Newcastle can progress from a daunting looking Group F and the other Premier League sides should advance, too
Group B:Benfica, Inter, Salzburg, Real SociedadPSG, Borussia Dortmund, Milan, NewcastleBarcelona, Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Royal Antwerp, returning to the Champions League after seven years, the draw could have been a lot worse. They were the lowest ranked side in pot two but managed to avoid the really big pot one sides, drawing Sevilla, the Europa League winners.
Lens, the lowest ranked side left in the competition, finished just a point behind the French champions, Paris Saint-Germain, last season, but the sales of Seko Fofa and Loïs Openda have hit them hard and they have take just a point from their first three league games this campaign. The sale of Xavi Simons to PSG is a blow for PSV but last season’s Dutch runners-up thrashed Rangers in the final qualifying round.
After winning Serie A for the first time in 33 years last season, Napoli have managed to hang on to most of their stars, with Kim Min-jae the only major departure among players, although Luciano Spalletti stood down as coach to be replaced by Rudi Garcia. Jude Bellingham was the big summer signing for Madrid, with Karim Benzema departing.
Beaten finalists last season and third in Serie A, Simone Inzaghi’s Inter have made several notable if not especially youthful signings: Alexis Sánchez, Yann Sommer, Juan Cuadrado and Marko Arnatouvic arriving. Fourth in Spain last season, Real Sociedad were a revelation, playing vibrant football based around David Silva. He has now retired, but Kieran Tierney and André Silva have arrived on loan.
‘At some point Atlético will stop being in transition and people will stop talking about Diego Simeone looking to adopt a more expansive approach.’Lazio claimed second place in Serie A last season, but Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has been sold since then and Maurizio Sarri’s side’s start to this season has been dismal, with defeats to Lecce and Genoa. , but not yet, and they remain a team apparently perpetually battling perceived decline.
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