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The champions league draw will take place today in Monaco at 9:30 pm IST and all the clubs will be eager to find out their opponents as they prepare to start their bid for the most prestigious club football trophy in Europe. But here are the four teams that may surprisingly find an early exit from this year's tournament and their names may come as a shock to you!
FC Bayern Munich
The 5 times champions have always been one of the favourites to win the tournament every year, but this year they may struggle to qualify for the latter stages. With an ageing squad that includes many players on the wrong side of the thirties, the club may find it difficult to cope with injuries across the season. Though Bayern is in pot 1 of the draw, they may be drawn against the clubs like Liverpool, Napoli, Roma, Monaco etc and their qualification could become even more difficult.
Manchester United
Sorry United fans but this year's champions league campaign may also end in disappointment for you like the previous one. After their jittery start to the premier league campaign, United wouldn't be any confident heading into the champions league draw as both Jose's and United's future looks uncertain. The three times champions would like to prove their doubters wrong but only a mammoth effort could help them reach the latter stages.
Fc Barcelona
After last year's embarrassing exit at the hands of As Roma, the 5 times champions would like to bounce back and start their bid for a 6th title. But this year's campaign may prove to be even more difficult for them. Although Barcelona has won the La Liga 3 times in the past 4 years, we have seen them struggle in the champions league where they have gone out in the quarter-final stage on the past three occasions. Further, in recent years, we have seen that Barcelona have been depending too much on Messi and if he does not perform, the level of the whole teams seems to go down. Agreed that Messi may himself decide quite a few matches, but winning the champions league will require a collective performance of the team.
Real Madrid
Only a fool would ever doubt Real Madrid to go out early in the champions league after what they have achieved over the last few years. But by the looks of the current situation, the 13 times champions look in a little bit of crisis. With Ronaldo gone, Real have lost their goalscoring machine and with Bale always seeming to suffer from injuries, the Los Blancos may have to cope without their star player. Ageing squad is one more issue due to which they may suffer. Madrid have also lost their charismatic manager, Zidane and Lopetegui may find it difficult to replace him. It could happen that Madrid go out in the early stages of the competition this year, but it would be fantastic if they pull something out like last year!
