Arsenal’s Six UCL Group Games Analyzed

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In comparison to the other Premier League sides drawn in pot number 2, Arsenal have been handed some favorable teams in their group this season.

Manchester City find themselves in a spot of bother, needing a win either in Turin or at the Sanchez-Pizjuan in Seville if they want to top their group. After multiple seasons of disappointing European endeavors this looks set to be another difficult campaign for The Citizens.

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Manchester United are in a group with PSV, CSKA Moscow and VFL Wolfsburg after a year of no European football. There is no clear winner in this group at a first look. However, two of those teams were guided to European berths by players who have already left, or are about to leave their club.

PSV stars Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay have departed for the Premier League, and Kevin De Bruyne looks set to swap Germany for England once again. With Van Gaal’s European pedigree, and some of United’s players having more CL experience than most, one cannot see them finishing anywhere below second.

Thirdly, and more importantly, Arsenal have been drawn in the same group as German giants Bayern Munich. Although a CL group with Bayern for most teams means a minimum of three points lost, Arsenal won at the Allianz Arena in 2014, so anything can happen.

The interesting parts of this group for The Gunners are the four games they play that are not against Bayern. They face Greek and Croatian champions, respectively, in Olympiakos and GNK Dinamo Zagreb.

So, what kind of challenge does each of these teams pose?

Next: Match Day 1 - Zagreb