Section:GDN 1N PaGe:55 Edition Date:190830 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 29/8/2019 20:47 cYanmaGentaYellowb
Friday 30 Aug ust 2019 The Guardian •
55Liverpool RB Salzburg
Napoli Genk
Barcelona Internazionale
B Dortmund Slavia PragueGroup F
Zenit St P’burg Lyon
Benfica RB LeipzigGroup G
Chelsea Valencia
Ajax LilleGroup H
This lineup does Liverpool’s
prospects of defending their title
little harm. They traded wins with
Napoli last season but it is hard to
make a case that Carlo Ancelotti’s
team is dramatically stronger this
time, although the Mexico forward
Hirving Lozano is an exciting
acquisition from PSV Eindhoven and
Kostas Manolas brings defensive
quality – and a taste for drama, as
he showed against Barcelona two
seasons ago – from Roma.
Red Bull Salzburg arrive in the
group stage after a succession of
near-misses and a lively young
team will cause problems even
though their successful manager,
Marco Rose, left for Borussia
Monchengladbach in pre-season.
If Naby Ke ïta is fi t, and the fi xtures
fall well, he will be able to face the
side he represented between 2014
and 2016. Salzburg have a fi ne record
of developing African players and
the 19-year-old Mali forward, Sekou
Koita, may be the latest off the
production line.
Perhaps Salzburg will be able
to trouble Napoli in the hunt for
a last-16 place. Genk, in their fi rst
appearance since 2011-12, look
unlikely to do that on the evidence
of last season’s Europa League.
Prediction 1 Liverpool; 2 Napoli;
3 RB Salzburg; 4 Genk
Star player M Salah (Liverpool , )
Will the alarm bells be ringing for
Barcelona? Slavia Prague’s presence
does not quite make this a “group
of death” but the inclusion of Inter
Milan, now managed by Antonio
Conte, provides a curveball that will
make the fi ve-time winners sweat.
Inter mean business, as the arrivals
of Romelu Lukaku and Diego God ín
have shown; Alexis S ánchez has
followed and the Serie A side, who
last reached the knock out stage in
2011-12, look a diff erent beast to the
one they met in Group B last season.
Back then, Inter held Barça
to a draw at San Siro but fl uff ed
their lines against Spurs and PSV
Eindhoven, missing a glorious
chance to get through. This time
they will look to capitalise on Lionel
Messi’s absence with a calf problem,
as well as any teething problems
Neymar experiences if his return
goes through. Antoine Griezmann is,
at least, now off the mark for Ernesto
Valverde’s reshaped side while
Frenkie de Jong will only get better.
Meanwhile Borussia Dortmund,
who have purred through the
Bundesliga’s opening fortnight,
look stronger than last year and
will be better for the return of Mats
Hummels. If everyone clicks, this
group could provide the best drama.Prediction 1 Borussia Dortmund;
2 Barcelona; 3 Inter; 4 Slavia Prague
Star player A Griezmann (Barca , )There is little stardust here but is
certainly the most evenly-matched
group. Zenit and Benfi ca may have
felt smug about drawing one another
but will face arguably the strongest
teams from the other two pots, with
every chance the order could be
turned on its head.
RB Leipzig, who fi nished third in
a similarly tight quartet two seasons
ago, look well set to improve on
that this time. Julian Nagelsmann’s
reign has begun with consecutive
impressive wins in the Bundesliga,
while they have retained key players
and added the Paris Saint-Germain
midfi elder Christopher Nkunku.
Timo Werner is a lethal striker and
their creative hub, Emil Forsberg,
cannot currently get into a starting
XI that is fi ring on all cylinders.
Last season Lyon shocked
Manchester City but, with Sylvinho
in charge and the likes of Tanguy
Ndombele, Nabil Fekir and Ferland
Mendy having departed, their
appearance has changed somewhat.
They have a goalscorer in Moussa
Dembélé and should have too much
for Benfi ca, who are now shorn of
the brilliant youngster João Félix.
If, as expected, Zenit fall short them
Russia’s top-seed status will be in
serious jeopardy.Prediction 1 RB Leipzig; 2 Lyon;
3 Benfica; 4 Zenit St Petersburg
Star player Timo Werner (RB Leipzig , )Chelsea, bereft of Eden Hazard and
David Luiz, might have hoped for
a softer hand from the lower pots
but will be happy enough to have
avoided any of the heavyweights.
Whether that statement does a
disservice to Ajax depends on how
quickly last season’s darlings recover
from losing Frenkie de Jong and
Matthijs de Ligt; their principles will
not change but they toiled at times
during their play-off win over Apoel
Nicosia and a repeat of their run to
the last four may be a long shot.
