Top five things we all want to see in the 2021/22 UCL

Here’s five things we all want to see during the upcoming UEFA Champions League.

The last time we saw the Champions League was May 29th when the dark horses, Chelsea, beat the tournament’s best team in Manchester City to win their second European title.

On the eve of a brand new edition, there are plenty of storylines and narratives surrounding a number of teams.

Five things to look forward to in the 2021/22 Champions League

5. Can Chelsea repeat?

Since 2000, only one team has been able to win back-to-back Champions League titles. That team was Real Madrid when they not only won back-to-back, they won three in a row. Now, Chelsea want to become the second team in the 21st century to achieve such a feat.

The Blues will have what seems a pretty easy path to the knockout phase. They are in group H with Malmö and Zenit, two teams that have never shown they can compete with the top teams in Europe. The fourth team in the group is a Juventus without Cristiano Ronaldo.

Barring a dramatic collapse, Chelsea should make their way out of the group rather comfortably. They proved in the knockout stage they can beat anyone and that’s why they have the fourth best odds to take the title back to London.

4. Barcelona and Real Madrid

I have both teams here because it seems both are heading in the same direction where they won’t compete for this year’s title. However, both have been two of the best teams in the past decade, having won six titles between the two.

Barcelona are without Lionel Messi for the first time since 2003. Without their star, Barcelona appear rudderless, not knowing exactly what to do. They face Bayern Munich to open the group stage. The last time they met the Bundesliga side, Bayern humiliated the Catalans 8-2 in the 2019/20 quarterfinal.

Barcelona has also suffered four humiliating defeats in the last four seasons and will try to revert this albeit with a poorer side on paper.

As for Real Madrid, they haven’t been a real competitor the last three seasons. Last year they reached the semifinals but its fair to say they were the fourth best team out of all semifinalists.

The Merengues were drawn in group D, alongside Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk and FCSheriff Tiraspol. They’ll likely reach the next stage with little to no trouble. However they don’t have the team to compete against the top sides in Europe.

3. Manchester City and Bayern Munich

As opposed to Barcelona and Real Madrid, two teams who don’t look to have the quality to fight for the title, Manchester and Bayern Munich sit in the opposite end.

Starting with Manchester City, last season they managed to reach the final against Chelsea and we know how that ended. However, they know what it takes to reach the final and they’ve only gotten better taking into account their recent signings.

The Citizens are still the best team in the Premier League and although they share Group A with probably the best team in Europe — PSG — they should be in the next round. It’s beyond time for Pep Guardiola to finally win the Champions League with a team that’s not Barcelona.

Bayern Munich face the same challenge as Man City. They are by far the best team in Bundesliga, and have been, for the last ten years. But they can’t seem to translate that to the Champions League. Yes, they won it two years ago but went out in the quarterfinal last season when it appeared they could go back-to-back.

Bayern share group E with Barcelona. Those two games are the most difficult but they’ll probably win all six group stage matches. Their true challenge will start in the knockout phase.

2. Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United

This is one of the most interesting transfer news in the last decade. Cristiano Ronaldo is back with the team that made him into a star and Manchester United are back as a serious contenders for the first time since 2011.

The last time Ronaldo played with Manchester United in the Champions League, they reached the final two years in a row, winning one. The Red Devils arrive as the Europe League runner-ups, motivated to have the top scorer in European football in their ranks.

They will have to overcome a hard group stage alongside Atalanta, Villarreal (Europe League Champions) and Young Boys. At the same time, Man United are expected to run away with the group despite less than stellar showings in recent history.

It will be very interesting to see  what the five-time champions do now with the return of one of the best players in history.

1. Lionel Messi and PSG

Finally, we have the biggest story of this offseason — Messi’s departure from Barcelona an to an already loaded Paris Saint. Germain. Understandably, the French giants are considered the favorites to win the whole thing.

It’s going to be hard to see Messi play with a team other than Barcelona but there’s no doubt PSG are the team to beat in this competition. PSG have had recent success the last few years, reaching a final two seasons ago and the semifinal last season.

Now Les Parisiens have Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria, Marquinhos, Marco Verratti and Keylor Navas to name a few. As if that wasn’t enough, they added, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum and the aforementioned Messi.

This team has the players to win this year. If they fail to do so, they will become the biggest disappointment in history. If they actually manage to win the title, Messi will have won the Champions League five times, equaling Ronaldo.