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There will be 10: the candidacy for winning the Champions League this season Israel today

2022-09-06T14:36:29.163Z


The Champions League will kick off tonight, in a particularly busy season following the World Cup in Qatar.


A new season of the Champions League will start today (Tuesday).

A busy season, with a stop due to the World Cup in Qatar during it, a season that is very difficult to predict how it will end because for the first time in history there is a variable called the World Cup.

Still, after the draw for the group stage, when the rosters have been completed and when several rounds have already been held in the big leagues, you can try and mark the top 10 candidates for winning.

Who will swing?, Photo: AFP

10. Atletico Madrid

 There are teams that you can disconnect from what happens with them in the league when it comes to the Champions League, and Atlético Madrid is one of them.

In the last ten years, it reached the European finals twice, once in the semis, three times in the quarters and twice in the eighths, and all this despite the fact that the Colchoneros had less good seasons.

As of this early stage, even in the current season, Diego Simeone's team will mostly disappoint those who expect it, which does not at all contradict the fact that it can surprise in the Champions League.

The house, on paper, is pampering.

Club Brugge, Porto and Berkusen shouldn't prevent Atlético from moving on, and there in the knockout it's already Simeone with nails and teeth.

If Joao Felix finally enters this season and joins Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann who started it well, Atlético could be a serious obstacle for whoever you come up against.  

Morata celebrates with Felix, photo: Getty Images

9. Chelsea

 The 2021 champion is in ninth place, but that's only because you can't record 5-15.

So many things have happened to her recently, that one day she is up and the next day she is down.

It is difficult to place her, and even more difficult to commit to where she will be in a few months.

Thomas Tuchel's squad went through many changes, some joined more and some less, and currently what characterizes the blues is mainly instability.

Another European campaign gets underway soon!

🔵 pic.twitter.com/oMmzL9mevk

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 6, 2022

It seems that Chelsea can connect just as well as they can fall apart.

It's a matter of a screw here and a screw there, and the fact that the screwdriver is held by the nervous Tuchel does not add confidence.

It is likely that Chelsea and their German coach will only be able to be judged better at the end of the group stage, this of course on the condition that he will be there to screw it up.

8. Milan

 It's a bit strange to define the Italian champions as someone who can surprise this season in the Champions League, but it's just a product of eight years that have passed since they last passed the group stage, and even then they were stopped in the eighth by Atlético Madrid.

This season, the one who won the cup seven times will try to return her crown to its former glory.

 The house is relatively comfortable and includes Chelsea, Red Bull Salzburg and Dinamo Zagra, and no less important than that - the team is good.

There is a goalkeeper - Mike Manian.

There are brakes - Kalulu and Tomori.

There is a mid-star midfielder - Sandro Tonali.

There is a promising acquisition - Charles de Catlera.

And there is a superstar - Raphael Lao.

The latter, who scored a brace in the victory over Inter in the derby, could be Milan's X factor and one of the stars of the Champions League season.

Milan players celebrate, photo: Getty Images

7. Tottenham

A team that doesn't win anything with a coach that failed in the Champions League, and a striker that isn't enough to conquer, but isn't starting to win either.

This, in a nutshell, is Tottenham.

And yet, she deserves to be here for several reasons: first of all, the comfortable home that promoted her return to the factory after an absence of two years - Sporting Lisbon, Eintracht Frankfurt and Marseille.

Second, Harry Kane.

Laughter and stings aside, this is a historic pioneer who deserves a historic achievement.

Harry Kane.

Never stops conquering, photo: Reuters

Assuming that the Roosters cannot compete for the Premier League championship against City's well-oiled machine, a knockout factory is much more suitable for them.

The defense is strong, the link is back in Yves Bissuma and Ivan Perisic and Richarlison joined Kane, Son and Kulusevski up front.

Tottenham have already made a surprise run to the Champions League final with a less than brilliant squad, so there's no reason why they can't do it again.

Except of course for all the obvious reasons.

6. Liverpool

 The European runner-up is very high on the betting agencies' nomination list, and you can understand why.

She is the runner-up, she has Klopp, the Kop, Salah.

At the same time, the start of the current season is a bit creaky.

Injuries and expulsions left the German coach with a short squad and already at this stage Liverpool is chasing City's tail.

The purchase of Arthur Melo increased the feeling that Klopp is aware of the problems, and now it remains to be seen whether he will be able to find solutions.

The early home is not easy and includes Napoli, Ajax and Rangers, but Liverpool have to get through it and then wait for the big event of the summer to pass as well.

Luckily for her, Mohamed Salah, Luis Dias won't be there, and maybe that's what will help her when everyone comes back tired and exhausted from Qatar.