Frank Lampard may also be
encouraged by the way Valencia, to
whom Chelsea have never lost in six
Champions League meetings, fell
short in last season’s Europa League
semi-fi nal against Arsenal. Maxi
G ómez should off er the Spanish side
more cutting edge, though, while
the goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen is a
handy arrival from Barcelona who
will enjoy a reunion with Ajax.
Valencia are, in fact, the only
member of this group not to have
lost key outfi eld players over the
summer. Lille sold Nicolas P ép é
to Arsenal, with Rafael Le ão and
Thiago Mendes also leaving the
Ligue 1 runners-up, but the Nigerian
forward Victor Osimhen has made a
fl ying start and will need attention.Prediction 1 Ajax; 2 Chelsea;
3 Valencia; 4 Lille
Star player D van de Beek (Ajax) , )Group E
year and the men’s player of the year
awards, beating Cristiano Ronaldo and
Lionel Messi to the latter honour.
“It’s been a long road but it is part
of who I am,” the Liverpool defender
said in Monaco. “I needed it like this. I
had to work hard every step of the way
and I am proud about that.”
Van Dijk added that Liverpool
will “fi ght” to retain their crown as
they attempt to reach a hat-trick of
Champions League fi nals. They have
the extra incentive of this season’s fi nal
being held at the Ataturk Stadium in
Istanbul, scene of their 2005 triumph.
Champions League glory has eluded
Pep Guardiola since the second of his
two managerial titles with Barcelona in- Having been left on his knees by
VAR last season, the City manager was
given the lift of an inviting start against
Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb and
the fi rst -time qualifi ers Atalanta.
One concern for City will be the
travel involved, with Shakhtar forced
to play their home matches in Kharkiv
as a consequence of the confl ict in
eastern Ukraine.
Frank Lampard’s introduction to
European management could have
been easier than a group containing
last season’s surprise semi-fi nalists
Ajax – a team since weakened by the
departures of Frenkie de Jong and
Matthijs de Lig t – alongside Valencia
and Lille.
English clubs get
kind Champions
League draws
Continued from back pagethat RCR Holdings, having had that
£7.1m admitted to the Bury CVA, would
be seeking a quarter of that full sum
alongside other creditors – £1.75m,
despite having paid only £70,000.
The IPA responded by announcing
an investigation into the Bury CVA, fol-
lowing the Guardian’s report of Frith’s
and the FSA’s calls for an inquiry. “ The
IPA takes concerns arising from insol-
vency procedures extremely seriously
and can confi rm that, due to informa-
tion that has been brought to its atten-
tion, and in line with processes to regu-
late IPs, it is considering the operation
of the [Bury] CVA .”
Wiseglass told the Guardian on
Wednesday that he had admitted the
Mederco £7.1m debt because there was
evidence at Bury for doing so. “Every-
thing relating to the CVA has been done
properly,” he said, “but of course I am
regulated and, if there is any inquiry,
I will deal with and co operate with it.”Dale has said : “All dealings with the
CVA have been done in a correct and
proper manner.”
The EFL yesterday confi rmed to
Bury that it would not reconsider
the expulsion. The club said: “This is
something we are struggling to com-
prehend as the new bidder has proven
signifi cant funds to the EFL, funds to
allow them to take over, run and secure
the long-term future of Bury.”
Frith called it a “striking blow”, sa y-
ing in a tweet: “We’ll up the ante now
with Parliamentary & legal action.”
The Guardian has learned that the
new bidder named in the letter sent to
the EFL on Wednesday is a Brazilian
pastor called Gustavo Ferreira.The CVA includes
£7.1m stated to be
owed to Steve Day’s
company Mederco
Football
In briefManchester United
Smalling ready to
complete Roma moveChris Smalling is set to join Roma on
loan from Manchester United after
a deal was agreed under which the
Italian club will pay €3m (£2.7m)
to take the defender for the season
without an option to buy. The
England international is keen tomake the move and will conclude
the transfer subject to a medical.
Fabrizio RomanoLigue 1
Vieira condemns
homophobic bannersThe coaches of Nice, Marseille and
France’s equality minister have all
praised the referee who interrupted
the Ligue 1 match on Wednesday
because of homophobic banners in
the home crowd. “These things are
unacceptable. The referee didn’t
have a choice.” said the Nice coach,
Patrick Vieira. ReutersEric Cantona was the unexpected
star of yesterday’s draw after
giving a speech that proved even
stranger than the one he once gave
about sardines and trawlers. “Soon
science will not only be able to
slow down ageing of cells, it will fi x
cells so we will become eternal,”
he told a baffl ed crowd. “Only
accidents, crimes, wars will kill us.
I love football. Thank you.”Cantona conundrum
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