Champions League Group A Preview, Prediction & Odds

We have a Champions League Group A preview for you plus a prediction and betting odds after the draw was made for this year’s competition.

Teams In Champions League Group A 2023/24

Bayern Munich

Manchester United

Galatasaray

FC Copenhagen

Champions League Group A Preview

Bayern Munich

This team were my pick to win last season’s Champions League. They eventually came unstuck against eventual winners Manchester City at the Quarter-Final stage with a 3-0 first-leg defeat in Manchester followed by a 1-1 draw in Germany.

Bayern are expected to be there or thereabouts at the business end of the competition again this season. This will be Thomas Tuchel’s first full season in charge of the club following his appointment back in March when he took over from Julian Nagelsmann.

The German side’s transfer market business intrigues me. They brought in Konrad Laimer, Raphael Guerreiro, Kim Min-Jae, Daniel Peretz and most notably England star Harry Kane for €100,000,000. Their playing first-team squad has gotten substantially smaller with the departure of the likes of Blind, Hernandez, Pavard and Gravenberch.

Bayern Munich are 11/2 to go all the way and win the Champions League this season. Meanwhile they are 8/15 to win Group A and a heavy odds-on of 1/9 to qualify out of their group.

Manchester United

Following their third-place finish last season under Erik ten Hag, the club are returning to the Champions League for the first time since the 21/22 season. In the Europa League last year they reached the Quarter-Finals before a surprise loss to Sevilla after putting themselves in a strong position in the first leg.

Given the status of the club, expectation levels are always naturally high and qualification out of the group will be expected from fans, players, and pundits.

It’ll be interesting to see how ten Hag manages the transition back into Champions League football with expectation levels already so high so early in his tenure. Plus with the Glazers allegedly staying on, early league performances this year being poor and off-the-field issues popping up; could a European collapse be on the cards again?

Mason Mount, Johnny Evans, Andre Onana, Rasmus Højlund and Altay Bayindir came to Old Trafford on permanent transfers this summer along with the loan acquisitions of Reguillon from Tottenham and Amrabat from Fiorentina. It remains to be seen whether these additions will be enough to challenge and progress though.

Manchester United are 20/1 to win the Champions League, 2/1  to win Group A and 2/7 to qualify out of the Group A.

Galatasaray

The club qualified for the Champions League following their Turkish Süper Lig victory last season coming eight points ahead of Fenerbahçe. Last season they returned to the competition group stage for the first time since the 19/20 season.

Galatasaray are managed by former Turkish International Okan Buruk who has a win rate of 77.55% in his first 49 games in charge since coming in as Head Coach in June 2022.

Looking at their summer recruitment you see some serious names with the likes of Zaha, Icardi and Demirbay all coming in amongst others. They certainly have enough quality to cause the top two some issues, in particular, Manchester United if they remain out-of-sorts.

You can back Galatasary at 200/1 to win this year’s Champions League. Meanwhile they are 9/1 to win Group A and not without a chance of qualifying out of the group at odds of 9/4.

Copenhagen

The 22/23 Danish Superliga Champions will be looking to improve on their performances in the competition last season, where they were eliminated in the group stage coming last in what was a tough group with Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla.

Manager Jacob Neestrup might only be 35 but he has been in charge since September 2022 following multiple previous coaching roles at the club as well as a stint as coach at Viborg. In terms of their recruitment, it’s lesser-known quantities although they did bring in Mohamed Elyounoussi from Southampton and Birger Meling from Rennes.

The most interesting thing about them could be that new Manchester United signing Rasmus Højlund could face his younger twin brothers Emil and Oscar during the group stage when these two teams go head-to-head.

If you’re feeling lucky you can back Copenhagen at 750/1 to win the tournament. They are 25/1 to win Group A and 11/2 to pull off a surprise and qualify out of the group.

Game of the Group

20^th September – Bayern Munich vs Manchester United

Player to Watch

Wilfried Zaha (30) now at Galatasaray will not only be playing European Football for the first time following years of media speculation about transfers to Europe’s elite but he will also face his former club Manchester United. He will have multiple points to prove to show he is good enough.

Champions League Group A Prediction

Bayern Munich should comfortably win this group, Manchester United will likely find themselves in second place despite their on and off-the-field turmoil, but Galatasaray and Copenhagen will fancy their chances of causing a shock against them.

1st – Bayern Munich

2nd – Manchester United

3rd – Galatasaray

4th – Copenhagen

Champions League Group A Odds

2023-24 Champions League Format

This is the final season of the Champions League as we know it, with a new format coming for the 23/24 season, which we have previewed here.

Click Below For All Our 2023/24 Champions League Group A Odds

*Prices Subject To Fluctuation

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