#NAPLIV 🔜 pic.twitter.com/3sio9dtE09

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 6, 2022

5. Barcelona

 Xavi's first task in the current Champions League season is to leave the traumas of the recent past behind.

Fate did arrange for Barça the great provider of scars in Bayern Munich - the one that gave them a 2:8 flick two years ago, and the one that beat them twice 0:3 last season which ended in elimination in the group stage - but looking at the Bayerns at eye level is only the first task.

With Robert Lewandowski leading a magnificent acquisition list that includes Rafinha, Jules Conde and others, with Gabi and Pedri in the center of the pitch, with Ousmane Dembele sharper than ever and Anso Fati healthy and well, the Catalans can afford to believe they can come back big and fast.

So far, in each game Barcelona have looked better than the previous game, which is a very encouraging statistic considering that the season has only just started.

💥 The 1️⃣st official Barça goal for Raphinha!

#LaLigaHighlights #SevillaBarça pic.twitter.com/kilXt9eRJH

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 6, 2022

4. Bayern Munich

The German champion scored a lot of goals at the beginning of this season, but also missed a lot of others.

Sadio Mane has already scored five in all competitions, as has Jamal Musiale, but the draws against Union Berlin and Borussia Monchengladbach raise the question of whether Lewandowski's departure has left the Bavarians without a player who knows how to win these stalemate games.

Even if the answer is no, and we are talking about birthing ropes of the beginning of the season, Bayern Munich and Julian Nagelsmann have what is known as "good problems".

The faculty is very high quality and very broad, and you have to know how to keep everyone happy.

A match with Barcelona and Inter will test this connection at a very early stage, and if Bayern succeeds in it impressively, it will be strong in the picture even after it.

Sadio Mane.

A successful premiere, photo: I.P

3. PSG

 Again, on paper, PSG is a senior candidate.

She has been like this for many, many years but still has not been able to convert the paper into a silver trophy.

And yet, the Semitic list that makes up Christophe Galtier's staff cannot be ignored.

What's more, this season less flashy players like Vitinia, Renato Sánchez, Carlos Soler, Fabian Ruiz, Nordy Mukail and more have joined.

Meanwhile, it looks great.

Here in Bloomfield, the French champion swept the grass in the Super Cup against Nantes, and that's what she's doing in the French league for the time being.

There is no doubt that its senior players seem goal-oriented - but it is not at all certain that this goal is the final in Istanbul on June 10.

Neymar, Mbappe and Messi celebrating, photo: AFP

For Neymar, Messi and Mbappe, the World Cup in Qatar is the biggest event of the year.

Their excellent start to the season - especially the Brazilian's - suggests that is where they are directing their efforts.

As far as PSG and Galtier are concerned, the big question is what will happen next, when they return, and how they will return.

If the new coach manages to navigate the business, then PSG can dream of winning for the first time. 

2. Manchester City

 With four championships in the last five years in the so-called "best in the world" league, Manchester City needs a Champions League win to make sense.

In recent years, it seemed that all Pep Guardiola's team lacked was a penny to the pound, so this season the player who is able to conquer both pennies and pounds, both coins and peas, arrived.

Erling Holland has already scored ten goals in the Premier League, and it is scary to think how many he will score in the Champions League.

So far his balance stands at 15 in 13 games and when the opponents in the group stage are his former team Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla immersed in a historical crisis and Copenhagen, one can assume that he will start the European season on the right foot.

Holland will also not be in the World Cup, so it is also possible to assume that he will continue the European season on the left foot.

Arling Holland.

Inhuman, photo: Reuters

1. Real Madrid

In the betting agencies, it is only in fifth place, at best, but history has proven that when you make such a list, you should start with Real Madrid, and continue on.

Even last season, Carlo Ancelotti's team was not the main candidate for the win, but somehow it managed to move out of the way all those who were and lift trophy number 14 in its history.

Karim Benzema.

Do not underestimate him, photo: AFP

Beyond the matter of tradition and power, there is the matter of the group.

Real, unlike many others here on the list, is simply a good team that does things in a simple way.

The squad has hardly changed except for necessary changes such as a new brakeman (Rüdiger) and Chowmani in Casmiro's place, and it seems that no more is needed.

Courtois, Modric, Vinicius, Benzema - all in peak form, and with a wonderful squad, Real started the season with a perfect balance that reinforces the feeling that it deserves to be here.

👉1️⃣4️⃣👈


🛡️ #UCL pic.twitter.com/GscWkmgtDn

— Real Madrid CF (@realmadrid) September 6, 2022 Were we wrong?

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Source: israelhayom

All sports articles on 2022-09-06

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