UEFA Champions League group stage draw saw an exciting combination of teams fight for qualifications in their respective groups in the 2022/23 season.
However, for some clubs, who are thought to be the weakest in the tournament’s competitiveness, this was not a fantastic sight.
Although some other clubs that had previously dominated the European Competition but are not at their best still have the similar sentiments following the draw.
Without the presence of their all-time best player, Lionel Messi, Barcelona will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League after suffering a humiliating 8-2 loss.
Thomas Muller has already made a joke about wanting to see his favorite weak club, Barcelona, once more on Twitter.
All-German top tier teams, Bayern eliminated Barcelona from the UEFA Champions League in 2021–2022, sending them to the Europa League where Eintracht Frankfurt sent them packing.
In addition to Barcelona, other elite teams from the top 6 Leagues that haven’t been able to significantly impact in the last couple of years including:
- Ajax
- Porto
- At. Madrid
- Inter
- Tottenham
- AC Milan
- Celtic
- Man City
- PSG
UEFA Champions League Draw: Unfortunate Clubs
Here, we will look at clubs that are unfortunate to be drawn in groups where they can barely make any significant impact or even at least move past the group stage onto the next stage.
They include the following:
Rangers
The UEFA Champions League draw placed Rangers in Group A with Ajax, Liverpool, and Napoli. While Rangers have previously met Ajax in four games over two ties, neither Liverpool nor Napoli have ever been opponents of Rangers in a competitive match.
In January 1973, the European Cup winners and the Cup Winners’ Cup holders Gers faced off in the first-ever Super Cup. Before securing a 3-2 triumph in Amsterdam, Ajax won 3-1 at Ibrox.
The two of them were therefore put in the same Champions League Group A pairing in 1996. There, Gers lost 1-0 before losing 4-1 in Amsterdam.
Club Brugge
The only Belgian club to date, Club Brugge, lost to Liverpool in the 1978 European Cup final, which served as the predecessor to the present UEFA Champions League.
They were placed in Group B with Porto, At. Madrid, and Bayer Leverkusen, and based on their past performances and statistics, they are unquestionably the club that has been drawn in the worst possible situation.
Viktoria Plzen
Although Barcelona had a difficult time with Bayern in the previous two seasons, they are still the favorites while Viktoria Plzen is perhaps the poorest and most unfortunate team in this year’s UCL Group C.
Bayern was selected to play Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Viktoria Plzen in Group C, giving the six-time champions a challenging yet incredibly alluring challenge in the preliminary round of the Champions League this season.
Sporting CP and Olympique De Marseille
Two of the teams in this Group D have performances and statistics from prior contests that we would deem to be the poorest in the group.
In a group with Eintracht Frankfurt and Tottenham, Sporting CP and Olympique De Marseille are placed. In recent years, Spurs have worked really hard; their finest result was reaching the UCL final in 2019.
Eintracht Frankfurt has won the UEFA Cup/Europa League twice, the DFB-Pokal five times, and the title once. By defeating West Ham in the championship game and eliminating Barcelona, the team won the Europa League for 2021–2022.
Dinamo Zagreb
The weakest team in Group E is without a doubt Dinamo Zagreb, who play their home games at Stadion Maksimir.
With twenty-three Prva HNL championships, sixteen Croatian Cups, six Croatian Super Cups, and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup under their belt, they are the most successful club in Croatian football.
In 2020–21 and 2018–19, they advanced to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Europa League, respectively.
Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar have only made it to the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League group stages twice, despite being a regular in the Champions League group stages (2005–06 and 2009–10).
Shakhtar Donetsk became the first team in the independent Ukraine to win a European trophy in 2009 when they defeated Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup final played in Istanbul.
They are, nevertheless, the most unfortunate team in Group F for the 2022–23 season.
FC Copenhagen
In the Champions League group stage, Manchester City was placed with Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, and FC Copenhagen.
Teams in Group G have recently advanced far in the competition. Man City advanced to the Champions League Final in the 2020–2021 season and to the semifinals in 2021–2022.
Under Unai Emery, Sevilla also dominated the Europa League, with the exception of the 2017 campaign, which Frankfurt won.
Maccabi Hafia
Group H have former UCL winners Juventus and runners up PSG together with Benfica and Maccabi Hafia.
You can agree with me that Maccabi Hafia is the unfortunate team in this situation even though they have consistently qualified for the UCL and made little to no difference in the competition.
