Champions League 2021/22: Full Fixtures and Winners Predictions

Champions League 2021/22: Full Fixtures

UEFA.com has compiled all the match dates for the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League.

Photo: Bong Da Plus

Matchday 1

Tuesday 14 September

Group E: Barcelona vs Bayern, Dynamo Kyiv vs Benfica

Group F: Young Boys vs Man. United (18:45 CET), Villarreal vs Atalanta

Group G: Sevilla vs Salzburg (18:45 CET), LOSC vs Wolfsburg

Group H: Chelsea vs Zenit, Malmö vs Juventus

Wednesday 15 September

Group A: Man. City vs Leipzig, Club Brugge vs Paris

Group B: Atlético de Madrid vs Porto, Liverpool vs AC Milan

Group C: Beşiktaş vs Dortmund (18:45 CET), Sporting CP vs Ajax

Group D: Sheriff vs Shakhtar Donetsk (18:45 CET), Inter vs Real Madrid

Matchday 2

Tuesday 28 September

Group A: Paris vs Man. City, Leipzig vs Club Brugge

Group B: AC Milan vs Atlético de Madrid, Porto vs Liverpool

Group C: Ajax vs Beşiktaş (18:45 CET), Dortmund vs Sporting CP

Group D: Shakhtar Donetsk vs Inter (18:45 CET), Real Madrid vs Sheriff

Wednesday 29 September

Group E: Bayern vs Dynamo Kyiv, Benfica vs Barcelona

Group F: Atalanta vs Young Boys (18:45 CET), Man. United vs Villarreal

Group G: Salzburg vs LOSC, Wolfsburg vs Sevilla

Group H: Zenit vs Malmö (18:45 CET), Juventus vs Chelsea

Photo: High Press Soccer

Matchday 3

Tuesday 19 October

Group A: Club Brugge vs Man. City (18:45 CET), Paris vs Leipzig

Group B: Atlético de Madrid vs Liverpool, Porto vs AC Milan

Group C: Beşiktaş vs Sporting CP (18:45 CET), Ajax vs Dortmund

Group D: Shakhtar Donetsk vs Real Madrid, Inter vs Sheriff

Wednesday 20 October

Group E: Barcelona vs Dynamo Kyiv (18:45 CET), Benfica vs Bayern

Group F: Young Boys vs Villarreal, Man. United vs Atalanta

Group G: Salzburg vs Wolfsburg (18:45 CET), LOSC vs Sevilla

Group H: Chelsea vs Malmö, Zenit vs Juventus

Matchday 4

Tuesday 2 November

Group E: Dynamo Kyiv vs Barcelona, Bayern vs Benfica

Group F: Villarreal vs Young Boys, Atalanta vs Man. United

Group G: Wolfsburg vs Salzburg (18:45 CET), Sevilla vs LOSC

Group H: Malmö vs Chelsea (18:45 CET), Juventus vs Zenit

Wednesday 3 November

Group A: Man. City vs Club Brugge, Leipzig vs Paris

Group B: AC Milan vs Porto (18:45 CET), Liverpool vs Atlético de Madrid

Group C: Sporting CP vs Beşiktaş, Dortmund vs Ajax

Group D: Real Madrid vs Shakhtar Donetsk (18:45 CET), Sheriff vs Inter

Matchday 5

Tuesday 23 November

Group E: Dynamo Kyiv vs Bayern (18:45 CET), Barcelona vs Benfica

Group F: Villarreal vs Man. United (18:45 CET), Young Boys vs Atalanta

Group G: Sevilla vs Wolfsburg, LOSC vs Salzburg

Group H: Malmö vs Zenit, Chelsea vs Juventus

Wednesday 24 November

Group A: Man. City vs Paris, Club Brugge vs Leipzig

Group B: Atlético de Madrid vs AC Milan, Liverpool vs Porto

Group C: Beşiktaş vs Ajax (18:45 CET), Sporting CP vs Dortmund

Group D: Inter vs Shakhtar Donetsk (18:45 CET), Sheriff vs Real Madrid

Matchday 6

Tuesday 7 December

Group A: Paris vs Club Brugge (18:45 CET), Leipzig vs Man. City (18:45 CET)

