Are you as excited as us about the start of the new Champions League season? We've been waiting a long while for this, but now the new season is upon us. A lot has changed over the European summer, so we are super keen to see how each team will perform.
Before the first game kicks off, let us take you through a preview of what we think will happen throughout the 2023-24 season. And as you know, many things can go down in any given season – so there is bound to be a number of curveballs. But, who better than Kat Sasso to take you through what she thinks of the upcoming Champions League season and provide her soccer tips.
Check out all the deets below:
Top Teams in the Champions League
Manchester City go into the tournament as the team to beat as they look to go back-to-back and win their second Champions League in a row, but Bayern Munich with their new main man in Harry Kane will be looking to not only dominate Germany, but all of Europe as well and will definitely be a title contender alongside the usual suspect of Real Madrid, a reborn FC Barcelona side and Serie A champions Napoli.
Looking to the groups:
Bayern Munich and Manchester United will make it out of Group A, while Arsenal and Sevilla will top Group B. Group C have 2022/23 heavyweights Real Madrid and Napoli who will breeze through, and in Group D, Inter Milan and Benfica will dominate. Atletico Madrid and Celtic look to be the strongest of Group E, while in Group G, Manchester City and Leipzig will prevail.
Group F is this year’s group of death. It’s hard to pick who will top this group because all these teams are absolute quality, but I think it will be PSG and AC Milan who will top this group. And finally, Group H will see Barcelona and Porto make their way to the knockout rounds.
Bottom Teams in the Champions League
Union Berlin will be making their first ever Champions League appearance after a stunning 2022/23 season, but I don’t think they will be able to do much in the group stages especially coming up against seasoned European veterans Real Madrid, Napoli and Braga.
I think Borussia Dortmund will heavily disappoint in this tournament, having a hard time in the league after losing some key players. I can’t see them doing anything extraordinary this year especially after being drawn the group of death alongside PSG, AC Milan and Newcastle United.
I think the teams finishing the bottom of the groups will be Copenhagen, Lens, Lazio, Borussia Dortmund, SC Braga, FC Salzburg, FK Crvena Zvezda and Shakhtar Donetsk. While these are some very strong teams in and of themselves, the competition this year will be stronger than ever before, and from the looks of it, it doesn’t look like these sides will be able to contend against the strongest sides in Europe.
Who Will Win the Champions League?
As much as I hate to admit it, I think Manchester City have already got one hand on that trophy, with by far one of, if not the strongest side in all of Europe, I wouldn’t be surprised if Pep and the sky blues are able to go back-to-back. Not to say it will be an easy ride for them, because we all know that anything can happen in the Champions League, but City definitely look to be the most consistent side in the tournament.
Like I said earlier, Bayern Munich will be hungrier than ever after their quarter final exit last year, and with a renewed and reenergised squad this season, they very well may be what causes City’s downfall in this tournament.
We told you our Champions League season preview was on point! If reading our Champions season preview has got you all fired up, make sure you head on over to the Dabble app, get all your bets sorted and share your thoughts in the Banter channel.
