With the COVID-19 pandemic having postponed and canceled nearly all soccer leagues across the planet, decision makers have a tough task ahead of them. They must choose whether to restart their leagues in the coming months, scrap them and act as if 2019-20 never happened, or end the leagues with the current standings intact.

While some European leagues are looking to continue their competitions, such as Spain’s La Liga, others like France’s Ligue 1 have already announced their plans to not continue with the rest of the season.

In the case of the UEFA Champions League, the best solution to the dilemma would be to simply cancel the rest of the competition and look ahead to next season.

The last UEFA Champions League games that were played took place in early March, with half of the Round of 16 matches having had both legs completed. Four of the eight matchups, however, were unable to complete the second leg of draws.

That means that the Round of 16 would have to be completed, and the entirety of the two legs of quarter-finals and semi-finals matchups would have to be completed before two teams could even be decided for a theoretical final.

In total, five sets of games remain between a potential final, something that seems nearly impossible considering the current context of the sport.

Most European leagues that would be allowed to continue play will not be able to restart their leagues until early June at the earliest, meaning that the Champions League would be on a similar time table. These leagues will have to pack a lot of games into a short amount of time, requiring that at least two be played per week in most potential scenarios.

So, how would the Champions League even be able to fit into this potential scenario? It seems nearly impossible, and teams whose leagues do continue play would be at a huge competitive disadvantage compared to teams like Paris Saint-Germain, who won’t have domestic play to worry about.

While it might seem sacrilegious to end a Champions League campaign in his way, the circumstances resulting from the current global health crisis will make uncomfortable and unprecedented solutions necessary. Instead of putting players’ health at risk, both from a COVID-19 and a fitness perspective, the best solution is to simply write down this competition as a loss and look forward to starting anew in the fall.

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On a Wednesday night that was overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic that is gripping the news cycle and the world of sports, one of the biggest upsets in recent Champions League history took place.

Liverpool, who faced a 1-0 deficit in their Round of 16 matchup with Atletico Madrid, lost 2-3 to the Spanish side in extra time in the second leg of the draw, eliminating last year’s champion from the competition.

Diego Simeone’s underdogs will advance to the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since the 2016-17 season after a night that will surely go down in the history of the club.

Liverpool attacked, attacked, and attacked all night to try to make up a 1-0 deficit that they faced after the first leg of the tie. Things looked good after Georgino Wijnaldum put the Reds up 1-0 just before the break, with the team looking plenty threatening and capable of scoring again.

However, Atletico held steady during the second half, which was enough to force added extra time.

Anfield went crazy after only four minutes of extra time as Roberto Firmino scored off of a rebound from goalie Jan Oblak to put Liverpool up 2-0, a result that would have seen them advance.

That’s when everything was turned upside down.

Atletico responded only two minutes later to trim the deficit to 2-1 after Liverpool backup goalie Adrian mistakenly passed a ball to the Colchoneros in his team’s own side of the field, and Marcos Llorente beat him.

Llorente scored again ten minutes later to deflate the Anfield crowd and tie the game, and Alvaro Morata added another goal to give his team a 3-2 win and a date in the quarter-finals.

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FC Barcelona took a somewhat disappointing 1-1 home on Tuesday against Napoli in the first leg of the Round of 16 Champions League matchup against the Italian side.

After the game, midfielder Sergio Busquets didn’t hold back in criticizing the planning of the team that has led Barcelona to be short on impact players during the second half of the season.

In addition to Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez, who are expected to miss the rest of the season, Barcelona went into the game missing recent signing Martin Braithwaite (who is ineligible to play in the Champions League this season), as well as full-backs Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba, who were suspended for the game.

Barcelona only has 20 first-team players this season, meaning that four of the spots on the bench for last night’s game against Napoli were covered by B-team players.

For the second leg matchup against Napoli, Barcelona will recover Alba and Roberto, but will be without Arturo Vidal and Busquets after being booked on Tuesday.

Busquets made it clear that Barcelona’s sporting directors hold some blame for the shallow squad after the game, saying “We don’t have a deep squad because, unfortunately, that’s how it was planned.”

Barcelona must now hope that they have enough depth to get past Napoli in the second leg and advance to the quarter-finals of the competition.

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After three months of group stage play, the Champions League’s final sixteen teams have been determined and the matchups drawn for the competition’s first knockout stage.