Group B: Porto vs Atlético de Madrid, AC Milan vs Liverpool

Group C: Dortmund vs Beşiktaş, Ajax vs Sporting CP

Group D: Real Madrid vs Inter, Shakhtar Donetsk vs Sheriff

Wednesday 8 December

Group E: Benfica vs Dynamo Kyiv, Bayern vs Barcelona

Group F: Man. United vs Young Boys, Atalanta vs Villarreal

Group G: Salzburg vs Sevilla, Wolfsburg vs LOSC

Group H: Juventus vs Malmö (18:45 CET), Zenit vs Chelsea (18:45 CET)

Note: The current rule not to allow travelling fans at UEFA club competitions matches is currently being reviewed by UEFA and a subsequent decision will be communicated in the next days. We advise fans to not make any travel arrangements before a decision has been communicated, according to UEFA.

Photo: Bleacher report

Knockout stage dates

Round of 16 draw: 13 December

Round of 16 first legs: 15/16/22/23 February

Round of 16 second legs: 8/9/15/16 March

Quarter-final and semi-final draw: 18 March

Quarter-final first legs: 5/6 April

Quarter-final second legs: 12/13 April

Semi-final first legs: 26/27 April

Semi-final second legs: 3/4 May

Final: 28 May

Champions League 2021-22 draw: group stage analysis and predictions

Manchester City are in the toughest group, United’s is tricky and all the teams in Liverpool’s have reached the final

Group A

As reported by The Guardian, Group A is by by some distance the toughest, featuring the defeated finalist of the past two seasons, plus RB Leipzig, who reached the semi-final two seasons ago. There will be a repeat of last season’s semi-final, in which Manchester City comfortably overcame Paris Saint-Germain in a battle of two mega-rich petro-clubs. City’s problem tends to come later in the competition as Pep Guardiola overthinks a major tie, but for once progress will not be straightforward against a PSG now bolstered by Lionel Messi and, perhaps more consequentially, Achraf Hakimi, Sergio Ramos and Gini Wijnaldum. Leipzig may not quite be so strong this season, in transition after Jesse Marsch replaced Julian Nagelsmann as coach, while Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahmim Konaté have left. Club Brugge have never made it through the group stage.

Group B

Group B features three former winners and a side that has three times lost in the final. Atlético capitalised on the chaos at Real Madrid and Barcelona to lift the title in Spain but recent European performances have been poor, even if they did eliminate Liverpool the season before last. For Liverpool, the question is whether their poor form last year was the result of a freakish collection of injuries, or something more profound. Although Porto finished second in Portugal last season, Sérgio Conceição’s side impressed in the Champions League, eliminating Juventus and beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Milan, meanwhile, are back in the Champions League for the first time since 2014, as they continue their rebirth under Stefano Pioli. Gianluigi Donnarumma is a major loss, but Olivier Giroud, Fikayo Tomori and Mike Maigan have all arrived.

1 Liverpool; 2 Atlético 3 Porto 4 Milan

Group C

Group C is probably the most open group. Last season’s league title was Sporting’s first in 19 years, a remarkable achievement for their coach Rúben Amorim. Marco Rose has arrived as coach at Dortmund, but for all the promise he has shown at Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach, he is as hampered as every previous coach by the economics of Dortmund, which saw Jadon Sancho depart. Ajax won the Eredivisie by 16 points last season and have largely been able to keep their squad together. Most crucially, perhaps, Erik ten Haag remains manager despite widespread interest from, among others, Tottenham. The Turkish champions Besiktas have bolstered the squad before their first Champions League campaign in four years, their most intriguing signing, perhaps, that of Michy Batshuayi on loan from Chelsea.

1 Dortmund 2 Ajax 3 Sporting; 4 Besiktas

Group D

Three of the four sides in Group D were also drawn together last season, when Inter finished bottom and Shakhtar third, despite beating Real Madrid home and away. Madrid every now and again can still find a performance to evoke memories of the days of glory, but an ageing squad is increasingly inconsistent. Although Inter won Serie A for the first time since 2010, they have since lost their manager, Antonio Conte, replaced by Simone Inzaghi, as well as Romelu Lukaku and Hakimi. Lassina Traoré and Marlon were the two big arrivals for Shakhtar, whose run of four straight Ukrainian titles was ended last season. Sheriff became the first Moldovan side to reach the group stage by seeing off Dinamo Zagreb in the play-off.

