UEFA Champions League Draw: Group of Death (E) Preview
Aug 2, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Manchester City forward Stevan Jovetic (35) celebrates with Samir Nasri (8) after scoring a goal during the first half against Olympiakos at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
When there is any sort of draw in this sport, there is almost always a Group of Death. While Chelsea lucked out and landed in arguably the easiest group of the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League Group Phase, the members of Group E received the hardest path to advancing. The 2014-15 UEFA Champions League Draw did not disappoint in giving the fans many must-see games.
Group E is a stacked group featuring Bayern Munich, Manchester City, AS Roma, and CSKA Moscow. Munich, City, and Moscow have now met in two straight group phases and this group is one of two to feature three domestic champions. The only team to not win their domestic league, Roma, came in second.
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Roma’s campaign starts this weekend and they are coming off of a 2013-14 season where they went 26-7-5 and finished with 85 points. Despite finishing 17 points behind Juventus, Roma still had a very impressive Serie A campaign and are one of the favorites to challenge for the title. The last time Roma was in the competition, 2010-11, they swapped wins with Bayern.
Manchester City is coming off their second English Premier League title and have jumped out to a great start with wins in their first two games. City has already looked like they will be instant challengers for the title once again and will have to play their best to beat the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal. In the Champions League, the defending EPL champions will need to also put forth their best effort or they could fail to advance with the quality of teams in their group.
CSKA Moscow took the 2013-14 Russian Premier League title away from Zenit St. Petersburg as they totaled one more point than the runner-up. Moscow posted an impressive 20-4-6 record. This season, the defending RPL champions haven’t had the best of starts with a 3-0-2 record and currently stand in seventh. CSKA is easily projected to be the worst team in the group and they will need really nothing short of a miracle to advance, despite still being a quality side.
Bayern Munich are arguably the favorites along with Manchester City to win the group. Munich always dominates in the Bundesliga, but City faces much more competition in the Premier League. Munich cruised to a title in 2013-14 with a a 29-3-2 record and beat out second-place Borussia Dortmund by 19 points. Munich has only played 1 game to this point in the 2014-15 season, but they did get the win.
The first matchday will come on September 16-17, and this group will undoubtedly catch many fans’ eyes if the games are on TV.
Stay tuned to Playing for 90 for more UEFA Champions League news.
Previous Champions League results courtesy of UEFA.com.