There are plenty of tantalizing matchups in the Round of 16, so let’s take a look at each of them and predict a winner!

Borussia Dortmund vs. Paris Saint-Germain

This is an extremely intriguing matchup between two teams that have tons of talent on their rosters. PSG dominated Group A, dropping only one point, and we expect the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar (if he is able to play) to lead the Parisians past Dortmund, but it won’t be without a fight.

Paris Saint-Germain

Real Madrid vs. Manchester City

Manchester City once looked like one of the most dominant teams in Europe, but it seems as if Pep Guardiola’s side might be in decline. Behind in the Premier League race by a big margin and not looking as sharp as they once did, could Real Madrid overcome its recent woes and get past City? Count us as being skeptical.

Manchester City

Atalanta vs. Valencia

This matchup pits two of the biggest surprises of the group stage up against one another. Valencia and Atalanta, each of which needed a final matchday win to qualify for the knockout stages, will battle to see which team surprises everyone and moves onto the quarterfinals. Our pick has to be Valencia, the more talented and experienced team.

Valencia

Atletico Madrid vs. Liverpool

Liverpool looks to be the most dominant team in Europe right now, but they didn’t get an easy draw for the Round of 16. Diego Simeone’s Atletico always fights tooth and nail, and they have a defense that could test Liverpool’s skilled attack. However, we expect the reigning Champions League winner to move onto the next round.

Liverpool

Chelsea vs. Bayern Munich

This fascinating matchup pits two European giants against one another. Chelsea has been inconsistent under Frank Lampard this season, but Bayern Munich has had similar problems and a managerial change. I think they will squeak by, largely based on their more experienced roster.

Bayern Munich

Lyon vs. Juventus

After last year’s shocking early elimination at the hands of Ajax, Juventus will be looking to turn the page and get their knockout stage campaign off on a good note. Luckily, they drew a Lyon team that should not pose a big problem for Maurizio Sarri’s star-studded squad.

Juventus

Tottenham Hotspur vs. RB Leipzig

Tottenham has endured an extremely frustrating start to the season that ended with Mauricio Pochettino’s dismissal. However, Jose Mourinho looks to be getting last year’s Champions League finalists back towards being an ordered team that could be a threat in this tournament. Leipzig could pose a bigger challenge than many think, though.

Tottenham Hotspur

Napoli vs. Barcelona

Napoli has had a bizarre season up to this point, currently on an eight-game winless streak in Serie A. What’s even stranger is that they fired manager Carlo Ancelotti just before the last Champions League group stage game, and somehow still qualified. They’re a team with a lot of fight, but Barcelona’s Messi-Suarez-Griezmann trio is probably too much to handle.

Barcelona

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Real Madrid, who looked to be in dire straits after winning only one point in their first two Champions League group stage matches, got back on track in a 0-1 win in Istanbul on Tuesday night.

The 2017 and 2018 Champions League winners took down a feisty Galatasaray side by the minimum to get back on track for qualification to the knockout stage of play.

German midfielder Toni Kroos scored the game-winning goal in the 17th minute of action after being set up by a brilliant pass by Eden Hazard. The veteran midfielder rocketed a shot into the top corner of the net that Galatasaray keeper Fernando Muslera could do nothing to stop.

Despite the two teams combining for 38 total shots (27 for Madrid and 11 for Galatasaray) and 16 shots on goal (13 for Madrid and 3 for Galatasaray), this was the only goal scored in the tense match.

Los Blancos’ defense was able to hold on to keep Galatasaray out of the net despite an offense that kept pushing and a rowdy crowd that did its best to give a burst of home-field advantage to the hosts.

Real Madrid now finds itself with 4 points in Group A of the competition, which puts them five points behind PSG, who has completed a perfect first half of the group stage.

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The wait is over! It’s that time of the year in European soccer, as the new Champions League 2019-2020 season is about to begin this Wednesday and Thursday with the first fixture containing 16 games.

The new campaign kicks off with a mega-derby as French champions PSG will host the 13-time UCL champions Real Madrid on Parc De Princess in Saint-Denis, Paris. Defending champions Liverpool will once again face Napoli like previous season, but the Serie A team will compete with an improved roster compared to the previous year. 

