Istanbul 2023: Accessing the each team's chances in their respective groups as well as power rankings in the quest for glory in the Champions League

The UEFA Champions League group draw for the 2022/23 season has been made and teams have known their respective rivals for a place in the next rounds.

Following the draw, clubs will already be looking at how realistic is their chances of making it out of the group stages while some others who are not so lucky will still hope to at least make something happen for themselves when the games started.

It is no news that the group winners and runners up progress to the round of 16 while the third placed teams move on to the Europa League, leaving the bottom team out of European competition for the remainder of the season.

We take a look at each of the groups and the favourites to progress into the next round and those who will fancy their chances to upset the odds. Also those that have been unlucky and will stand no chance of progression.

Group A

Ajax

Liverpool

Napoli

Rangers

Liverpool are the favourites in this group albeit Napoli avoided defeat in both legs of their meeting the last time they were drawn together in the same group in the competition back in the 2019/20 season.

However, it will be very unlikely to see the Serie A side repeat the same feat this time round though the result also came as a shock back then, Liverpool this time will look for revenge and they are odds on to come out on top.

Dutch powerhouse, Ajax are also a real deal in the group and their presence will make it even more interesting. Even Rangers will not be a pushover and this is why the group is tagged 'the group of death.'

Nonetheless, Liverpool, who were flawless in a group of death last season are expected to progress from the group and Ajax, who have been more successful lately than their other counterpart will be expected to follow The Reds out of the group.

However, the departure of some of their star players this summer in Ryan Gravenberch, Noussair Mazraoui, Lisandro Martinez and imminently, Antony is expected to have an effect in deciding their fate as how well their new signings get on will be crucial.

Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli are well placed to take advantage of any Ajax slip up while Rangers will also have eyes on the second spot but they are still the least expected to progress from the group.

Liverpool to win the group and Ajax and Napoli to battle for second spot but watch out for Rangers as any slip up between Napoli or Ajax could hand the Glasgow outfit a ticket to the Europa League.

The first two matchdays will be crucial for Rangers as they play Ajax and Napoli respectively, meaning the other two play Liverpool and also faceoff against each other in that time. Should Rangers register a significant amount of success, then it will play well into their plans.

However, they are still the underdogs in a well stacked group A.

Group B

FC Porto

Atletico Madrid

Bayer Leverkusen

Club Brugge 

Group B is also as tough as group A because the level of the teams in there isn't that much far apart. Atletico, being one of the top three teams in the La Liga will boast favourite but against sides like Porto who plays good football, it could become very tricky.

Last season both Atletico and Porto were in the same group and after a first leg that ended goalless in Spain, Diego Someone's side went on to beat Porto 3-1 in Portugal, and in both legs, they were clearly second best.

Those were games Portuguese champions, Porto could have easily won and Diego Simeone will also know his side were only lucky to earned the win that eventually secure them a place in the round of 16 behind Liverpool.

Despite their poor start to the season in the Bundesliga, it should not be forgotten how good Bayer Leverkusen were last season and their early season struggles might as well be over having won 3-0 away to Mainz last weekend.

Belgian Champions, Club Brugge will also look to make something for themselves this time after the disappointment of last season, which saw them surrender third spot to RB Leipzig after previously establishing a very good advantage in a group where there were also Manchester City and PSG.

Atletico Madrid and Porto are odds on to progress and if Club Brugge and get over their nightmare against the Bundesliga side, they should be able to seal Europa League qualification ahead of Bayer Leverkusen.

Group C

Bayern Munich

Barcelona

Inter

Viktoria Plzen

Bayern Munich and Barcelona will be favourites to progress from this group albeit there is Inter, however, both the German and Spanish clubs are at the moment above the Italian and that edge will be key.

Inter have not been lucky with the draw and plays Bayern Munich at home in the first matchday without their striker, Romelu Lukaku, who has been ruled out with a thigh injury sustained in the weekend loss to Lazio.

The tough fixtures are also coming in succession for the Nerazzurri as on the back of facing Lazio, they host newly promoted Cremonese on Tuesday. Milan awaits this weekend and after that is the Champions League meeting with Bayern.

Even though Inter have had more success over Bayern in their most recent meetings, Bayern will be overwhelming favourites against them and so will be Barcelona so the club will have to settle for a spot in the Europa League at the expense of the unlucky Viktoria Plzen.

The quest for top spot will be between a team seeking revenge and another looking to continuously exert her dominance as Barcelona, coming back to life again under Xavi Hernandez will be looking to payback Bayern, who have been all over them in their recent meetings.

Bayern have won each of their last four meetings against Barcelona, including an 8-2 win in Lisbon in the quater final of the Champions League in 2020 and a 6-0 aggregate win in the competition last season.

However, having signed striker, Robert Lewandowski from Bayern this summer, Barcelona will look to inflict the damage on the Bavarians who will still be considered favourites anyway.