1 Real Madrid 2 Inter 3 Shakhtar 4 Sheriff

Group E

There are three former winners and a former semi-finalist in Group E, but this should be relatively straightforward for Bayern, who beat Barcelona 8-2 last time they met. They will, almost certainly, win a 10th successive Bundesliga title this season but that dominance means their season will be judged largely on results in Europe where Nagelsmann has not yet convinced. For the first time since 2003, Barcelona will begin a Champions League campaign without Messi and, indeed, much in the way of hope. Dynamo Kyiv lost only once in winning the title under the veteran Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu last season, their first championship in five years, while Benfica finished third in Portugal following the return of the manager Jorge Jesus from Flamengo, where he won the Copa Libertadores.

1 Bayern 2 Barcelona 3 Dynamo Kyiv 4 Benfica

Group F

Having gone out in the group stage last season, this is a tricky draw for Manchester United, for whom the signings of Raphaël Varane and Jadon Sancho mean there can be no more excuses. Seventh in La Liga last season, Villarreal would not be a Pot 1 side anybody would fear necessarily, but Unai Emery is a master of European competition – as he proved by beating United in the Europa League final. With more luck in the home leg of the last-16 tie last season, Giampiero Gasperini’s hard-pressing Atalanta might have eliminated Madrid, and the season before they pushed PSG close in the quarter-final. Young Boys lost just twice to win the Swiss title by 31 points under Gerardo Seoane but he has since moved to Bayer Leverkusen to be replaced by David Wagner.

1 Manchester United 2 Atalanta 3 Villarreal 4 Young Boys

Group G

Group G is by some way the weakest group. Lille have lost their manager Christophe Galtier since their shock title success last season, and would probably have been the weakest side in Pot 1 anyway. Sevilla got within nine points of the Spanish champions Atlético last season and they’ve started this season with a pair of victories, but they’re also probably the poorest side in Pot 2. Wolfsburg, meanwhile, have lost their coach Oliver Glasner since finishing fourth in the Bundesliga. That represents an opportunity for RB Salzburg, who are becoming a regular presence in the group stage. They’ve won five out of five in the league this season and saw off Brondby in a play-off despite the usual high turnover of players and the sales of their two highly rated Zambians, Patson Daka and Enock Mwepu.

1 Salzburg 2 Sevilla 3 Wolfsburg 4 Lille

Group H

What could have been a very testing group became rather less so after the Pot 3 and Pot 4 sides were drawn. Zenit lost only three games as they claimed a third successive Russian league title under Sergei Semak and should not be underestimated, but they are not at the level of Chelsea, the defending champions, now bolstered by the signing of Romelu Lukaku. Juventus, the Cristiano Ronaldo situation notwithstanding, can be expected to be much more competitive now Massimiliano Allegri has returned to replace Andrea Pirlo. Malmo, now managed by the former Newcastle striker Jon Dahl Tomasson, had to pass through four rounds to reach the group stage for the third time.

1 Chelsea 2 Juventus 3 Zenit 4 Malmo

Odds, betting favorites & futures picks for 2021-22 tournament

Team to win Champions League

By now you’re probably aware of the buzz around the popular picks to win it all. But how can one pick a potential winner in September when a pathway to the final hinges on favorable draws during the knockout rounds? The approach is straightforward: Avoid the hype and pick a likely group winner (group winners are drawn against runners-up from other groups in the knockout draw).

Players of Manchester City. Photo: Premier League

We know that Paris Saint-Germain (+360) and Manchester City (+380) have spent hundreds of millions to win this trophy, but that also comes with a commensurate amount of pressure that can drag a team down. Plus, they’re going to be battling each other in the same group, and one of them will likely finish second. If one team somehow loses both head-to-head group matchups, its Champions League adventure could be over before it has a chance to get started.

Chelsea (+800) has the fourth-shortest odds despite being stronger than it was during its Champions League-winning run last season. Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has taken two different teams to the final in the last two seasons and he gets the benefit of the doubt with one of the best rosters in the world. Also, the Blues should comfortably finish atop Group H.

Manchester United (+1400) is another compelling pick. The additions of Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo will make Man U a team that no one will want to face in the knockouts. It should finish top in Group F and its odds should gradually shrink as the tournament progresses. Don’t get sucked into Real Madrid (+1600): Under Carlo Ancelotti, it will be a contender in the knockouts, but Karim Benzema can’t always mask the lack of elite defensive quality.

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