Liga (Spain’s top league),” Escobar said.

Unlike the Group of Death there is really only one group in contention to take the title as the easiest group, as group E (Chelsea, Schalke 04, Basel, Steaua Bucuresti) is a bit lacking compared to most groups. I say this unbiasedly that Chelsea is easily the best team in their group. Both Basel and Steaua Bucuresti would probably be considered Europa League level teams and Schalke’s form has dipped in recent years, so Chelsea emerge as strong favorites.

“The easiest group is Group E. I feel like the only strong team there is Chelsea, and I have never heard of Basel or Bucuresti,” Escobar said.

The group stages will conclude on the 10th and the 11th of December and will resume with the Round of Sixteen in February, continuing until the final in late May.