Barcelona will face Dortmund in Germany in the derby match of the F group and Lionel Messi is cleared to start for the first time this year after his injury before the season started. Inter will meet against Czech champions Slavia Praha and Lyon will be taking on Zenit. Chelsea will host Valencia in London, Salzburg goes head to head against RSC Genk and Benfica hosts the other Red Bull sponsored team, Leipzig. 

Last year’s semi-finalists Ajax are going against Ligue 1 Runners-up LOSC Lille on the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam. 

The following day, besides the PSG-Real Madrid derby, there is one more derby, as Atl.Madrid will host Juventus. 

Manchester City, who are playing against Shakhtar, is considered to be the main candidates for the throne. 

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The 2019-20 Champions League draw was held on Thursday in Monaco, setting the group stages for the first part of the competition.

Plenty of intriguing groups were created, and now it’s time to look at which teams will be favored to move on to the competition’s knock-out round from each group.

Group A: Paris St. Germain and Real Madrid

PSG and Real Madrid look to be the clear-cut favorites to advance in this top-heavy group. Despite the uncertainty swirling around both clubs, they easily have enough talent to take down the Turkish Super Lig champions and Club Brugge.

Group B: Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur

Group B look a lot like Group A in that there are two titans at the top and two teams that are glad to just be along for the ride at the bottom. Tottenham was a surprise Champions League finalist last year, and Bayern Munich will have aspirations to lift the trophy this season. They look like obvious favorites to advance.

Group C: Manchester City and Atalanta

Manchester City had to have been thrilled to draw this group, in which any of the other three teams have a fighting chance of going through. I’ll go with Atalanta to join them, whose experience in the tough Serie A could give them an edge over Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Group D: Juventus and Atlético Madrid

Fireworks are going to fly in Group D as Juventus and Atlético Madrid will face in a rematch of last season’s Round of 16 matchup that saw Atleti blow a 2-0 lead in the second leg of the matchup. They’ll be a big favorite to come out of Group D and into the knockout stage again.

Group E: Liverpool and Napoli

Last year’s Champions League title winners should have a fairly clear-cut path back to the knockout stages of the competition. I’m picking Napoli, which has a talented roster including young standout Hirving Lozano, to join them there.

Group F: Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund

Group F is the group of death in this year’s competition. Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, and Inter Milan are all Champions League mainstays and competitors in the continent’s biggest leagues. Inter has a revamped roster including Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, and Diego Godin, but I just think Barcelona (read: Leo Messi) and Borussia’s talent is just a step better.

Group G: Lyon and RB Leipzig

The most wide-open group in the tournament this year is Group G. Any of the four teams could realistically advance, but I like a strong and experienced Lyon team to join RB Leipzig, one of the most exciting teams in the Bundesliga, to go on.

Group H: Chelsea and Valencia

Could Ajax really not even make the knockout round of this year’s UCL after going all the way to the semi-finals this year? I think it’s possible, considering how many of their top players left after last year. Chelsea and Valencia look to be the two strongest overall sides in this interesting group.

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The beginning of the season for European soccer clubs is just around the corner! With the Premier League and France’s Ligue 1 getting underway this weekend, with La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A to follow next weekend, fans will soon get their first glimpse at their favorite clubs on the pitch.

It won’t be long until the European competitions get underway, either. Champions League and Europa League action kicks off next month, with the continent’s top clubs looking to claim the crowns as Europe’s best sides.

After Liverpool took home the 2018-19 edition of the Champions League, there are plenty of contenders for the crown this season. Here’s a look at the top five favorites to hoist this year’s trophy.

5. Paris Saint-Germain

The French side, as always, is stocked with talent. Even if Neymar does leave (which looks unlikely at this point), PSG has a stable of stars including soccer’s brightest young star in Kylian Mbappe. They have an edge on their other CL competition, as they are forced to pay much less attention to their domestic league than other competitors from more competitive leagues. Will this be the year that the talent finally meshes and PSG makes it deep in the Champions League?

4. Liverpool

The Reds will probably take exception to come in fourth on the list after winning last year’s trophy, but it’s not easy to repeat. Jürgen Klopp still has his top stars from last season, including Mo Salah and Sadio Mané, but they’re a year older and will have plenty of teams looking to take them down. Could they win back to back crowns? It certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility, but it won’t be easy.

