The Group of Death is Still UNDECIDED
In the Champions League draw in August there was one group that stood out. Group F. The Group of Death it was called. And so far it has delivered, at least in terms of competitiveness. It’s been very hard fought. All teams have drawn, lost and won.
| Team | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Dortmund | 3 | 10 |
| PSG | 1 | 7 |
| Newcastle | 0 | 5 |
| Milan | -4 | 5 |
Dortmund
Every team still has a chance at getting through to the knockouts. The only team that know they’re through to the knockouts is Dortmund. The German team have won three, drawn and lost one each and now sit on 10 points.
Having lost Jude Bellingham in the summer, the Ruhr-area team has struggled to start the season, compared to last season. In the Champions League, however, they’re going strong in this very tough group.
In the last game between the two clubs PSG won 2-0, but this time the French club has to take Dortmund on in front of the yellow wall at the legendary Westfalen stadium, it'll be a tough game.
PSG
Just behind are PSG. The Paris team started the season slowly, both in the league and the Champions League, but Luis Eriques system has started working as of late. The capital club have won the last seven games in the league.
This summer represented a radical change in the philosophy of PSG. Long time, first team mainstays Marco Veratti and Neymar left. Superstars Messi and Sergio Ramos also left the club. Now, rather than build a group of superstars, PSG are now trying to build a team.
Their current first team squad is a combination of young players such as Zaire-Emery and Barcola as well as experienced and established Champions League quality players such as Skriniar and Lucas Hernandez. Of course, they do still have that one superstar.
AC Milan
AC Milan had a deep run in the Champions League last season, when they made it to the semi finals. This year they find themselves struggling to make it out of the group, sitting on five points and needing PSG not to win, in order to even have a chance of making it through. Even if PSG do win and clinch that last knockout spot, Milan have to win against Newcastle in order to continue playing in Europa League. Newcastle currently has the better goal difference.
Milan have been pretty strong in the league so far this season and are in third place but local rivals Inter have already managed to get a nine point lead. Just yesterday it was revealed that Ibrahimovic was brought back to the club after his retirement and that one of his duties would be to “reinforce the Club’s winning culture”. Let’s hope for Milan’s sake that he works quickly.
Newcastle
Newcastle are back in the Champions League after a more than 20 year long hiatus. They’re in a similar position to Milan in that they need the win and they need PSG to lose in order to make it to the knockouts. But for Newcastle, a draw would be enough to secure the Europa League spot.
In the last game they're taking on Milan at home. The first game between the clubs ended 0-0 in what was a pretty drab affair. Both teams lost in the league this weekend and are falling behind in the league, surely they need to win tomorrow to keep the season interesting.
Final Thoughts
Safe to say this last game day of the group of death will be very interesting. The bottom three need to win to have a chance to go through to the knockout stage and even the Europa League spot is heavily contested.
In the other groups we have a few that are still undecided. Group H has the top three spots up for grabs, although Barcelona are taking on Antwerp who are the only team in the group stage not to have taken a single point.
In group A, Manchester United somehow still have a chance of making it through. First Copenhagen and Galatasaray have to draw. And then they have to end Bayern Munich's 37 game unbeaten streak in the Champions League group stage.
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