Group G: Barça, Juve and later the abyss

Christian against Messi, Juventus against Barcelona Y Arthur against Pjanic. Fate has wanted to match two teams closely related in sports and in terms of the market in the same group in recent seasons. The luck of both is that Dynamo Kiev Y Ferencvaros They are simple group guests, so, presumably, neither Juventus nor Catalans will have problems to overcome the first phase. Of course, it remains in the air which of the two passes as group leader. The two are going to play it almost to a direct elimination.

The group's highlights will arrive when measured Juventus Y Barcelona, on the second and on the last day. The visit to Turin of the culés can be a little premature considering that the team of Koeman it is still under construction. It is to be expected that very few points will be left against the other two rivals in the group, so until the last day, in the Camp Nou, surely it is not decided which of the two ends up as leader. To the Barça It favors him to play that game at home.

He Barcelona go back to Europe having lost seeded status in the draw, a direct consequence of his poor past course. This fact supposes an added difficulty that comes to add to a European trauma that grows with each passing year and that grips the Blaugrana team, which, as advanced Messi It seems “that it does not give” to fight in Europe. The elimination in the quarterfinals to a single match in Lisbon at the hands of Bayern Munich 2-8 was a tremendous turning point that showed that the elephant could no longer be hidden in the corridor. That loss came after Anfield's 4-0 debacle, that of Rome 3-0 and elimination at the hands of the Juve. Far from correcting this drift, the Barça it has been sinking further into its complex. The solution, with a rejuvenated team, the arrival of Koeman and the role of Messi, probably in his last chance to win that “cute and desired” cup with the Barça goes through a change of mentality when facing this competition. More than thinking about winning it, Barça it has to overcome a European trauma that has lasted for too many years.

The star: Messi

Obviously, Messi He is the great star of the team, but nobody like the young man Ansu Fati 18 years old to raise the flag of a team looking for a new click in Europe after a traumatic experience. His appearance last year helped him to become the youngest scorer in the competition. Messi, if he is well, he will be the leader with the young star. The unknown is how the Argentine will respond physically in a season in which he is under scrutiny for what happened in the summer with his failed attempt to leave the club.

The coach: Ronald Koeman

He came to make a revolution in the dressing room and was left half, because not all the players he wanted have arrived. He knows the house, he is loved by the fans and he has much to gain and little to lose. Of course, your resume until you reach the Barça not very exciting. To his character as an iron fist he must add all the football nuances that he has acquired over time. Especially good was his recent spell with the Dutch national team, which has earned him an opportunity that until recently seemed unlikely.

The 4-2-3-1 is the new scheme of the Barça and fans will have to get used to it. In this way the team is armored a little more in midfield and makes more sense to players like De Jong or Coutinho, which until now in its stages in the Barça with other coaches they had been somewhat lost. Yes, fit Griezmann it is still a toothache and may once again become a major problem.

Andrea Pirlo has just started his journey as a coach and ask him to immediately break the jinx with the Champions of the Juventus, which has lasted since 1996, is unfair … But at the Vecchia Signora there is no other. Yes Agnelli threw the house out the window to Christian It was for his club to grow at the media level and as an entity, of course, but above all because the Portuguese seemed what was missing to finally raise the Orejona. In his first two bianconero courses, the ex-Madridista had to surrender in the quarterfinals and eighth finals, and this year, which may be the tenth consecutive scudetto (although Inter Y Atalanta, apparently, they will not make it easy) expecting something else is mandatory. However, it is undeniable that this course will be a Juventus full of unknowns and under construction, with a technician with no experience on the bench, but who was a true Master on the pitch. The liquid and offensive soccer that the coach explained in his thesis can work well in EuropeBut it will be your talents that will make the difference. Christian Y Dybala They are the technical leaders of a team that has been renewed a lot, looking for new and young faces. The return 'home' of Alvaro Morata completed the lead, Federico Chiesa It was the nice surprise on the day the market closed, Dejan Kulusevski has already shown that he can measure up, Arthur will have to command in a medullary where Weston McKennie promises. What is expected, furthermore, is that Pirlo convert the Bianconera behind into what it always was: an impregnable fortress. Bonucci, De Ligt and Chiellini, without SarriThey must once again be one more weapon.