3. Juventus

Juventus bowed out early in last year’s Champions League despite the addition of five-time CL winner Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese star was reportedly furious at the team’s shock exit at the hands of Ajax, so you can bet that he’ll be trying harder than ever to win the trophy this season. The amount of talent on their squad got even better with the summer addition of center back Matthijs de Ligt, and they’ll be considered one of the favorites this year.

2. Barcelona

Few could believe it when Barcelona blew a 3-0 first-leg advantage to bow out of the Champions League last season at the hands of the eventual champions in Liverpool. A team with talents such as Leo Messi, Luis Suarez, and Gerard Pique had to have been better than that, right? Well, even if they weren’t, they’re certainly one of the top favorites to take home this year’s crown after retaining their core and adding Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong. This is a team to reckon with, but can it get over the hump?

1. Manchester City

Pep Guardiola has won everything at Manchester City, including the past two Premier League crowns, except for the Champions League. 2019-20 looks to be the year that this could change. The dizzying talent contained in its roster combined with one of the best coaches in world soccer makes Man City the top favorite to take home the upcoming edition of the Champions League. Now it’s time for them to go out on the pitch and prove that they deserve to be considered the top dog.

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After Liverpool defeated FC Barcelona to complete a stunning comeback and advance to the Champions League Final, few could’ve ever predicted that Wednesday’s Ajax-Tottenham matchup could live up to the drama of that game.

They had no idea what was in store.

After winning the first leg in London by a 0-1 final, Ajax hosted Tottenham in the second leg of the semi-final with a big advantage.

When Ajax scored the first two goals of the game to go up 2-0 in the 35th minute, everything looked settled. The Dutch team would be moving on to face Liverpool in the final after Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech stretched their aggregate lead to 3-0.

After the half, however, everything changed.

Unheralded striker Lucas Moura, an injured Harry Kane’s replacement, wasn’t going to allow his team to go home without a fight. He knocked in Spurs’ first goal in the 55th minute after a brilliant counter-attack.

Things got even more interesting in the 59th minute, only four minutes later, the Brazilian striker scored another goal after Ajax failed to clear an Andre Onana save.

The score was 2-2, and another Tottenham goal would qualify them for the Final.

Ajax held strong for the next 35 minutes, keeping Tottenham out of the net.

With the last chance of the game, in the 5th minute of stoppage time, the unbelievable happened.

Moura scored his third goal of the night in the final minute of stoppage time after a Dele Alli assist, and pandemonium took hold.

Spurs won the match 2-3 and the draw on away goals. They head to Madrid to face Liverpool in the UCL final for the first time in the club’s history on June 1st.

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What happened on Tuesday night at Anfield will go down as one of the most memorable nights in the history of the UEFA Champions League. The favorite to win the competition bowed out after a shocking comeback that very few could’ve seen coming.

After losing 3-0 at the Camp Nou in the first leg of their semi-final matchup against FC Barcelona, Liverpool completed a stunning come-from-behind triumph by winning 4-0. This result sealed their invitation to the final of the 2019 edition of the UEFA Champions League.

Barcelona was the heavy favorite to advance going into the match, and only had to avoid losing by 4 in order to go on to the final. They were unable to fulfill their task, however, and Jurgen Klopp’s Reds memorably took advantage.

Barcelona was sluggish and overly cautious all night, and Liverpool came out strong and without any fear.

The Reds came out early and put Barcelona on notice with a 7th minute goal by Divock Origi, starting in place of an injured Mo Salah. Liverpool was without two of its biggest stars in Salah and Roberto Firmino.

Barcelona tightened things up until a disastrous second half, when Liverpool scored the three goals they needed to advance.

Georginio Wijnaldum, an unheralded Dutch attacker for Liverpool, miraculously scored two goals in two minutes to even up the draw at 3 apiece.

He scored in the 54th and 56th minutes, shocking Barça.

The real heartbreaker for Barcelona, however, came in the 79th minute.

After conceding a corner kick, Barcelona’s defense was arranging itself and keeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was clapping and rallying his time when Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold took advantage of the unfocused defense and delivered a pass to a wide-open Divock Origi.

Origi buried the shot past Ter Stegen, sending Anfield into complete pandemonium.

Liverpool had completed the comeback and held on to win 4-0 and advance to the final in Madrid in three weeks.

