UEFA Champions League 'Group of Death': Liverpool, AC Milan prepare for '05 Istanbul final rematch

The UEFA Champions League kicks off tomorrow and all of Europe is ready to bask in the exciting football that the competition brings. All top European clubs will be battling to dethrone Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea as Champions come the final match on May 28th 2022 at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia. However, the first step for all of the clubs is to successfully navigate the group stages that can either be tricky or straightforward. 

On 26th August in Istanbul, Turkey, all 32 teams in this year's competition knew their opponents for the 6-match group stage phase starting on September 14th. There are some mouth-watering ties with Manchester City and Paris Saint-German being drawn together in Group A while Barcelona will face their nemesis, Bayern Munich in Group E. Defending Champions, Chelsea, got a relatively easy draw in Group H with Juventus, Malmo and Zenit Saint Petersburg their rivals. However, the tag of the 'Group of Death' for the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League group stages goes to Group B. 

In Group B, there are former European and English Champions, Liverpool; reigning Spanish champions, Atletico Madrid; former European champions, AC Milan; and Portuguese powerhouse, FC Porto. This group is touted as the most difficult group due to the list of high-ranking and/or historically strong sides in the group. From this group, it is certain that one of Europe's elite clubs will drop to the Europa League with another dropping out of Europe totally. 

Jurgen Klopp will be hoping to start strong when his side hosts AC Milan at the Anfield Stadium on Wednesday evening. Away from Europe's premier club competition for almost a decade, AC Milan will be eager to make a statement too with a young and revitalised side. Atletico Madrid and FC Porto will square off in one of Matchday 2's mouth-watering ties on Wednesday 15th September. In this group, the two most likely teams to qualify would be Liverpool and Atletico Madrid due to their superior strength, squad depth and recent history.