The star: Cristiano Ronaldo

Since the Portuguese has reached the Juventus, has gone from less to more. In his second bianconero course he has returned to approach the phenomenal numbers that he starred in the Madrid, finishing with 37 goals in 46 games. Its wonderful 2020 confirmed that the adaptation to Calcium has already been completed. He continues to amaze everyone with his numbers, including the more than 100 goals he has scored for the Portuguese team. An animal of the area and the auction that has evolved as a footballer, from winger to scorer.

The coach: Andrea Pirlo

The first experience as a technician for Pirlo is to direct neither more nor less than the Juventus. TO Sarri It was not enough for him to be Italian champion to continue in office, and the club is betting on one of its most legendary players in recent times. In the first matches on the bench, Pirlo It has left somewhat strange decisions and changes of positions of the players. If he manages to adapt his ideas to the squad he has and the team becomes fresh, Juventus can be seen much more tactically dynamic than these years.

Several new players give a different touch to Juventus compared to the last ones. To get started, Arthur can make your game absorb a lot more ball, something with which you build loyalty Pirlo. Kulusevski and Chiesa provide freshness in attack and can enter from the sides or accompany Christian. The same happens with Morata, a pure and area nine. And of course the danger of having Christian in attack, capable of scoring on any play.

Mircea Lucescu placeholder image is an old enemy of Barcelonathough actually the spicy element of his arrival at Kiev It is in a national key: that a legend of the Shakhtar, where he was twelve years, has now signed for the eternal rival has caused mixed feelings in both clubs. But I needed the Dynamo shake something up to modify a depressing inertia: last year they almost took second place Zorya, he Desna and the Oleksandriya, three sets with which he fought in a very even four-game battle. The illusion is provided by the young people, with four players sub-21 in the starting team that won with sufficiency at Ghent in the previous one. Supriaha Y Shaparenko they are the most stimulating.

The star: Supriaha

The figure of the Ukraine U-20 world champion scored 15 goals in her assignment to Dnipro-1 Last season. Now go back to Kiev already become the starting point. A lot of quality outside the area, he is not a center forward but rather a companion to the top. There he stood out in the U-20 World Cup, falling a lot to bands and receiving from behind. At Dinamo he has also managed to have that responsibility to generate the attacks of his team. One of those promising young people who are emerging in Ukraine.

The coach: Mircea Lucescu

An absolute myth of the benches, especially in football Ukraine. He achieved glory in the Shakhtar and it was a competitive team. Now he has made the leap to the great historical rival, in a decision that generated much controversy among the fans of his old team. Veteran, tactically very complete, always competitive in matches against big teams, the Romanian coach has managed to be a regular in the Champions League season after season with the difficulty that this has away from the big leagues.

Some young players in attack and drops of quality from their foreigners on the wings make the Dynamo a dangerous team when attacking. As always with LucescuThe entire block works a lot in defense and especially committed are the footballers in the center of the field. That makes defensively Dynamo has improved a lot lately. Until Bushchan In the goal, he offers guarantees so that the team is competitive.

It is not easy, with the current format, for the Magyar champion to get into the group stage. He had to pass four previous ones, some of them meritorious, like those in which he Celtic and to Dinamo Zagreb. He has achieved it with Sergei Rebrov as a coach and his prize will be to face the club in which he was a legend.

The star: Nguen

The Norwegian of African origin is the most skilled of the Hungarian team. It starts from the left and overflows inwards. He has started the season averaging more than one goal per game. Very intelligent in the diagonals towards the back of the centrals, he knows how to intuit the passes of his teammates and turn them into assists. Born in Kenya as the son of Sudanese refugees and came to Norway at 5 years old. He played for the Norwegian youth ranks before making the leap to football in Hungary.

The coach: Serhiy Rebrov

Player remembered for forming an attacking pair with Shevchenko in that Dynamo Kiev that he endorsed a 0-4 to Barça in the Camp Nou, in his stage as a technician he has ended in Hungary and, curiously, it must be measured against his former team and Barça, again. He immediately stepped from the grass to the bench in the Dynamo Kiev, the team of his life although by level it was too small and ended up Tottenham and other powerful clubs of Europe. After directing the Dynamo, went through the Al Ahli Saudi and now triumphs in Hungary.

Several previous rounds passed despite the fact that it is a team that suffers a lot on defense and when it gets inside the area. They have saved him on this journey in the Champions your attacking players, some of whom can become dangerous if they find the point of inspiration. Uzuni, Boli and Nguen they can cause problems with spaces. Little more.