The most interesting club tournament 2018-19 UEFA Champions League is upon us.
In a wide-open group where anyone can advance, will the Bundesliga side find their way into the Knockout Rounds?
Porto sold several players for tens of millions of euros and brought in a lot of players for a fraction of that. Porto will count themselves a bit lucky that they’re in a group without any of the European elite. If they can get Moussa Marega and Vincent Aboubakar going in scoring goals, they could run away with the group.
How did they qualify: Porto qualified directly into the Group Stage by winning the 2017-18 Portuguese Primeira Liga.
The pressure will be on Domenico Tedesco to solve whatever issues are going on internally and the 32-year old coach will have to rely on veterans like Naldo, Salif Sane, Sebastian Rudy, and Daniel Caligiuri to stabilize the defence and midfield, but Schalke’s primary issue is its offence.
How did they qualify: Schalke qualified directly into the Group Stage by finishing in second place in the 2017-18 German Bundesliga.
It’s likely that Galatasaray is going to have their hands full with Lokomotiv Moscow to snag the spot that lets them drop into the Europa League.
How did they qualify: Galatasaray qualified directly into the Group Stage by finishing in first place in the 2017-18 Turkish Super Lig.
Lokomotiv Moscow has a familiar name in former Schalke 04 man, Benedikt Höwedes, who will get a chance to suit up against his former squad. Fedor Smolov will provide the attack, while Grzegorz Krychowiak and Anton Miranchuk will look to assert themselves in the midfield for the Russian side.
How did they qualify: Lokomotiv Moscow qualified directly into the Group Stage by finishing in first place in the 2017-18 Russian Premier League.
STANDINGS
