Hope for the English in Europe

29/08/13. The day English clubs began their fightback with Europe.

After dominating the Champions League in recent years, the 2012/13 season was a complete and total mess for English football in Europe's elite competition.

Both Manchester City and Chelsea fell at the group stage (albeit Chelsea qualified for and won the Europa League), before Arsenal and Manchester United falling out in the Round of 16 against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid respectively.

The media jumped on this poor performance and begun to sing the end of English dominance in Europe. Well, today, hope was signalled for English teams with some good draws for England's elite.

Arsenal, who qualified comfortably after beating Fenerbahce in the Qualifying Third Round, have been handed in my opinion the toughest group of all four English sides. Drawn in Group F, the Gunners face former French champions Marseille, former German champions and last season's Champions League runners up Borussia Dortmund and last season's Serie A runners up - Napoli.

Without doubt, the toughest opponents will be Dortmund. The Germans may well have lost one of their star performers over the summer in Mario Gotze, but they have started this season in lean form beating Bayern Munich  4-2 in the German Super Cup, and have an astonishing array of young, talented players who drive fear into Europe's elite.

Napoli will be a strong challenge for Wenger's men. Coming off the back of their highest finish in years, they now have a manager used to winning trophies regularly to lead them forward - Rafael Benitez. They, like Dortmund, have lost a key player this summer in Edison Cavani, however they have spent wisely and beaten Arsenal to the signing of their new forward - Gonzalo Higuain.

Marseille will be the easiest tie for Arsenal, but they still wont be a walk in the park. With big spending PSG and Monaco in Ligue 1, Marseille will struggle domestically to compete for the title. Europe, then, provides them a great opportunity to impress with little pressure with many effectively writing off their chances. 

Prediction: 1st - Dortmund, 2nd - Arsenal, 3rd - Napoli, 4th - Marseille. 

Chelsea, buoyed by the return of the Special One, have started the season well taking 7 points from their opening three fixtures, and being singled out for some particularly good football against Villa and Hull. 

The Blues were guided to the Europa League under Rafa Benitez, after faltering under Roberto Di Matteo - the mastermind behind their Champions League victory. It's safe to say then, European success will be expected regularly now by club and fans alike. 

Chelsea have been drawn in Group E for the second year running, this time alongside FC Basel, Schalke 04 and Steaua Bucharest - the easiest group of any English sides in my opinion.

The Blues generally perform very well against German sides. The last time they faced Schalke was back in '07, winning at home and drawing away. In their last seven fixtures against German sides, they are unbeaten at home too. Schalke do offer a strong threat though, having finished 4th in one of the toughest Bundesliga seasons in recent years.

FC Basel are familiar opponents to Chelsea as they brushed them aside on route to the Europa League last year. The Blues beat them 5-2 on aggregate - 3-1 at home and 2-1 away. Basel are a relative minnow in the competition, but have featured in the Champions League four times now in the past 10 years. 

Steaua Bucharest are another side Chelsea are familiar with, again brushing past them in the Europa League last year. The Romanian's are certainly their country's finest footballing export, but fell short last season against the blues losing 3-2 on aggregate. They have previously won the European Cup however, and while they probably wont break the group, they could have a strong influence on the final positions.

Predictions: 1st - Chelsea, 2nd - Schalke 04, 3rd FC Basel, 4th Steaua Bucharest

Manchester City were extremely underwhelming in last year's Champions League. After such a dramatic final day Premier League win, much was expected of Europe's big spenders. However, Mancini's men were dumped out of the competition at the earliest opportunity, finishing 4th in their group.

This year, Manuel Pellegrini is in charge and City will be hoping to perform better in group D alongside Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen.

Bayern will undoubtedly be their toughest challenge in the group. The Germans won every competition they entered last season, with many proclaiming them to be replacing Barcelona as the greatest team in Europe. This season they have strengthened once again with Pep Guardiola taking charge. They've also added Mario Gotze to their ranks - and are favourites to retain their trophy.

CSKA Moscow are a side who have faltered in Europe but are not to be under-estimated. The Russian's are in a sound financial place and boast a wealth of players coveted by many of Europe's elite. Ivory Coast forward Seydou Doumbia has to be the pick of the bunch, having scored 40 goals in 65 appearances for his side.

Viktoria Plzen are certainly one of the Champions League minnows, having rarely featured in the competition. The Czech's won their home league for the second time last season, and they reached the last 16 of the Europa League before defeat to Fenerbahce. Don't expect miracles, but Plzen could spring a surprise or two if complacency comes into play.

Predictions: 1st - Bayern Munich, 2nd - Man City, 3rd - CSKA Moscow, 4th Viktoria Plzen.

After Sir Alex Ferguson retired at the end of last season, this years's champions league should be interesting for Manchester United. The Red Devils, now marshalled by David Moyes (The Chosen One), will still be expected to perform better than they did last year. It will however be interesting to see how the Scot fares in Europe having such little experience of the competition behind him.

The Reds have been drawn in group A alongside Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Sociedad.

Shakhtar - the Ukranian champions, have proven their worth in Europe over the past few years. The Ukranians have a strong side filled with a mixture of South Americans and Europeans. Last year, they knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League - progressing to the last 16 of the Champions League where they fell to Dortmund. They've had a taste of the big time now, and will want more.

Bayer Leverkusen performed admirable last year in the Bundesliga, finishing 3rd behind the two Champions League Finalists - Dortmund and Munich. Despite losing one of their most valuable assets to Chelsea (Andre Schurrle), the Reds still have a wealth of quality in their ranks, and Stefan Kiessling is certainly one to watch.

Real Sociedad are the surprise package from Spain this season. Sociedad comfortably beat Lyon in the Qualifiers with a 4-0 aggregate victory, returning them to the competition for the first time in a decade. Despite losing Asier Illaramendi, the Spaniards play good technical football and could a surprise package in the group.

Predictions: 1st - Manchester United, 2nd - Shakhtar Donetsk, 3rd - Bayer Leverkusen, 4th - Real Sociedad.


From the groups, then, I would expect United and Chelsea to qualify comfortably. I think Arsenal - particularly if they eventually get some signings this summer - will have enough about them to progress. My worry is with City though. I have them down to finish in 2nd, but they will have to improve dramatically on their performance with Cardiff if they are going to.

So there you have it, my full preview on this years Champions League Group Stage. My money would be on all four English clubs to qualify for the knockout stages - a huge improvement on just two last year.