Champions League: who are the candidates to win it all this year

Defending champions Chelsea will begin their campaign against Russian opposition Zenit St. Petersburg while last year's finalist Manchester City will have their opening game against RB Leipzig. But who are the top teams who could win?

PSG

The French club played the 2020 finals and lost to Bayern Munich, and also got knocked out in the semifinal last season. They have since signed great players in every position. Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal, Sergio Ramos and Achraf Hakimi in defense, Georginio Wijnaldum in midfield and the best player of all time Lionel Messi in attack. This puts them in good standing to win it.

Manchester United

The Red Devils crashed out of last season's edition at the group stages and have signed Raphaël Varane from Real Madrid, Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund and will be heavily boosted with the return of five times Champions League winner Cristiano Ronaldo. They find themselves in an easy group with Young Boys, Atalanta and Villarreal who beat them in the Europa League final last season.

Bayern Munich

The German champions are not much different from the team they were last season but the consistency of the team over the years and great players like Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer will help the team stay as one of the favourites for the competition they won in 2020.

Real Madrid

The record winners of the competition with 13 trophies are always a team to beat in the competition. Though they lost two of their central defenders in Sergio Ramos and Raphaël Varane but with the return of Carlo Ancelotti who won the 2014 Champions League for Real Madrid, they are favourites.

Chelsea

Last season's champions Chelsea are one of the favourites having added powerful striker Romelu Lukaku and midfielder Saul Niguez to their squad, and with manager Thomas Tuchel in his first full season at the club, becoming the first club to defend the title since Real Madrid in 2017 should be achievable.

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola's side lost to Chelsea last season and have added attacking midfielder Jack Grealish to their squad for a British transfer record of £100m and should be able to do better than they did last season.