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With the COVID-19 pandemic having postponed and canceled nearly all soccer leagues across the planet, decision makers have a tough task ahead of them. They must choose whether to restart their leagues in the coming months, scrap them and act as if 2019-20 never happened, or end the leagues with the current standings intact.

While some European leagues are looking to continue their competitions, such as Spain’s La Liga, others like France’s Ligue 1 have already announced their plans to not continue with the rest of the season.

In the case of the UEFA Champions League, the best solution to the dilemma would be to simply cancel the rest of the competition and look ahead to next season.

The last UEFA Champions League games that were played took place in early March, with half of the Round of 16 matches having had both legs completed. Four of the eight matchups, however, were unable to complete the second leg of draws.

That means that the Round of 16 would have to be completed, and the entirety of the two legs of quarter-finals and semi-finals matchups would have to be completed before two teams could even be decided for a theoretical final.

In total, five sets of games remain between a potential final, something that seems nearly impossible considering the current context of the sport.

Most European leagues that would be allowed to continue play will not be able to restart their leagues until early June at the earliest, meaning that the Champions League would be on a similar time table. These leagues will have to pack a lot of games into a short amount of time, requiring that at least two be played per week in most potential scenarios.

So, how would the Champions League even be able to fit into this potential scenario? It seems nearly impossible, and teams whose leagues do continue play would be at a huge competitive disadvantage compared to teams like Paris Saint-Germain, who won’t have domestic play to worry about.

While it might seem sacrilegious to end a Champions League campaign in his way, the circumstances resulting from the current global health crisis will make uncomfortable and unprecedented solutions necessary. Instead of putting players’ health at risk, both from a COVID-19 and a fitness perspective, the best solution is to simply write down this competition as a loss and look forward to starting anew in the fall.

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On a Wednesday night that was overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic that is gripping the news cycle and the world of sports, one of the biggest upsets in recent Champions League history took place.

Liverpool, who faced a 1-0 deficit in their Round of 16 matchup with Atletico Madrid, lost 2-3 to the Spanish side in extra time in the second leg of the draw, eliminating last year’s champion from the competition.

Diego Simeone’s underdogs will advance to the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since the 2016-17 season after a night that will surely go down in the history of the club.

Liverpool attacked, attacked, and attacked all night to try to make up a 1-0 deficit that they faced after the first leg of the tie. Things looked good after Georgino Wijnaldum put the Reds up 1-0 just before the break, with the team looking plenty threatening and capable of scoring again.

However, Atletico held steady during the second half, which was enough to force added extra time.

Anfield went crazy after only four minutes of extra time as Roberto Firmino scored off of a rebound from goalie Jan Oblak to put Liverpool up 2-0, a result that would have seen them advance.

That’s when everything was turned upside down.

Atletico responded only two minutes later to trim the deficit to 2-1 after Liverpool backup goalie Adrian mistakenly passed a ball to the Colchoneros in his team’s own side of the field, and Marcos Llorente beat him.

Llorente scored again ten minutes later to deflate the Anfield crowd and tie the game, and Alvaro Morata added another goal to give his team a 3-2 win and a date in the quarter-finals.

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FC Barcelona took a somewhat disappointing 1-1 home on Tuesday against Napoli in the first leg of the Round of 16 Champions League matchup against the Italian side.

After the game, midfielder Sergio Busquets didn’t hold back in criticizing the planning of the team that has led Barcelona to be short on impact players during the second half of the season.

In addition to Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez, who are expected to miss the rest of the season, Barcelona went into the game missing recent signing Martin Braithwaite (who is ineligible to play in the Champions League this season), as well as full-backs Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba, who were suspended for the game.

Barcelona only has 20 first-team players this season, meaning that four of the spots on the bench for last night’s game against Napoli were covered by B-team players.

For the second leg matchup against Napoli, Barcelona will recover Alba and Roberto, but will be without Arturo Vidal and Busquets after being booked on Tuesday.

Busquets made it clear that Barcelona’s sporting directors hold some blame for the shallow squad after the game, saying “We don’t have a deep squad because, unfortunately, that’s how it was planned.”

Barcelona must now hope that they have enough depth to get past Napoli in the second leg and advance to the quarter-finals of the competition.

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After three months of group stage play, the Champions League’s final sixteen teams have been determined and the matchups drawn for the competition’s first knockout stage.

