The Champions League groups will be drawn on Thursday morning, following the conclusion of the qualifying rounds, and we've ranked all 32 clubs by their chances of winning in June.
Real Madrid were victorious in this year's final, when they defeated Liverpool last May, to become European champions for a record breaking 14th time.
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Carlo Ancelotti will be hoping his side are inside the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in around 10 months for the 2023 final, although he'll be hoping to avoid a repeat of what happened when he took his AC Milan team to Istanbul in 2005.
SPORTbible reckon that Los Blancos have as good a chance as anyone to retain their crown, ranking Real above all the challengers for their title:
1. Real Madrid - Last year’s champions simply have to be the favourites, after all most people spent last season writing them off against PSG, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool on the way to their 14th European success. Casemiro may have gone but they’ve added Aurelien Touchameni and Antonio Rudiger. Karim Benzema continuing his incredible form from last season could be the key.
2. Manchester City - Surely one year has to be their year, why not now? The fact they haven’t yet managed it keeps them behind Real but they've had near misses in recent years. With Erling Haaland added into the mix this is surely Pep Guardiola’s best chance to win in Europe without Lionel Messi.
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3. Liverpool - Despite their poor start to the Premier League, Jurgen Klopp’s runners up remain one of the best teams in the world. Even if they can’t keep up with City’s relentless winning in the domestic campaign, the Reds are perfectly set up to win any one off game and their recent and historic past in the competition always makes them one of the favourites.
4. Paris Saint-Germain - Like City, surely at some point PSG will end the hoodoo that hangs over them in the Champions League. Keeping Kylian Mbappe was obviously huge and they’ve spent smarter this summer, rather than go after big names. The main issue might be team cohesion with Mbappe, Neymar and Messi upfront.
5. Bayern Munich - Taking Robert Lewandowski out of most teams would have a huge impact but signing Sadio Mane is a huge boost to Bayern’s chances in Europe. The addition of Matthijs de Ligt means they’re far less likely to find themselves on the end of a surprise elimination, as happened against Villarreal last year.
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6. Chelsea - Goals will continue to be Chelsea’s issue with no recognised number nine leading the line. However, Thomas Tuchel’s men managed it in 2020 and their defence continues to be an area of strength, especially now they have Kalidou Koulibaly.
7. Barcelona - Lewandowski’s ability to score goals at the highest level means that Barca should be a factor this year, after last season’s embarrassing drop into the Europa League. Xavi’s team seem better prepared for success in Europe than in their domestic league.
8. Atletico Madrid - Diego Simeone is used to taking his team late into the competition and they’ll fancy their chances once again. Joao Felix’s hat-trick of assists on the opening day of La Liga hints at a huge talent only getting better.
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9. Tottenham Hotspur - Antonio Conte may not actually have the best record in Europe but any team with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min in can beat anyone. The added nous of Ivan Perisic at the back is a huge boost and Richarlison’s arrival means they have more strength in depth for a long season.
10. Inter Milan - They may not have won Serie A last year but Inter did at least make into the CL knockout stages for the first time in nine years. If Romelu Lukaku can find his form from his previous spell at the San Siro then they’ll feel very confident of making it past the group again.
11. AC Milan - Stefano Pioli has arguably got Milan playing better than the sum of their parts. In Rafael Leao they have one of the most sought after forwards in Europe but they also have experience upfront in Olivier Giroud, Divock Origi and even Zlatan Ibrahimovic once he’s fit.
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12. Juventus - After an embarrassing defeat to Villarreal last season, Juve and Max Allegri will be hoping to end their long suffering in Europe this season. If they can find a way to get Dusan Vlahovic firing on all cylinders then a run late into the tournament is possible.
13. Borussia Dortmund - They couldn’t win the Champions League with Erling Haaland, what chance without? Well the addition of Karim Adeyemi is certainly an exciting one, however it would have been the signing of Sebastian Haller, who found incredible form in the competition last year, that gave them most hope. Haller’s testicular cancer diagnosis is a huge blow to him, Dortmund and the Champions League.
