Which Team should I support in UEFA Champions League 2020-21

 

Finally, this season’s champions league has kicked off and all teams are looking forward to winning it.

We already have the groups, and football fans can rejoice as Barcelona and Juventus have been placed in the same group, and we will get to see Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo once again face to face with each other. However, bad news broke out that Cristiano Ronaldo has been infected with the coronavirus, making it doubtful for him to attend the October clash between the two clubs, and we hope he recovers soon and we get to see him play in the December clash.

As for the teams, in the Premier League, Liverpool look strong as they maintain their dominant position in the EPL, however due to the injury of Virgil Van Dijk, the club could be facing some defensive backlash. Manchester City look all string and hungry to win this season, and have further strengthened their team by signing defensive players like Ruben Dias, and Ake and hence have a high chance of winning this season. Chelsea has had one of the most successful transfer window this season, as they have completed the signing of Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Chilwell, Hakimi Ziyech, and Thiago Silva, with all these signings Chelsea look strong as ever, and will be a tough opponent to beat in the competition.

In the La Liga, Barcelona look strong from the previous season as they have managed quite good signings like Trincao, Pedri, Pjanic, and Dest, and have brought back Coutinho from his one year loan spell at Bayern Munich, and several academy players like Ansu Fati, Riqui Puig, Alena, and Aruajo have started performing really well and have started to play for the A team either as starters, or as substitutes, combining all of these factors, Barcelona have a pretty good chance of performing this season, and putting an end to their previous year’s humiliations if they handle their internal politics with the club management well. Real Madrid have started their season under performing as per the expectations, as they recently lost to Shaktar, with the continuous injury of Eden Hazard and sending Gareth Bale on loan to Tottenham Hotspurs, and not buying any player in this season’s transfer window, they might have lack of offensive players as they now have to completely rely on Benzema, Vinicius junior, Rodrygo, Asensio, and Luka Jovic, of which none have till now shown a very consistent goal scoring record. However, in the mid field, Real Madrid has one of the best mid fields in the whole Europe, as they have some awesome players with very good passing, vision, ability to create chances, defensive awareness, and ability to score goals when the team needs it. Atletico Madrid look good as they have signed Luis Suarez from Barcelona, and now have more attacking options, and coupled with one of the strongest defence and mid fields in Europe, they are really dangerous for anyone who faces them, especially in the elimination rounds, however the team has several loop holes which was evident in the match against Bayern Munich, which was the team lacked the speed, and players aren’t that fast as they need to be, as Atletico Madrid, primarily rely on counter attacking style of play.

In the Serie A, Internazionale look strong and determined to win, but it all depends on their manager Conte, his tactics, and how well he uses his players, as Inter does not have much options in every position, and due to the lack of wingers, they have to play with a two-striker formation, depending on Martinez and Lukaku. Juventus have taken a huge risk by employing an inexperienced manager Pirlo as the head coach of the team, but it could turn out to be a favourite surprise as Pirlo might be inexperienced to managing, but his playing career is evident enough to say that his footballing knowledge is second to none. On arrival of Pirlo, Juventus have released a few players like Higuain, and Matuidi, and signed young players like Arthur, and Kulusevski, combining all of these factors they have a very strong team with the likes of world class players like Cristiano Ronaldo, De Light, Chiellini, Dybala, and Szczesny. If their surprise element Pirlo proves to be as good as the Juventus fans are expecting, we might see the champions league trophy returning to Turin for the third time.

In the Ligue 1, PSG who reached the finals previous season are looking strong and hungry this time too, but with the departure of Thiago Silva to Chelsea, the club is facing defensive backlash, and for attack they primarily rely on the likes of Neymar and Mbappe, who if get injured might put PSG into some serious trouble. Olympique Lyonnais are looking good to go, as they shocked everyone in the previous season, when they knocked out Juventus and Manchester City, however, as evident in their match against Bayern Munich in the previous season, they lack a consistent goal scorer, as they had created plenty chances to score but couldn’t finish any of them, if the club works on their attacking ability they could once again turn out to be a dark horse this season.

In Bundesliga, Bayern Munich the current champions of Europe, who did a treble last season, are the favourites again to win this season, and their manager Flick seems to have a very good impact on the team, as since his arrival, Bayern can play possession and counter both awesomely, and have very fast and skillful players. Even after the departure of players like Coutinho, Perisic, and Thiago, the club doesn’t seem affected, and have made some good signings like Leroy Sane, and Choupo Moting, and have brought Douglas Costa on loan from Juventus. They have the support of very good wingers who are fast as well as good dribblers like Gnabry, and Coman, and some very fast full backs like Davies, and Pavard, coupled with players like Lewandowski, Muller, and Kimmich, this team is sure the favourites to repeat their previous years success. Borussia Dortmund look very strong offensively as they have very strong attackers like Haalaand, Sancho, Reus, and Hazard, and an equally good mid field, the club still lacks in defence, as it was evident in their match against Lazio, if the teams can overcome this, they sure can give a good run for the trophy to their German counterparts Bayern Munich.

As for the predictions of the winner, it is very difficult to predict the winner right now, as many teams look very strong and determined to win. I will let you all know my predictions for this season around the time of Round of 16 matches or quarter finals.