Champions League Matchday 5 Preview, Continued

The second half of Matchday 5 matches in the Champions League occur on Wednesday. Similar to the first half of Champions League fixtures on Tuesday, many of Wednesday’s matches are very important. A couple of groups are still undecided, as well as some groups that boast extremely exciting matchups. Just like in the first Matchday 5 preview we will take a look at the current tables, Wednesdays’ matches and storylines.

Here is a preview for Groups A-D of the Champions League.

Group A

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Matchday 5 Fixtures: Rangers at Napoli in Naples, Italy ;  Liverpool at Ajax in Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Rundown: One of the most dominant clubs in the world this year, Napoli, are unbeaten across all competitions through the season so far. In the Champions league they have been particularly great, boasting huge wins over the likes of Ajax and Liverpool, respectively. Napoli will host Rangers on Wednesday looking to continue their unbeaten streak and lock up 1st place in Group A. In the other matchup, Liverpool will travel to Ajax where they only need a draw to ensure qualification. As for Ajax qualification hopes, a win at home against an inconsistent Liverpool and a win against Rangers next week are entirely plausible. But, the issue for the Dutch side is that they are far behind Liverpool in goal differential.

Biggest Storyline: It has been one of the top stories in the Champions League and across the domestic league season, Napoli is for real. They have been absolutely brilliant across all of their competitions this year. Even on days when players have been off-form they find ways to not be beaten. Many expect Napoli to take 3 points tomorrow at home against Rangers. That would set-up a final matchday fixture at Anfield against Liverpool for the chance at 6 wins out of 6 games in the group stage.

Group B

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Matchday 5 Fixtures: Porto at Club Brugge in Bruges, Belgium ;  Leverkusen at Atletico Madrid in Madrid, Spain

The Rundown: This is one of the most intriguing groups heading into the final two matchdays. The two big surprises of the group have been the major lack of consistency from Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid and Club Brugge’s emergence. The Red and White sit 3rd in the table heading into matchday 5, but can still have control of their own fate if they take 3 points from Leverkusen. Leverkusen is in an interesting position as well, sitting last in the table but only 3 points away from competing for 2nd in the group. If the German side could somehow come away from Metropolitano with 3 points, they would still be in the race. As for the other matchup in the group, one team needs it and one, not so much. Club Brugge hosts Porto on Wednesday and have already qualified through the group. The Belgian side have exceeded many expectations throughout this CL campaign and are unbeaten through their first four matches. This fixture is massive for Porto, dropping any points AND an Atletico Madrid win would set up for an epic Matchday 6 fixture for qualification between the Spanish and Portuguese sides. 

Biggest Storyline: This group has been exciting to watch because of its sheer unpredictability. But, the major story coming out of Group B, is the fiery CL form of Club Brugge. Brugge through 4 games has 3 wins and a draw. They boast one of the best defensive stats of any team this year, as they have not conceded a single goal in the Champions League campaign thus far. Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has been astounding. 

Group C

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Matchday 5 Fixtures: Bayern Munich at Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain; Viktoria Plzen at Inter in Milan, Italy

The Rundown: This table’s results have been what many predicted. Bayern ran away with the group and have not dropped a single point through 4 matchdays. Czech side, Viktoria Plzen, has struggled against the much bigger clubs, especially away from home. The final two, Inter Milan and Barcelona, could have been predicted either way. As it stands right now, Inter would be through over the Spanish side and hold the keys to 2nd in the group. For Barca to qualify, it would take a massive home win on Wednesday in the Camp Nou over visiting Bayern Munich AND Viktoria Plzen would need to travel to the San Siro in Italy and steal 3 points from Inter. Plzen has suffered defeats in all 4 group matches. For Xavi’s men, a 3rd place finish and Europa League spot looks inevitable. Unfortunate given the status of the club, but it happens in a group as difficult as this one.

Biggest Storyline: Bayern Munich runs through their CL group just about every year, but many thought this year could be different, and they were wrong. It does not matter that they were slotted into what was deemed the “group of death”, the greatest German side of all time simply wins games. Julian Nagelsmann’s men have got to be one of the favorites to go deep into the knockout stages when the CL campaign kicks back up after the World Cup. 

Group D

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Matchday 5 Fixtures: Sporting at Tottenham in London, England ; Marseille at Eintracht Frankfurt in Frankfurt, Germany 

The Rundown: Group D is going to be awesome to watch play out over its final 2 match days because anything can happen. None of the 4 teams have qualified nor are any of the teams out of the running. Marseille will travel to Frankfurt on Wednesday in what will be a desperate attempt to at least take a draw and a point back to France. For Frankfurt, a win or draw would put them directly in the running for the 2nd spot in the group. As of right now, Tottenham is the only team who has complete control of their possible advancement. They welcome Sporting to Northeast London on Wednesday and a win would be enough to guarantee they are through the group. If there is a draw or Sporting steals 3 points on the road, it would set up for a massive matchday 6 in Group D next week. Both spots would be up for grabs in the groups final two fixtures.

Biggest Storyline: Similar to Group E, but even moreso, one of the big storylines is the huge parity in this group. All 4 of the clubs are still very much in the race for top 2 in the table and there are only 3 points that separate the 1st and 4th placed clubs.

Matches will kickoff at 12:55 and 3 pm Est on Wednesday.

Featured Image Courtesy of SkySports

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