Winners and losers from the Champions League draw: Look away, Tottenham fans

The Champions League draw is finished, but who came out of it feeling great about their spot? Who feels uneasy?

The stage is set for the 2018-19 Champions League after the highly-anticipated draw has concluded. All of Europe’s best teams now know their groups, some leaving Monaco in better spirits than others. Regardless, the group stages are now in sights and anything can happen with each squad striving for one common goal. Which teams are more likely to lift the trophy than others and which teams have a more difficult Champions League path? Here are the three biggest winners and losers from the Champions League draw.

Winners

Liverpool

Liverpool, despite finishing second in last year’s Champions League, found themselves in pot three for this year’s draw. Luckily for the English side, they found themselves sitting pretty in Group C. Now, that’s not to say a group consisting of PSG and Napoli will be easy, but it could have been a lot worse for the Reds. It’s safe to say the chances of Liverpool advancing are pretty high.

Bayern Munich

With the wide array of massive clubs spread throughout each of the four pots, Bayern Munich managed to escape just about every one. While some teams from pot one are in danger of missing the Knockout stages, that’s hardly the case for Bayern. The German champions are heavy favorites in Group E, consisting of Benfica, Ajax and AEK. This year could see Bayern’s Champions League luck begin to take a turn for the better.

Galatasaray

The champions of Turkey found themselves in pot four for this draw. For that reason, there was little promise and next-to-nothing to get excited about. However, the Turkish side found themselves rounding out the weakest group of them all, Group D. Very seldom does a pot four team reach the round of 16, but that may be the case with Galatasaray this season.

Losers

Tottenham

Spurs found themselves in the middle of a group of death last season, with Dortmund and Real Madrid. The London side was able to get through last year, but the draw hasn’t been kind to them this year either. They’ll need a bit of magic if they want to win the group, and a bit of luck to get out of it. Facing competition like Barcelona, Inter Milan and PSV, Spurs will have to be on their toes every minute of the group stage. Drawing Barcelona is never fun, but the nail in the coffin may have been pot four’s draw, Inter.

Shakhtar Donetsk

Shakhtar Donetsk came out of this year’s draw with the short end of the stick, to say the least. Not only did they find themselves in a group with English giants Manchester City to begin with, the next two teams drawn were no slouches either. Shakhtar Donetsk faces a daunting task of making their way out of a group comprised of Man City, Lyon and Hoffenheim. No match will be a walk in the park, do the Ukrainian champions have what it takes?

Napoli

Napoli had one of their best campaigns ever in 2017-18, tallying their highest point total ever, but still finished second to Juventus in Serie A. Unfortunately for the Italians, their bad luck didn’t stop their. As one of the strongest sides in pot two, Napoli found themselves the second team in Group C, where they are the third best side. Liverpool and PSG now stand in Napoli’s way of a knockout stage appearance. Can Carlo Ancelotti and his side make the improbable happen?

There are plenty of intriguing matchups and the trophy is up for grabs. With Real Madrid winning four of the last five, including the previous three, is this the year Los Blancos get dethroned? Or, will the Spanish giants continue their European dominance? The group stages begin in a matter of weeks, the drama will be here before we know it.