Big guns go to war in UCL

Big guns go to war in UCL

Get set for more exhilarating soccer action as the likes of PSG and Juventus cross swords in the group stages of Champions League and TAB ratchets up the excitement with R1 million in carryovers and cash add-ins to selected pools

By Mark Gleeson

The group stage of the UEFA Champions League begins tonight and has almost immediately thrown up some mouth-watering heavyweight clashes that add lots of spice to midweek TAB soccer pools.

And to heighten the excitement all the way to Sunday, TAB will add R1 million in carryovers and cash boosts to 11 soccer pools over the next five days.

Paris St Germain’s clash with Juventus is tonight’s highlight and tomorrow sees Liverpool at Napoli, while Inter Milan host Bundesliga bosses Bayern Munich.

PSG, with their galaxy of stars, are already top of their domestic French Ligue 1 table, but still seeking their first Champions League crown. That is also the case with English champions Manchester City, whose chief executive Ferran Soriano has sought to play down any sign of desperation at the club’s inability so far clinch Champions League.

“The priority is always the Premier League, this is our bread and butter,” he said. “The Champions League is an aspiration, not an obsession. We will win it, I’m sure.”

Pep Guardiola’s side are away at Sevilla for their opening Group G game and it looks a fairly easy match to win. Sevilla are battling in the new Spanish season and have lost three of their opening four league games.

Liverpool’s Group A opener has all the hallmarks of a potential banana skin for them. “The first thing to say is this is a proper challenge,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told the club’s website of the group, which also includes Ajax Amsterdam and Glasgow Rangers. “All of the clubs have quality, they all have pedigree and I would say they all have a chance.”

Napoli are tied at the top of Serie A after winning away at Lazio at the weekend. They have three wins and two draws from their opening five matches.

Defending champions Real Madrid are in one of the more manageable groups with RB Leipzig, Celtic and Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk, who have to play their games in Poland. Real begin the defence of their title away in Glasgow tonight.

There will be some sides in the Champions League group phase who may be a little bit rusty in the opening round of matches and that means that there could be an upset or two.

With the 32 teams sharing about 2-billion Euros in prize money, the group stage begins earlier than usual on 6 September and concludes ahead of this year’s World Cup finals in Qatar. The knockout phase then begins in February, with the final in Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium on 10 June.