There are plenty of tantalizing matchups in the Round of 16, so let’s take a look at each of them and predict a winner!

Borussia Dortmund vs. Paris Saint-Germain

This is an extremely intriguing matchup between two teams that have tons of talent on their rosters. PSG dominated Group A, dropping only one point, and we expect the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar (if he is able to play) to lead the Parisians past Dortmund, but it won’t be without a fight.

Paris Saint-Germain

Real Madrid vs. Manchester City

Manchester City once looked like one of the most dominant teams in Europe, but it seems as if Pep Guardiola’s side might be in decline. Behind in the Premier League race by a big margin and not looking as sharp as they once did, could Real Madrid overcome its recent woes and get past City? Count us as being skeptical.

Manchester City

Atalanta vs. Valencia

This matchup pits two of the biggest surprises of the group stage up against one another. Valencia and Atalanta, each of which needed a final matchday win to qualify for the knockout stages, will battle to see which team surprises everyone and moves onto the quarterfinals. Our pick has to be Valencia, the more talented and experienced team.

Valencia

Atletico Madrid vs. Liverpool

Liverpool looks to be the most dominant team in Europe right now, but they didn’t get an easy draw for the Round of 16. Diego Simeone’s Atletico always fights tooth and nail, and they have a defense that could test Liverpool’s skilled attack. However, we expect the reigning Champions League winner to move onto the next round.

Liverpool

Chelsea vs. Bayern Munich

This fascinating matchup pits two European giants against one another. Chelsea has been inconsistent under Frank Lampard this season, but Bayern Munich has had similar problems and a managerial change. I think they will squeak by, largely based on their more experienced roster.

Bayern Munich

Lyon vs. Juventus

After last year’s shocking early elimination at the hands of Ajax, Juventus will be looking to turn the page and get their knockout stage campaign off on a good note. Luckily, they drew a Lyon team that should not pose a big problem for Maurizio Sarri’s star-studded squad.

Juventus

Tottenham Hotspur vs. RB Leipzig

Tottenham has endured an extremely frustrating start to the season that ended with Mauricio Pochettino’s dismissal. However, Jose Mourinho looks to be getting last year’s Champions League finalists back towards being an ordered team that could be a threat in this tournament. Leipzig could pose a bigger challenge than many think, though.

Tottenham Hotspur

Napoli vs. Barcelona

Napoli has had a bizarre season up to this point, currently on an eight-game winless streak in Serie A. What’s even stranger is that they fired manager Carlo Ancelotti just before the last Champions League group stage game, and somehow still qualified. They’re a team with a lot of fight, but Barcelona’s Messi-Suarez-Griezmann trio is probably too much to handle.

Barcelona

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Real Madrid, who looked to be in dire straits after winning only one point in their first two Champions League group stage matches, got back on track in a 0-1 win in Istanbul on Tuesday night.

The 2017 and 2018 Champions League winners took down a feisty Galatasaray side by the minimum to get back on track for qualification to the knockout stage of play.

German midfielder Toni Kroos scored the game-winning goal in the 17th minute of action after being set up by a brilliant pass by Eden Hazard. The veteran midfielder rocketed a shot into the top corner of the net that Galatasaray keeper Fernando Muslera could do nothing to stop.

Despite the two teams combining for 38 total shots (27 for Madrid and 11 for Galatasaray) and 16 shots on goal (13 for Madrid and 3 for Galatasaray), this was the only goal scored in the tense match.

Los Blancos’ defense was able to hold on to keep Galatasaray out of the net despite an offense that kept pushing and a rowdy crowd that did its best to give a burst of home-field advantage to the hosts.

Real Madrid now finds itself with 4 points in Group A of the competition, which puts them five points behind PSG, who has completed a perfect first half of the group stage.

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The wait is over! It’s that time of the year in European soccer, as the new Champions League 2019-2020 season is about to begin this Wednesday and Thursday with the first fixture containing 16 games.

The new campaign kicks off with a mega-derby as French champions PSG will host the 13-time UCL champions Real Madrid on Parc De Princess in Saint-Denis, Paris. Defending champions Liverpool will once again face Napoli like previous season, but the Serie A team will compete with an improved roster compared to the previous year. 