Bayern have earned the right to be considered one of the favourites for the title season in and out due to their consistency in the competition over the years and Barcelona, under Xavi and on the back of a successful summer business will also become one of the heavy challengers for the title as they look for their first since 2015.

It was a very unlucky draw for Czech Republic Champions, Viktoria Plzen and not much is expected of them in a group of three top teams in Europe.

Group D

Eintracht Frankfurt

Tottenham Hotspur

Olympic Marseille

Sporting Lisbon

Started in pot one because of their conquest in the Europa League last season, Frankfurt will find themselves in no man's land in the group as the likes of Tottheham Hotspur, Sporting CP and Marseille.

Marseille could not have got a better draw after finding themselves in pot four and of all the clubs in that pot, they literally are the only side with the best shot at making it into the next round though it will not come easy.

Tottheham Hotspur and Sporting CP are favourites but the margin between these teams is minimal. After finishing behind PSG in the league last season, Marseille have added Alexis Sanchez, who scored a brace in their last league match at OG Nice as well as Nuno Tavares who seems to be very constant on the score sheet in France.

So much is expected of Antonio Conte’s Tottenham this season and they will be expected to show that by walking over all the other teams in the group and anything else will be considered a disappointment.

Sporting and Marseille have better chances of coming second rather than Frankfurt, who is the least team in the group base on the power rankings.

Group E

Milan

Chelsea

RB Salzburg

Dimano Zagreb

Chelsea and Milan are favourites to booj their places in the next round but there's the need to be wary of Salzburg, who did made it to the round of 16 of the competition last season.

2021 Champions, Chelsea will be favourites at the expense of Milan despite representing the pot two. The Premier League club will play both Dinamo Zagreb and Salzburg before facing Milan back to back in games that will be crucial in determining who wins the group.

Salzburg, with their fast flowing football can cause damage for any team so they should not be written off as in this group, Milan have to avoid being dominated by Chelsea and vice versa so as not to hand the advantage to Salzburg.

Also, Salzburg have to show up against Dinamo Zagreb if they are unable to get anything from the two top teams to ensure passage into the Europa League in the least.

Chelsea are the only member of this group to be considered a contender for the title. Though there is still much to be sorted before the end of the window but when in the Champions League, it takes something extra ordinary to beat the Blues.

Group F

Real Madrid

RB Leipzig

Shakhtar Donesk

Celtic

Defending Champions, Real Madrid are overwhelming favourites here and RB Leipzig will be expected to reach the round of 16 this time after missing out last season.

The battle for Europa League between Celtic and Shakhtar Donesk will be decided by the meetings between the two. Celtic are unbeaten in the league and they will need to bring that form to Europe to better Shakhtar Donesk, but it will not be easy.

The odds might not be in favour of Real Madrid to retain the title they won last season at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis but just as it was at the start of last season, they can never be written off and are still one of the heavy favourites.

Group G

Manchester City

Borussia Dortmund

Sevilla

FC Kobenhavn

Manchester City are the only team to have toppled their Champions League group in each of the last five season and again, they have been placed in a group to maintain that record.

They should be able to dominate the group. However, the real battle to watch out for is the one for the second spot between Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund.

It was an enjoyable 180 minutes after football action the last time both sides met, which was in the round of 16 of the competition in 2021. Borussia Dortmund edged their counterpart in a nine goal thriller, winning the first leg 3-2 away from home.

Either of the two can take it but Dortmund, who are placed in pot two ahead of the draw will be considered favourite. Sevilla’s disappointing start to the season is not going to help as well but there is still time before both sides meet and things might have turnaround before then.

FC Kobenhavn will not have much threat to pose in this group and will be expected to exit the competition from the group stage.

Having reached the final and semi finals in the last two seasons, Manchester City will again be one of the favourites for the title and with the summer recruitment of Erling Haaland, they will hope this time they can go one better than their best run in the competition.

For now, City might easily be the number one favourite for glory.

Group H

PSG Paris Saint-Germain

Juventus Turin

Benfica Lisbon

Maccabi Haifa

PSG are favourites and this is a group to allow the trio of Messi, Neymar and Mbappé score a significant amount of goals to bolster their chances of emerging as the competition’s top scorer.

Juventus will challenge the French champions but will fit more for second spot while Benfica will be favourites for the Europa League ticket ahead of Maccabi Haifa.

Keeping the trio of Messi, Neymar and Mbappé performing at their best consistently will be key for PSG. At their best, arguably any team in the world will stand a chance against Les Parisiens but that will not be easily when they come against more organized teams like Bayern, City, Madrid and maybe Barcelona.

These is how the group adventure is expected to play out with little or no chance of upset expected. It will be interesting to see what had become of the teams after the final group games in the early days of November.

Author : Kehinde Hassan Afolabi