From The Athletic's analysis of the CL draw;
Which group gets you most excited?
Raphael Honigstein: A little leftfield, I know, but it’s Group D. It does feel a little Europa League-y — no disrespect to any of the team involved — but that’s what it makes it so intriguing. There’s no obvious favourite, due to Antonio Conte’s Champions League struggles, and no obvious whipping boys either. Also four proper stadiums in four proper football cities, the atmosphere will be amazing throughout.
Dermot Corrigan: Group D looks the most evenly balanced of the eight, so likely to have the best games. Group C takes the group of death tag. But Group A looks most likely to provide some memorable moments and atmospheres, while also having at least some competitive jeopardy into the final round of fixtures.
Which group doesn’t seem glamorous but will be good to watch?
Pitt-Brooke: Group D has no true European giants — although
Frankfurt are the reigning Europa League champions and
Tottenham lost the Champions League final in 2019 — but it looks evenly-matched and competitive across the board. No easy games, no easy trips. Tottenham probably marginal favourites but only just.
Honigstein: I’ve already picked unglamourous group D as the one to watch. You want another one? Okay: group A only has one heavyweight in Liverpool (albeit in their current light metal guise) but the match-ups with Ajax, Napoli and Rangers should make for thrilling and very colourful encounters.
What makes you feel happy when you look at this draw?
Pitt-Brooke: There are some great destinations in this draw — including some cities who have not been represented for a while — and I hope fans of all teams manage to travel safely around Europe to enjoy the football this autumn.
Horncastle: The prospect of seeing Benjamin Sesko in the Champions League. Salzburg have a habit of unleashing exciting new strikers on this competition. Anyone follow what happened to that Norwegian kid, Haaland? Now there’s a tall and quick Slovenian teenager to get all hyped about.
Leipzig have kindly let him stay another year in Salzburg until the frustration of watching Timo Werner miss sitter after sitter gets too much.
Corrigan: The possibility of Super League boosters Juventus and Barcelona as two of the big clubs most likely to have issues qualifying is quite funny. The small talk in the directors’ box between Juve and PSG, and Barca and Bayern, should either be excruciatingly polite or thrillingly direct.
Honigstein: Seeing Shakhtar involved, despite not having a home ground since 2014 and their country fighting a war against Russian aggressors warms the heart.
Name the last 16 qualifiers
Horncastle: Liverpool, Napoli, Porto, Atletico, Bayern, Inter,
Tottenham, Eintracht,
Milan, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Leipzig,
Emirates Marketing Project, Sevilla, PSG, Juve
Pitt-Brooke: Liverpool, Napoli, Atletico, Porto, Bayern, Inter,
Tottenham, Sporting, Chelsea, Milan, Real Madrid, Celtic, Emirates Marketing Project, Sevilla, PSG, Juve.
Corrigan: Napoli, Liverpool, Porto, Atletico, Bayern, Barca,
Tottenham, Sporting, Milan, Chelsea, Madrid, Shakhtar, Emirates Marketing Project, Dortmund, PSG, Juve.
Honigstein: Liverpool, Ajax, Leverkusen, Atletico, Bayern, Inter,
Tottenham, Frankfurt, Milan, Chelsea, Madrid, Leipzig, Emirates Marketing Project, Sevilla, PSG, Juve
And now for analysis of the British clubs’ draws…
Tottenham Hotspur by Arsenal Season Ticket Holder Charles 'Charlie' Eccleshare
Opponents: Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon, Marseille
First impressions of Tottenham’s draw.
That they’ve done pretty well (Jammy barstewards!). Eintracht Frankfurt will be tough but Spurs will be thankful to have avoided one of the big beasts from pot one (Despite Spurs history against 'big beasts' in group stages being rather decent recently) . Sporting were the second lowest ranked team in pot three so that’s fairly favourable as well, and while Marseille will be tricky (to stay sober there), this is a group Spurs will feel confident about getting out of. Academy coach Yaya Toure can expect a thank you or two when he returns from the draw to Hotspur Way.
What looks like the key game and why?
(Fcuked if I know. It's all about Arsenal's draw on Thursday, innit?) It’s tough to say as it’s a pretty even looking group, but if Spurs can get the better of Eintracht Frankfurt in the first meeting of the sides then that will set them up extremely well. They could potentially then set up the rest of the group as a scramble for second and it would be ideal if opposition teams had to chase points and leave themselves vulnerable on the counter when facing them.
Which opposition player are you most looking forward to seeing?
(Gabriels Jesus and Martinelli) In the absence of a superclub in the group, it has to be Marcus Edwards — the former Spurs prodigy (moody upstart) now at Sporting. It will be his first return to the club since leaving three years ago, and it’s hard to overstate how much excitement around (Arsenal there was, seeing Spurs coaches and fans massively over rate) the young winger when was when he was at Tottenham. This will be a chance to see how far he’s come since then. (Given how keen Sporting are to develop and sell on young talent, he clearly isn't all that good).
What should the rest of the pool expect from Spurs?
Tottenham will be a difficult opponent for whoever they face, with a very sound defensive structure and a thrilling front three. They are not a team that hoovers up possession and so we may (hope to) see Spurs, especially away from home, sitting deep and (getting rocked before trying to go forward and) hitting their opponents on the counter. A tactic that worked very well at the Etihad and Anfield last season. (We should run the fcukin' table, you gooner twaat!)
What should we expect from Frankfurt?
Eintracht Frankfurt haven’t started well in the Bundesliga and look short on star power now that Filip Kostic has left to Juventus. But there’s something about playing in Europe that brings out the best of the club and their supporters, as opponents in the Europa League can attest.