Barcelona will face Dortmund in Germany in the derby match of the F group and Lionel Messi is cleared to start for the first time this year after his injury before the season started. Inter will meet against Czech champions Slavia Praha and Lyon will be taking on Zenit. Chelsea will host Valencia in London, Salzburg goes head to head against RSC Genk and Benfica hosts the other Red Bull sponsored team, Leipzig. 

Last year’s semi-finalists Ajax are going against Ligue 1 Runners-up LOSC Lille on the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam. 

The following day, besides the PSG-Real Madrid derby, there is one more derby, as Atl.Madrid will host Juventus. 

Manchester City, who are playing against Shakhtar, is considered to be the main candidates for the throne. 

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The 2019-20 Champions League draw was held on Thursday in Monaco, setting the group stages for the first part of the competition.

Plenty of intriguing groups were created, and now it’s time to look at which teams will be favored to move on to the competition’s knock-out round from each group.

Group A: Paris St. Germain and Real Madrid

PSG and Real Madrid look to be the clear-cut favorites to advance in this top-heavy group. Despite the uncertainty swirling around both clubs, they easily have enough talent to take down the Turkish Super Lig champions and Club Brugge.

Group B: Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur

Group B look a lot like Group A in that there are two titans at the top and two teams that are glad to just be along for the ride at the bottom. Tottenham was a surprise Champions League finalist last year, and Bayern Munich will have aspirations to lift the trophy this season. They look like obvious favorites to advance.

Group C: Manchester City and Atalanta

Manchester City had to have been thrilled to draw this group, in which any of the other three teams have a fighting chance of going through. I’ll go with Atalanta to join them, whose experience in the tough Serie A could give them an edge over Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Group D: Juventus and Atlético Madrid

Fireworks are going to fly in Group D as Juventus and Atlético Madrid will face in a rematch of last season’s Round of 16 matchup that saw Atleti blow a 2-0 lead in the second leg of the matchup. They’ll be a big favorite to come out of Group D and into the knockout stage again.

Group E: Liverpool and Napoli

Last year’s Champions League title winners should have a fairly clear-cut path back to the knockout stages of the competition. I’m picking Napoli, which has a talented roster including young standout Hirving Lozano, to join them there.

Group F: Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund

Group F is the group of death in this year’s competition. Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, and Inter Milan are all Champions League mainstays and competitors in the continent’s biggest leagues. Inter has a revamped roster including Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, and Diego Godin, but I just think Barcelona (read: Leo Messi) and Borussia’s talent is just a step better.

Group G: Lyon and RB Leipzig

The most wide-open group in the tournament this year is Group G. Any of the four teams could realistically advance, but I like a strong and experienced Lyon team to join RB Leipzig, one of the most exciting teams in the Bundesliga, to go on.

Group H: Chelsea and Valencia

Could Ajax really not even make the knockout round of this year’s UCL after going all the way to the semi-finals this year? I think it’s possible, considering how many of their top players left after last year. Chelsea and Valencia look to be the two strongest overall sides in this interesting group.

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The beginning of the season for European soccer clubs is just around the corner! With the Premier League and France’s Ligue 1 getting underway this weekend, with La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A to follow next weekend, fans will soon get their first glimpse at their favorite clubs on the pitch.

It won’t be long until the European competitions get underway, either. Champions League and Europa League action kicks off next month, with the continent’s top clubs looking to claim the crowns as Europe’s best sides.

After Liverpool took home the 2018-19 edition of the Champions League, there are plenty of contenders for the crown this season. Here’s a look at the top five favorites to hoist this year’s trophy.

5. Paris Saint-Germain

The French side, as always, is stocked with talent. Even if Neymar does leave (which looks unlikely at this point), PSG has a stable of stars including soccer’s brightest young star in Kylian Mbappe. They have an edge on their other CL competition, as they are forced to pay much less attention to their domestic league than other competitors from more competitive leagues. Will this be the year that the talent finally meshes and PSG makes it deep in the Champions League?

4. Liverpool

The Reds will probably take exception to come in fourth on the list after winning last year’s trophy, but it’s not easy to repeat. Jürgen Klopp still has his top stars from last season, including Mo Salah and Sadio Mané, but they’re a year older and will have plenty of teams looking to take them down. Could they win back to back crowns? It certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility, but it won’t be easy.

