5 Big teams who could exit in Champions League group stages

The Champion’s League group stage was drawn on Thursday and with the groups followed the discussions of who can make it out and who will be left either in the Europa League or watching it all from home midweek when the knockout rounds come around.Football loves a shock and sometimes the big teams can fall victim to them if they fail to click or put teams to the sword when in control. Also, if you lose key players and fail to replace them appropriately and quickly, you can find yourself with a team that just doesn’t work the way you want them to. With all of this mind, here are 5 major squads who could end up missing out on the elite trophy in knockout rounds this season itself.

#5 Bayer Leverkusen

Leverkusen sold one of their main players Ming Son to Tottenham this summer

Finishing 4th in the German Bundesliga last season and 2nd seed in their group, Bayer Leverkusen have a very average squad. They have lost a key player in Son to Spurs in the last week and haven’t done much to bring people in and the ones they have don’t really get you off your seat.

Looking at their group it’s easy to see that Barcelona are the favourites- current European champions, La Liga winners and boasting probably the best forward line on the planet with Neymar, Messi and Suarez.

Where they have to get their results is against Roma who have however added to their squad in a very exciting manner. Edin Dzeko are finally giving them a presence they haven’t had up front for a few seasons and Mohamed Salah who was a standout player after going on loan to Fiorentina for last season has been brilliant for Garcia’s side. Two attacking players who have proven themselves in this competition before and it would a wise bet to put on them to replicate that form again.

#4 Benfica

Benfica have a tough group to qualify from as Zenit and Galatasaray are well capable of defeating the

The top seed in Group C was probably the one everyone wanted to get after Zenit. In their group, they were given Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, and Astana of Kazakhstan. Their squad doesn’t particularly excite you when you read it, Adel Taarabt, Konstantinos Mitroglou, Nelson Oliveira.

All players that failed to cut it in England’s top flight when given their chance. If Benfica are to have a chance they will look to 31-year-old Jonas to replicate his goalscoring form from last season where he bagged 20 goals in the league last season.

Despite being top seed in the group, my favourite would be Atletico to top the group. Finalists two seasons ago and manager Diego Simeone has signed very well this summer. Bringing Felipe Luis back from Chelsea, Jackson Martinez from Porto, while also keeping hold of Antoine Griezmann, Koke and Godin who were all linked with moves away at some point over the transfer window.

But the real battle in this group isn’t between Benfica and Atletico Madrid, it’s between Benfica and Galatasaray for that second qualifying place. Galatasaray are always dark horses and can never be ruled out of any tie. Their fans are noisy and the atmosphere there can be intimidating, the worst place to go if you’re an opposing player needing a big result.

They have also added well- Lukas Podolski has a great record in the Champions League while Jason Denayer was one of Celtic’s best players during his loan spell from Man City. Also with players like Wesley Sneijder and Hamit Altintop they have got experienced players that can help guide the younger players through big games.

#3 Valencia

Valencia created history in the competition as they became the 5^th team to represent La Liga

Another team that was in pot 2 for the draw and another that could be at risk of going out of the competition in the group stage is Spanish outfit Valencia. Truth be told, it’s a fairly open group but with Zenit and Lyon, it’s not going to be easy for the two teams realistically trying to qualify from it. Zenit were probably the weakest top-seeded team in the draw but going to Russia in the cold months with earlier kick-off times always throws up interesting results and can be make or break in a group like this.

Valencia’s squad has some fairly decent players which includes Alvaro Negredo, Sofiane Feghouli and the recent additions of Zakaria Bakkali who is a highly rated 19-year-old winger, and Monaco defender Aymen Abdennour.

They have players who could potentially get them through games but does their squad hold up to the other two? The main players for Zenit are of course Hulk, Alex Witsel, and Ezequiel Garay. The last two are heavily linked with moves away from the Russian club and if Zenit can keep hold of them then it’s a major boost to their chances of getting out the group.

For Lyon though they also have trouble trying to keep hold of their players, Alexandre Lacazette has been in great form in the past two seasons and now has 51 league goals in 142 games while his fellow forward Nabil Fekir has 18 in 49, a little less impressive but the on-field chemistry between the two is something that is crucial to Lyon. Also with the signing of Mathieu Valbuena, who has experience of playing in Russia, they may turn to him for advice.

#2 Manchester United

United’s strikeforce have been misfiring in the new campaign

They may have only lost the one game but Van Gaal’s side have been less than impressive, especially going forward. Wayne Rooney finally broke his 878-minutes goal drought for the club as he picked up a hat-trick against Club Brugge and for them to progress through the competition they’ll need him to repeat those types of performances in the group stages.

Without Rooney performing, United begin to look toothless in attack, and while Memphis Depay has started his United career fairly brightly, having to rely on him would be unfair to him and would be a mistake on LVG’s part.

Rooney has shown he can drop in and out of form quite easily, and if his bad run of form appears in the middle of make or break ties they may find themselves dropping points. Even their defence is questionable as they lack world class centre backs to keep the line in check while the David De Gea issue has yet to be resolved.

The top seed in the group was PSV, who Depay left to join United, the Dutch champions still have a few players that could turn a game on its head. Captain Luuk De Jong had a rough time at Newcastle but since joining PSV in 2014 he scored 22 goals in 35 games for his side, vice-captain Andres Guardado may not have hit the back of the net as often as he would have but with experience playing for Valencia and Deportivo in Spain he knows all about big games against the world’s best teams and his pace could hurt United.

Also in their group are Wolfsburg, who may have lost Kevin De Bruyne to City, but still have Andre Schurrle and Bas Dost to link up for the Bundesliga runners up. While the third team is CSKA Moscow. All teams with good pace in their side that could punish United if they don’t get themselves sorted at the back.

#1 Juventus

Juventus have made their worst start to Serie A ever as they suffered two consecutive defeats

The runners up to the competition last season have started their campaign poorly with two straight defeats for the first time in their history including their first ever home loss on opening day. It has led to Max Allegri’s side being panned by Italian pundits, and rightly so.

It’s difficult to continue in the same manor of play when you lose three key players. Juventus lost their old, experienced and ever-classy playmaker in the form of Andrea Pirlo to the MLS. Next to him was the ever-energetic workhorse Arturo Vidal who has of course now gone to Bayern Munich, and then constantly on the move and intelligent goal threat of Carlos Tevez.

They have replaced these players with Paulo Dybala who is immensely talented but still a very raw prospect, Juan Cuadrado on loan from Chelsea where he struggled to even make an assist let alone score, and Simone Zaza from Sassuolo who was impressive for them over the last couple of seasons.

The problem is they have an ageing defence, Patrice Evra was on the decline even when at Manchester United and somehow managed to drag out an extra couple of years so far but now his time is running out at 34 years old. Also Andrea Barzagli, who when fit and on form is a brilliant defender, however the recent injury problems could reoccur at any moment leaving him out the side for weeks if not months if it’s as bad as they’ve been previously.

With such an ageing and slow defence it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them begin to struggle against teams that try and hit them with a bit of pace - City with Sterling, Aguero and Navas while Sevilla recently signed Dnipro stand out talent Yevhen Konoplyanka who would love to exploit gaps left in behind Lichtsteiner or Evra.