The UEFA Champions League has just kicked off its 2017 season, and as always, fans are already enthralled. British enthusiasts have even more reason than usual to be interested this year; better performances overall and 5 teams in the competition instead of 4 mean there is an excellent chance that representatives from the Premier League will be the ones lifting the European Cup for the first time since Chelsea did so in 2012.
Last season only 1 English side, Leicester City, made the quarterfinals before being bested by Atletico Madrid. This year, however, we may just see an all-English final for the first time since 2008, and for only the second time in history. A change in the rules means that now it is possible for 5 English teams to qualify for the Champions League, as calculated by UEFA Coefficients, with a minimum of 4, and 5 have made it through this year. Reigning Premier League champions Chelsea automatically qualified for the group stage, along with 2nd and 3rd placed teams Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester City. Whilst Liverpool had a qualifying round to negotiate before qualifying, and Manchester United qualified as Europa League winners.
The Group Stage of the Champions League is now two-thirds complete, meaning there are only Matchdays 5 and 6 still to go before the Knockout Phase. Though we do still have to see what happens on 21 and 22 November and 5 and 6 December for the final Group Stage results, at this stage 4 of the 5 British competing teams are at the top of their standings. The only one in second place is, in fact, the champion Chelsea side. Read on for a closer look at each of the Premier League representatives.
Chelsea
Chelsea are second in Group C with 7 points, just behind Roma who have 8 after winning against The Pensioners 3-0 on 31 October. After their first clash resulted in a 3-3 draw, it could be argued that Roma is currently a better side. The consistency that helped Chelsea win the Premier League seems to have fallen away somewhat.
Tottenham Hotspurs
As Premier League runners-up Tottenham also qualified for the Champions League automatically and are so far doing very well. This time last year the Spurs were on their way out of the competition; today they are at the top of Group H with 10 points with Real Madrid behind by 3 points.
Manchester City
The Citizens came third in the 2017 Premier League, but the league is so strong overall that after the UEFA Coefficient calculations they also went to the Group Stage automatically. With 4 out of 4 wins so far, things could hardly be looking better.
Liverpool
Liverpool saw Hoffenhiem off across 2 legs, with a score of 6-3, to make it to the Group Stage. Having played their home and away games against Maribor and won both, and having tied with Sevilla and Spartak Moscow for those games, Liverpool has 8 points and leads Group E by 1, with Sevilla on 7.
Manchester United
Manchester United made it through because of their determined effort and eventual win over Ajax in last season's Europa League, for which they received a lot of support and input from manager Jose Mourinho. Mourinho has been praised for his decision to concentrate his efforts on the Europa league when it became clear that a win for them was more likely than a Top Four Premier League finish. This seems to have boosted their confidence, and their record the Champions League is a currently perfect score of 4 wins in 4 matches.
Odds for Each Team
Some experts warn that it is usually only in the Knockout Stage that the English teams run into problems, coming as they do after the festive fixture programme and without any winter break for the athletes, but the performances this year are making everyone feel optimistic. Different leading online bookmakers have already posted odds on each team in the Group Stage, and the numbers for the British sides are looking good.
All 5 British teams fall into the top 10 most likely sides to win the Champions League overall, meaning they represent half the teams in this top-tier group. The chances of Englishmen hoisting the trophy are thus high, with odds sitting around the following numbers at the moment:
Winning will not be plain sailing, of course; the other teams in the top 10 also have strong chances, with the following odds:
The stability of this Premier League really is looking like it may be stable enough to challenge the late-stage European regulars like Barcelona and Bayern Munich. All managers are in at least their second year at the helm and their experience shows, so if the teams can avoid the Knockout Stage slump the fight should be excitingly equal this year.
Image by: Ver en vivo En Directo
© Copyright topfootballtipster.com 2019
