On Thursday, all eyes will be on the greatly anticipated Champions League group stage draw which will take place in Istanbul.
Despite another disappointing season, Juventus did just about enough to book a place in the most prestigious tournament in club football.
As we all know, the draw will result in eight groups each consisted of four clubs. While pot 1 is reserved for the champions of the most highly-ranked competitions, the Bianconeri will be in Pot 2 alongside other top clubs, including the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Barcelona.
So while we wait to find out whether the football gods will smile on the Old Lady with a favorable draw or instead pit us in a tough group, let’s analyze what would be the best and worst scenarios.
Pot 1
Options: Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, Man City, Bayern Munich, PSG, Ajax, Porto
Obviously, this pot is filled with killers, but Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt might arguably be the easiest choice of the pool, especially after being deprived of Filip Kostic’s services.
Although they knocked us out of the competition in recent years, Ajax and Porto remain decent options compared to others.
As for the rest, they appear to be head and shoulders above us, at least based on our last outing, but if we have to pick one ultimate bogeyman, then it’s probably Bayern Munich.
Best draw: Eintracht Frankfurt
Worst draw: Bayern Munich
Pot 3
Options: Dortmund, RB Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica
This might actually be the most crucial pot of the entire draw. After all, a tough group has to include a third strong party that can jeopardize the qualification hopes of the two favorites.
Luckily for Juventus, they will automatically avoid two of the best teams in this pot who happen to be their Italian compatriots Napoli and Inter.
Nonetheless, Borussia Dortmund remains a force to be reckoned with and the obvious choice for the toughest draw.
On the other hand, the tragic events in Ukraine have took its toll on Shakhtar, as a host of their best players departed towards greener pastures.
Best draw: Shakhtar Donetsk
Wort draw: Borussia Dortmund
Pot 4
Options: Marseille, Club Brugge, Celtic, Viktoria Plzen, Copenhagen/Trabzonspor, Maccabi Haifa, Rangers/PSV, Bodo/Dinamo Zagreb
On Wednesday, the final three entrees will be determined through qualifiers. But regardless of the results, Igor Tudor’s Marseille is arguably the side to avoid in this pot, even if the likes of Celtic, Rangers and PSV won’t be easy meat either.
Best draw: Maccabi Haifa
Worst draw: Marseille
with allegri in charge imagine underestimating any team in europe
We all know you don’t like guy and none of us are really big fans of him but he has taken juve to two finals. You can argue that he had the talent then but making it to the final of the CL is not easy even for those CL elites. So, my point is you are letting your feelings get in the way of a true assessment. Again we all know you hate Allegri. I never am surprised to find your anti-allegri comments at the end of these posts. You sound like a little school boy with a school boy crush.
Well said, still waiting on lord Allegri to come up with his usual tripe
Can’t see juve making it past the group stage. Or qualifying for cl next season for that matter
Lol funny enough with di maria, chiesa, pogba, kostic and vlahovic i think we could go really far this time around.