14. Sevilla - Forget how much of a chance they have of winning this, Sevilla should aim to finish third in their group, drop down to the Europa League and win that, all so they can do exactly the same in a year’s time.
15. Porto - Even at this point none of the teams actually have a chance to win, then again that’s what we would have said about Jose Mourinho’s Porto 18 years ago! Sergio Conceicao’s team aren’t easy to beat and two years ago knocked out Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus, as well as getting results against Chelsea and Manchester City.
16. Napoli - The fitness of Victor Osimhen is important to Napoli’s chances of doing anything in Europe this season. Whilst they’ve lost Koulibaly, Luciano Spaletti’s side are still attempting to add Keylor Navas to the team, which will certainly help with any defensive issues.
17. RB Leipzig - Timo Werner’s return to Leipzig certainly makes for an interesting narrative, oh lord let them get Chelsea. Domenico Todesco is a highly rated manager and could get the most out of his squad.
18. Ajax - A recent history of doing pretty well in the Champions League but they’ve lost Erik ten Hag and Lisandro Martinez to Manchester United already this summer, and Antony could yet join them. Will have to go a long way to replicate 2019.
19. Sporting - Maybe Sporting will have to go up a few places if the only team interested in signing Cristiano Ronaldo manage to make a deal for him. Definitely a better chance of success in the Europa League.
20. Benfica - They can field a centre back pairing whose ages add up to nearly 80 in Nicolas Otamendi and Jan Vertonghen. Benfica lost Darwin Nunez this summer so the chances of recreating last season’s run to the quarters looks unlikely.
21. Rangers - The Scottish giants might be too far up in the list on paper but their run to the Europa League final shows how dangerous they can be. Home advantage at Ibrox is second to very few.
22. Celtic - Is it a coward’s way out to put these two so close together? Possibly, but then I am a coward. The Hoops don’t have the recent history of their rivals in Europe but Celtic Park certainly likewise gives them a huge boost.
23. Eintracht Frankfurt - Last season’s Europa League winners will be the team from pot A every other pot wants to draw. They do at least look to be keeping Kevin Trapp with Manchester United’s interest waning.
24. Marseille - With Alexis Sanchez, Nuno Tavarez, Sead Kolasinac, and Matteo Guendouzi in the squad, Marseille look like a weird Arsenal tribute act. Add in the likes of Jordan Amavi, Cengiz Under, Dimitri Payet and Chancel Mbemba they’re also a who’s who of ‘oh that's where they play now.'
25. Bayer Leverkusen - Football Manager aficionados will be happy to see Adam Hlozek turn up at Leverkusen but they aren’t really a side with any chance of threatening to win the Champions League.
26. Red Bull Salzburg - Anyone else hope Salzburg and Leipzig end up in the same group? Nope, cool. Red Bull feel like the team where the next big name normally comes from and Benjamin Sesko could be that man. He’s already decided to join Leipzig next summer though.
27. Club Brugge - Simon Mignolet in net makes me think they’ll be plenty of goals in Burgge games, but they’re not exactly set to worry too many sides,
28. Shakhtar - The Ukranians would normally be higher in the rankings, and a good bet for a Europa League run, but circumstances means things are very different.
29. Dinamo Zagreb - The Croatians have a relatively young squad but did beat Bodo/Glimt, the side who beat Roma and Celtic in Europe last year, to get to the group stages.
30. Copenhagen - After sneaking past Tranzponsbor in qualifying, you wouldn’t exactly expect Jess Throup’s side to progress into the knockout stages.
31. Viktoria Plzen - Plzen have twice previously reached the Europa League knockouts via finishing third in the Champions League, so perhaps they deserve to be higher ranked.
32. Maccabi Haifa - The Israelis were the surprise of the qualifying rounds, beating Red Star Belgrade to make it to the groups, but despite a decent history in the competition have never made it past the groups.
Topics: Champions League, Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool, Barcelona, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Atletico Madrid
Ryan Sidle