3. Juventus

Juventus bowed out early in last year’s Champions League despite the addition of five-time CL winner Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese star was reportedly furious at the team’s shock exit at the hands of Ajax, so you can bet that he’ll be trying harder than ever to win the trophy this season. The amount of talent on their squad got even better with the summer addition of center back Matthijs de Ligt, and they’ll be considered one of the favorites this year.

2. Barcelona

Few could believe it when Barcelona blew a 3-0 first-leg advantage to bow out of the Champions League last season at the hands of the eventual champions in Liverpool. A team with talents such as Leo Messi, Luis Suarez, and Gerard Pique had to have been better than that, right? Well, even if they weren’t, they’re certainly one of the top favorites to take home this year’s crown after retaining their core and adding Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong. This is a team to reckon with, but can it get over the hump?

1. Manchester City

Pep Guardiola has won everything at Manchester City, including the past two Premier League crowns, except for the Champions League. 2019-20 looks to be the year that this could change. The dizzying talent contained in its roster combined with one of the best coaches in world soccer makes Man City the top favorite to take home the upcoming edition of the Champions League. Now it’s time for them to go out on the pitch and prove that they deserve to be considered the top dog.

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After Liverpool defeated FC Barcelona to complete a stunning comeback and advance to the Champions League Final, few could’ve ever predicted that Wednesday’s Ajax-Tottenham matchup could live up to the drama of that game.

They had no idea what was in store.

After winning the first leg in London by a 0-1 final, Ajax hosted Tottenham in the second leg of the semi-final with a big advantage.

When Ajax scored the first two goals of the game to go up 2-0 in the 35th minute, everything looked settled. The Dutch team would be moving on to face Liverpool in the final after Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech stretched their aggregate lead to 3-0.

After the half, however, everything changed.

Unheralded striker Lucas Moura, an injured Harry Kane’s replacement, wasn’t going to allow his team to go home without a fight. He knocked in Spurs’ first goal in the 55th minute after a brilliant counter-attack.

Things got even more interesting in the 59th minute, only four minutes later, the Brazilian striker scored another goal after Ajax failed to clear an Andre Onana save.

The score was 2-2, and another Tottenham goal would qualify them for the Final.

Ajax held strong for the next 35 minutes, keeping Tottenham out of the net.

With the last chance of the game, in the 5th minute of stoppage time, the unbelievable happened.

Moura scored his third goal of the night in the final minute of stoppage time after a Dele Alli assist, and pandemonium took hold.

Spurs won the match 2-3 and the draw on away goals. They head to Madrid to face Liverpool in the UCL final for the first time in the club’s history on June 1st.

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What happened on Tuesday night at Anfield will go down as one of the most memorable nights in the history of the UEFA Champions League. The favorite to win the competition bowed out after a shocking comeback that very few could’ve seen coming.

After losing 3-0 at the Camp Nou in the first leg of their semi-final matchup against FC Barcelona, Liverpool completed a stunning come-from-behind triumph by winning 4-0. This result sealed their invitation to the final of the 2019 edition of the UEFA Champions League.

Barcelona was the heavy favorite to advance going into the match, and only had to avoid losing by 4 in order to go on to the final. They were unable to fulfill their task, however, and Jurgen Klopp’s Reds memorably took advantage.

Barcelona was sluggish and overly cautious all night, and Liverpool came out strong and without any fear.

The Reds came out early and put Barcelona on notice with a 7th minute goal by Divock Origi, starting in place of an injured Mo Salah. Liverpool was without two of its biggest stars in Salah and Roberto Firmino.

Barcelona tightened things up until a disastrous second half, when Liverpool scored the three goals they needed to advance.

Georginio Wijnaldum, an unheralded Dutch attacker for Liverpool, miraculously scored two goals in two minutes to even up the draw at 3 apiece.

He scored in the 54th and 56th minutes, shocking Barça.

The real heartbreaker for Barcelona, however, came in the 79th minute.

After conceding a corner kick, Barcelona’s defense was arranging itself and keeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was clapping and rallying his time when Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold took advantage of the unfocused defense and delivered a pass to a wide-open Divock Origi.

Origi buried the shot past Ter Stegen, sending Anfield into complete pandemonium.

Liverpool had completed the comeback and held on to win 4-0 and advance to the final in Madrid in three weeks.

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