UEFA Champions League 2016/17 Groups & Teams

Welcoming the 62^nd season of the UEFA Champions League in 2016-17, this season is expected to display some good quality football from all around the world. This post is all about the UEFA Champions League 2016/17 groups and the teams which have sealed the spot in the group stages this season. It’ll be 25^th season since the tournament was renamed from the European Champion Clubs Cup.

This season’s UEFA Champions League Winners will qualify as the UEFA Representative as the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup in UAE and will face the UEFA Europa League Winners of 2016/17 in the 2017 UEFA Super Cup. Real Madrid will come down to defend the trophy.

The Group stage will kick off from 13th September 2016 and you can watch the live stream or on tv for free. 

UEFA Champions League 2016/17 Groups

Let’s have a look at the UEFA Champions League 2016/17 groups and the teams, these are the teams which finished in top 4 and have played really well in their respective leagues and have made it to this season’s UEFA Champions League group stages. 

Beginning with,

GROUP A

1. Paris Saint-Germain (France)
2. Arsenal ( England)
3. Basel (Switzerland)
4. Ludogorets Razgard (Bulgaria)

So, talking about the Group A, it can be predicted that the sure shot qualifiers would be Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal as they have gone through to the Round of 16 many a times in the past too and this time also they’ve no reason to get knocked out in the group stage itself as the bottom 2 i.e. Basel and Ludogorets Razgard are not likely to defeat the above 2 if we take into the consideration their latest performances and compare them with wither of the top 2.

GROUP B 

1. Benfica (Portugal) 
2. Napoli (Italy) 
3. Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) 
4. Besiktas (Istanbul) 

Group B looks quite competitive as Benfica, Napoli and Dynamo Kyiv are equally tough competition for each other as all of the three have gone through the group stages earlier in few of the previous season and Besiktas on the other hand might struggle winning and stay in the competition for long.

GROUP C

1. Barcelona (Spain) 
2. Manchester City (England) 
3. Borussia Monchengladbach (Germany) 
4. Celtic (Ireland) 

Although this group looks competitive because of the big names in group but to be honest every one of us knows the result. The top 2 might shuffle themselves there itself and the bottom 2 will be Monchengladbach and Celtic. Celtic might create problems for Spanish and English sides as they’ve done this before too.

GROUP D

1. Bayern Munich (Germany) 
2. Atletico Madrid (Spain) 
3. PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) 
4. Rostov (Russia) 

Well, look what’ve we got here! Two of the most prolific teams of the past three seasons. Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid. Looks like this group stage will call for a revenge this time as Bayern Munich got eliminated by the Spanish Dark horse Atletico Madrid and will come down firing guns to beat Atletico at least once or twice maybe this season. PSV Eindhoven and Rostov are most likely to fight for the third position in the group stage table. 

GROUP E 

1. CSKA Moscow (Russia) 
2. Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) 
3. Tottenham Hotspur (England) 
4. Monaco (France) 

This group will be unpredictable as every team in it will fight for their right to play football. CSKA and Bayer are definitely the favourites but Tottenham are likely to play at their best as they’ve managed to enter the UEFA Champions League this season by finishing in the top 4 in EPL last season and Monaco is no less than any other team in this group . So far this is the most competitive group this season and is surely deliver great games. 

GROUP F 

1. Real Madrid (Spain) 
2. Borussia Dortmund ( Germany) 
3. Sporting CP (Portugal) 
4. Legia Warsaw (Poland) 

This group is most probably going to be circled around Real Madrid and Dortmund. This is the third time in 4 seasons when these two giants clashed and Madrid is definitely worried about it. Sporting CP is expected to finish at the place where it is present right now i.e. 3rd as it’s likely to lose against the above two and is surely better than Legia Warsaw.

GROUP G 

1. Leicester City (England) 
2. Porto (Portugal) 
3. Club Bruges (Belgium) 
4. Copenhagen (Denmark) 

This group’s winners cannot be stated clearly as Leicester City are the new comers to Champions League so it’s still questionable about their performance apart from the league games and Porto who have won the Champions League once and is the most successful club in Portugal are likely to finish in the top two. On the other hand Copenhagen and Burges are unpredictable in terms of their game play and any one of the two cannot be considered for the top 2 positions.

GROUP H 

1. Juventus (Italy) 
2. Sevilla (Spain) 
3. Lyon (France) 
4. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) 

The last group of all the groups consisting of 2015 Champions League finalists Juventus and three times in a row UEFA Europa League Winners in the latest three seasons. And having Dinamo Zagreb in their group might not create a problem for Juventus and Sevilla but the same cannot be said for Lyon because this team can play really well at times and might disturb the table points tally.

So, this was it for the UEFA Champions League 2016/17 groups and the teams. Stay tuned to get updated for further actions and excitement.