In October I made my predictions (Groups A-D) (Groups E-H) for the Champions League Group Stage. With the groups now (well, several weeks ago actually) completed, the time has come for me to own up to how far off the mark my predictions were.
Or so I thought I would have to. As it turns out they were mostly pretty close to the mark. This is a big win for me, as it both makes me seem a credible source of information and gives further momentum to my new habit of making good predictions.
Group A
Full marks here. Bayern flattened everyone, Atletico were comfortable, and the other two weren’t good enough – with Salzburg marginally better than Lokomotiv. 4/4.
Group B
Totally different story for Group D, which went down to the wire with all four still able to qualify on the final matchday. Real Madrid did top the group, but for me the good news ends there. Inter Milan (who I had second) were not up to it for the second campaign running and finished bottom, as Gladbach and Shakhtar took advantage of this mediocrity and each went one better than I expected. 1/4.
Group C
Different problem for me here, as Porto (who I had bottom) were far better than I expected and Marseille (who I had second) much worse. As for the other two, Manchester City enjoyed their usual group stage cakewalk and Olympiakos edged into the Europa League spot. 2/4.
Group D
I was bang on here. Liverpool topped the group with a game to spare, with Atalanta and Ajax were neck-and-neck behind them – an 85th minute winner against Ajax on Matchday Six finally seeing Atalanta through. Midtjylland were nowhere near good enough. 4/4.
Group E
I did solidly here, getting the two qualifiers correct with Chelsea cantering through unbeaten and Sevilla easing in behind them. Krasnodar meanwhile did a tad better than I expected, and Rennes were worse. Ultimately neither were near the other two teams, I just had them the wrong way around. 2/4.
Group F
Same story here as Dortmund and Lazio qualified for the knockout stage as expected, while I had the other two the wrong way around. 2/4.
Group G
A 3-0 Juventus win over Barcelona at Camp Nou on the final matchday gave me a perfect score here, as the two clubs eased into the latter stages. Dymano Kyiv and Ferencvaros were both miles behind, although the Ukrainians were slightly less hopeless. 4/4.
Group H
A Manchester United bottle job cost me in Group H, as they followed two impressive wins over PSG and Leipzig in their first two games with three losses from four. It’s Europa League for them. PSG meanwhile recovered from a bad start to top the group and have since sacked manager Thomas Tuchel for the crime of PSG being involved in a title race France. Aside from a win over Manchester United meanwhile, Istanbul were awful. 2/4.
Summary
Overall, I think my predictions were pretty good. 21 out of 32 teams in the correct spots, three groups completely correct and the correct qualifying teams in five of the eight. Eight group winners out of eight too.
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