The Champions League is back underway and after the first set of fixtures brought plenty of goals and surprises, it’s fair to say it’s going to be a monumental campaign.
We’ve put together the top five contenders for the title after gameweek 1.
⏰ RESULTS ⏰Goals, goals & more goals! What. A. Night! 🔥 🤯 Sébastien Haller makes history as Liverpool & Manchester City win thrillers...Tell us which players stood out on Wednesday 👇#UCL— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 15, 2021
⏰ RESULTS ⏰Goals, goals & more goals! What. A. Night! 🔥 🤯 Sébastien Haller makes history as Liverpool & Manchester City win thrillers...Tell us which players stood out on Wednesday 👇#UCL
Another year, another debate on whether or not Manchester City can get the job done. Last campaign saw them narrowly lose the final to Chelsea, and with a fabulous 6-3 victory over RB Leipzig, they have reminded everyone why they remain one of the favourites for the European crown.
A kind draw, and once again, City could go all the way to the final.
Champions two seasons ago, Bayern Munich were pretty unlucky not to get past Paris Saint-Germain last season in the quarter-finals, having thrashed them on the stats board throughout both ties, but the loss of Robert Lewandowski simply meant fewer goals for them.
The legendary Pole scored twice once again this week as Bayern eased past Barcelona, and of course, as long as Lewandowski is fit, it’s going to take a seriously impressive side to beat them.
The defending champions didn’t get off to a stunning start when they edged past Zenit on the opening week, but with Romelu Lukaku scoring once more, the European crown sits firmly at Stamford Bridge for now.
Chelsea are going to take some beating by anybody, and they remain one of the favourites due to their brilliance in defence.
Two seasons ago, choosing Manchester United as one of the top teams to win the Champions League would have filled the room with laughs. Now, however, with the addition of Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo, the club have added a combined nine Champions League titles to the squad.
United did lose to Young Boys on the opening day, but this shouldn’t worry fans at all. Ultimately, you don’t want to draw against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men in the knockout rounds, with goals being a seriously strong characteristic of the United side now as well as defensive stability with the addition of Varane.
At the end of the day, if you’ve got Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes up top, you stand a chance.
The French giants got off to a poor start also in their first group game, as they drew 1-1 with Club Brugge. Nevertheless, PSG have made it a habit of getting to the semi-finals in recent times, following years and years of failing to progress past the quarter-finals.
Paris St. Germain now have Lionel Messi to add onto a semi-finals and runners-up spot over the last two seasons, and with four Champions League titles for him, they remain one of the top draws for this season. Ultimately, not many teams are going to score more goals than them, despite starting with a draw.