Champions League lacking the element of surprise

PARIS－Thirty years after the dawn of the modern Champions League, the group stage of this season's competition kicks off this week in the penultimate year in its current format, as Real Madrid begins its defense of the trophy.

Marseille was the champion in that inaugural 1992/93 season, but no French club has won the trophy since, and England, Spain, Italy and Germany have provided every winner since Jose Mourinho's Porto triumphed in 2004.

Indeed, since Inter triumphed in 2010, only five clubs have lifted the trophy－Barcelona, Chelsea and Bayern Munich have been champions twice each, and Liverpool once.

Meanwhile, Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 in Paris in May to be crowned European champion for the fifth time in nine years, confirming the enduring brilliance of veteran stars like Luka Modric and Karim Benzema.

They will set out with the aim of winning a 15th European Cup in Istanbul next June, with the group stage unlikely to overly trouble Carlo Ancelotti's side.

Real will face RB Leipzig, Celtic and Shakhtar Donetsk in Group F, fully aware that even a home defeat to Sheriff Tiraspol last year ultimately proved inconsequential.

"Last year the easiest game was supposedly against Sheriff at the Bernabeu and we lost it, so we need to respect these teams," Ancelotti told Spanish media.

He was also quick to point out another factor which could come into play this season.

Usually the group stage finishes in December, but the World Cup has forced UEFA to fit all six Champions League windows into a period of nine weeks starting earlier than usual.

'Different demands'

"We will have to be ready not just for the quality of the opposition but also for the different demands and rhythms," said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, whose team begins at Napoli on Wednesday as the Reds look to put their defeat against Madrid in the final last May behind them.

It could be that the real impact of that is only felt when the knockout rounds start in February, when many players at Europe's biggest clubs will have had to come through the draining experience of a midseason World Cup.

Nevertheless, the idea that someone from outside a narrow band of elite clubs might win the Champions League is fanciful.

Madrid will not start as favorite up against Manchester City and a reinforced Paris Saint-Germain in particular.

"The Champions League brings the best out of players, fans and teams. It would be very reductive to say that PSG is the favorite," insisted PSG coach Christophe Galtier.

Liverpool and Bayern are also contenders, but the jury is out on Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona.

From 2024, the group stage will be expanded to feature 36 clubs, up from 32, with all teams together in one pool and playing eight matches, instead of eight groups of four teams.

Making up the numbers

That will shake up a first phase that has become too predictable.

This time, most fascination lies in Group C, where Bayern, Barcelona and Inter Milan－with 14 European Cups between them－are together alongside Czech champion Viktoria Plzen.

It is quite possible that Barcelona, after an offseason spent selling off assets to be able to strengthen its squad despite enormous debts, could be knocked out in the group stage for a second straight year.

"We got a very difficult group. Possibly the hardest of the last 20 years," warned Barca head coach Xavi Hernandez.

While Barcelona has strengthened, even most clubs in the Champions League these days cannot keep their best players.

Not so long ago a group containing both Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla would be full of jeopardy for Manchester City.

Yet City stripped Dortmund of Erling Haaland, while Sevilla lost its centerback pairing from last season of Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos, and is weakened as a result.

That is just part of a pattern.

Ajax, drawn in Group A with Liverpool, Napoli and Rangers, lost coach Erik ten Hag, Lisandro Martinez and Antony to Manchester United, and sold top scorer Sebastien Haller to Dortmund, among other departures.

Benfica faces PSG, Juventus and Maccabi Haifa in Group H having sold leading marksman Darwin Nunez to Liverpool.

Another Lisbon club, Sporting, saw key midfielders Matheus Nunes and Joao Palhinha head to England, to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham respectively.

Club Brugge, Salzburg and FC Copenhagen have all lost their top scorers from last season. So has Viktoria Plzen, whose French striker Jean-David Beauguel went to Saudi Arabia.

These clubs are all minnows in the Champions League pond, and in truth most will be making up the numbers.

AFP