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The UEFA Champions League group stage is set after today’s draw took place in Istanbul, Turkey. Group A is made up of Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, and Rangers as the group stage gets underway in early September. Liverpool are the obvious favorites especially after making it to the final last season, but the second spot will be up in the air between the other three teams. Here’s a look at how Group A was drawn.
Teams
AFC Ajax
Liverpool
Napoli
Rangers
Odds to win group
AFC Ajax (+600)
Liverpool (-300)
Napoli (+650)
Rangers (+1400)
Picks to advance from group: Liverpool (-2000) and Napoli (+120)
Liverpool reached last season’s final but lost to Real Madrid with a score of 1-0, thanks to the lone goal from Vinicius Jr. Jurgen Klopp’s side, although they lost Sadio Mane who went to Bayern Munich, picked up a young star in Darwin Nunez who’s already proven to be a valuable asset early on in the Premier League season. They’ll look to win their seventh overall UCL title this season, and their first since 2019, when they defeated Tottenham in the final with a 2-0 score.
Napoli currently sits on top of the Serie A table, although it’s still very early in the season. They finished in third place in Serie A last season, and will be making their return to Champions League since their last appearance in the 2019-20 season, when they made it to the Round of 16 but lost to Barcelona by a 2-4 aggregate. Led by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen, who have already combined for five goals through two games this season, they’ll look to make a deeper UCL run this time around.
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