Opinion: The best and worst case scenario for Man United, Man City and Chelsea as the Champions League draw looms | OneFootball

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·30 September 2020

Opinion: The best and worst case scenario for Man United, Man City and Chelsea as the Champions League draw looms

Article image:Opinion: The best and worst case scenario for Man United, Man City and Chelsea as the Champions League draw looms

If you want to win the Champions League then you will need to beat the best teams at some point, but there’s no doubt that an easier draw will always be welcome.

Man United, Man City and Chelsea are all in pot two ahead of the draw later this week, so the only thing that’s guaranteed is they will avoid each other and they won’t be able to face Liverpool either.


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Every team that reaches the group stage will clearly be a decent side so although there are no easy draws, there are certainly some that will be easier than others.

Here’s a look at the best and worst case scenarios from each pot in the draw.

Pot One: Best case scenario – Porto

This was a toss up between Zenit and Porto who are weaker than the other giants that would face them in this pot, but the travel to Russia and the strength of the Russian side at home mean they are probably more formidable than the Portuguese side here.

English clubs tend to do well against Porto and they aren’t quite as star studded as they have been in the past, so this is the team that all three clubs will be hoping to face

Worst case scenario – Bayern Munich

Pretty straight forward choice here, Bayern are the reigning champions and still look like a terrifying proposition to face. They are excellent in all areas of the pitch but the three English sides have some serious defensive issues, so you know they would fancy taking advantage of that and racking up a big score.

Article image:Opinion: The best and worst case scenario for Man United, Man City and Chelsea as the Champions League draw looms

Pot Three: Best case scenario – Olympiakos

When you start to see the lower seeded teams you would hope for some inferior sides, but pot three still delivers some very decent teams who you would fancy to put up a fight.

The Greek side look like the weakest team here although it could be a real issue for Man United if they get this draw with the situation surrounding Harry Maguire’s conviction still unclear, so they would probably need to travel without their captain.

Worst case scenario – Inter Milan

Antonio Conte would absolutely love to go back to Stamford Bridge and give his old side a thumping, while Inter have improved this summer and still have the fearsome strike duo of Lukaku and Martinez.

The unwritten rules of football mean that Ashley Young would come back to Old Trafford and score at least one, while City would also look vulnerable to the counter attack so they should look to avoid the Italians.

Article image:Opinion: The best and worst case scenario for Man United, Man City and Chelsea as the Champions League draw looms

Pot Four: Best case scenario – Ferencvaros

The Hungarian side have done brilliantly to get this far but they were also pummelled in their victory at Celtic Park, where they only qualified due to Neil Lennon thinking he was a tactical genius by playing with no strikers and also suffering from his team refusing to defend.

They do have some pace on the counter attack and they should give anyone a good game at home, but if you can’t beat them then you have no business having ambitions of going further in the competition.

Article image:Opinion: The best and worst case scenario for Man United, Man City and Chelsea as the Champions League draw looms

Worst case scenario – Marseille

There are a couple of moving parts here because the French side will only be given their final seeding once the qualifiers are played, while Borussia Monchengladbach would also be a tough opposition but it would be impossible to draw them and Bayern.

Marseille showed their class on the pitch by going to Paris and winning earlier in the month, although that has been overshadowed with the fighting and the racism at the end.

Andre Villas-Boas would want to get one over Chelsea and show that he’s still a manager who can operate at the top level, while he tends to be flexible with his tactics to ensure his team are capable of giving anyone a scare.

Article image:Opinion: The best and worst case scenario for Man United, Man City and Chelsea as the Champions League draw looms

The seedings will be finalised after the games tonight so somethings may change, but it’s clear that this draw has the ability to be cruel or kind to the English sides this year.

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