Each year, the Union of European Football Association holds a tournament for the best club teams in the world. This is known as the Champions League. 32 of the most dominant teams from all across Europe are selected to play in this grand tournament to see who is crowned the king of Europe. From this year’s bracket, we see a few great teams making a strong bid for why they belong atop the rest.

Group A

1. Bayern Munich – 12
2. Copenhagen – 4
3. Galatasaray – 4
4. Manchester United – 3

I’m unsurprised to find Bayern Munich at the top of this list, and I don’t believe anyone else is. Bayern has won all four games played so far and shows no sign of having any major trouble soon. What does shock me, however, is Manchester United is at the bottom of Group A. Even though United has to share a group with the dominant Bayern team this year, second place should not be difficult to procure. A team with a rich history of winning such as United should easily move on to the next round. However, United is only one point out of second place. For their last match, they need to secure a resounding win over Galatasaray and reduce the amount of fouls. This last matchday will determine who is going to move on to the next round.

Group B

1. Arsenal – 9
2. PSV – 5
3. Lens – 5
4. Sevilla  – 2

Again, we see a group where teams need to make the most of their last match to move on to the next round. Arsenal has already cemented itself atop Group B, meaning they are secured to move on. Unfortunately, I would say that Sevilla is out of the running for a spot in the next round due to them only securing two total points. Sevilla has yet to win a game in their bracket and I don’t see them securing one for this upcoming game against Lens. However, the great news for Lens is they play Sevilla. While Lens and PSV are currently tied for the second-place spot that advances, Lens plays last-place Sevilla while PSV takes on dominant Arsenal. I see Lens taking the win and moving on while PSV loses.

Group C

1. Real Madrid – 12 
2. Napoli – 7
3. Braga – 3
4. Union Berlin – 1

I am almost 99% sure that when the last game is played, these teams will still be in this order. Only two teams have the points required to move on: Real Madrid and Napoli. Real Madrid has been an absolute force of nature this year, led by winger Vini Jr. Even though the Spanish club lost star striker Benzema, young prodigy Jude Bellingham has stepped up and proved himself as one of the world’s greatest at the moment. Napoli have done well enough, winning two games and securing a draw along with a loss. Seven points earn them a spot in the next round. As for Braga and Union Berlin, I don’t see either team securing a win and Braga will move on the the Europa Cup with a third-place finish.

Group D

1. Real Sociedad – 10
2. Inter Milan – 10
3. RB Salzburg – 3
4. Benefica – 0

It’s safe to say that Sociedad and Inter have cemented their spot for the next round. Both teams have had three wins and tied each other in the fourth game. However, the only difference between the two teams is just the amount of goals they’ve scored. Sociedad has scored seven while Inter netted five, and each has allowed just two in their net. I don’t foresee Benefica taking a win in their last game, so I would confidently assume that RB Salzburg will take the spot in the Europa Cup.

Group E

1. Athletico Madrid – 8
2. Lazio – 7
3. Feyenoord – 6
4. Celtic – 1

This group is rather interesting because there are three teams all within two points of each other battling for only two slots that advance. In my opinion, Athletico Madrid is the favorite to take one of these two spots not only because they already have the largest tally of points, but also because of the league they come from. Athletico plays in the Spanish La Liga against top talent from all across the world, which should realistically prepare them for more intense matchups like the one approaching against Lazio. There is a great chance as well that both Lazio and Athletico don’t move on due to them facing each other and Feyenoord going up against a poor Celtic team. If Feyenoord wins, they will secure themselves a spot to move on.

Group F

1. Dortmund – 7
2. PSG – 6
3. AC Milan – 5
4. Newcastle – 4

Without a doubt, this group has the most talent compared to any other this year. All four teams come from Europe’s biggest leagues and each of them holds their own. All of these teams are deserving of moving on, but I believe that Newcastle hasn’t come up with the necessary points to do so at this point. If you were to place Newcastle in any other group, you would see them flourish. But unfortunately, they aren’t the caliber of a team to make it out of this group. That leaves–again–three teams in contention all within two points of each other. However, nobody will be getting any easy wins due to how good every team is. The spread of wins, losses, and draws is all over for this group meaning that anyone can get a win in their upcoming match. Since PSG and Dortmund play against each other, I see PSG and Milan moving on to the next round.

Group G

1. Manchester City – 12
2. RB Leipzig – 9
3. Crvena Zvezda – 1
4. Young Boys – 1

There is one word to describe this Manchester City team: unstoppable! Manchester City has rolled over any opponent that comes their way and I have no doubt it will come to a halt. Gaining four seemingly easy wins so far with a goal differential of +9 is absurd. Moving down the rankings, Leipzig has done great, winning three and losing to City (as expected). Both City and Leipzig will move on to the next round because of the easier group with both Crvena and Young Boys scoring one point each so far when they tied each other.

Group H

1. Barcelona – 9
2. Porto – 9
3. Shakhtar Donetsk – 6
4. Antwerp – 0

Last but not least, Group H. Barcelona and Porto share the top spot with nine points each and both teams have a +6 goal differential. I see both teams moving on to the next round while Shakhtar takes the spot in the Europa Cup. Barcelona has continued to be strong despite losing key players in the past couple of years. I believe this is due in part to the large amount of young talent that they have in the midfield with players such as Gavi and Pedri. Porto has been a consistent team so far out of Portugal and makes a strong bid on their advancement. I’ve been surprised by Shakhtar because I thought they would end up with about 4 points maximum when I first saw the groups come out. For Antwerp, I congratulate them for getting to this point but had no serious expectation of them doing anything to get past Manchester City and Porto.