UEFA Champions League Preview – Group G

Arguably the closest assembly in this year’s UCL campaign in Group G. Lille, Wolfsburg, Sevilla, and RB Salzburg all have pretty much the same prospects to advance to the next stage. In fact, this is the primary goal for each team in this group. Sevilla might be the favorite for that, but knowing that the Champions League often brings surprises, we wouldn’t bet on that unconditionally.

LOSC Lille

The French champions are one of the rare teams that managed to “outsmart” PSG. They do have a few sounding names, like the 37-year old Jose Fonte, or the Turkish veteran, Burak Yilmaz, but the true power of the French champs lies in super talented youngsters. Jonathan Ikone, Jonathan David, Timothy Weah, Zeki Celik, all these young guys bring the energy on the field. Yes, the veterans guide and orchestrate everything, but that is slowly changing as well.

Lille played solid football last year, attacking both at home and on the road, but with strategy and plan for every occasion. Jocelyn Gourvennec, the head coach, found the perfect rhythm for his boys, who are feeling very comfortable with him in charge.

Les Dogues will be a very tough opponent at home, and whichever team takes one point from Pierre Mauroy will have a huge plus in the end.

Sevilla

We don’t have too much to say about Seville (the best team in the history of the UEFA Cup/Europa League) that you don’t already know. They are by the biggest favorites for advancing to the next stage. If they have a little luck, Julen Lopetegui’s side could attack La Liga in current circumstances, with decapitated Barca and shaken Real Madrid.

They’ve added a few solid players during the summer, Rafa Mir, Thomas Delayed, Ludwing Augustinsson, and Gonzalo Montiel, all of them role players who know their duties and won’t go beyond what Lopetegui tells them to do. This really says a lot about Sevilla, who is arguably one of the best tactical teams in the competition. They might not have the talent of some other sides but are very good at finding a suitable solution for each rival.

There aren’t too many goals when they play, and the efficiency is usually moderate, meaning two or three hits. The defense is rock solid, and do know that they concede rarely.

Wolfsburg

At the moment, the Wolves are topping Bundesliga, but that is with three games played. Still, it is a good picture for their fans. Throughout the previous season, they were third in the standings for a long time, proving the quality and presenting a tough challenge for any opponent.

In 34 of their matches, we’ve seen 98 goals combined, without some particular difference in the efficiency of the games on the road and at home. Wolves netted 32 times in front of their own crowd and 29 times in away events.

Wout Weghorst, the fantastic Dutch striker, is the man weapon of the Wolves, while 23-year old Ridle Baku promises to become the leader in the midfield.

Red Bull Salzburg

The Austrian powerhouse is one of those teams that will make you go wild because of its results. One week they defeat Barcelona in a friendly game and net five times in the domestic league, and in the next one, they are mediocre.

They’ve eliminated Brondby in the playoffs, without any particular trouble, showing their quality. Still, all the young players in the squad aren’t guaranteeing that the Bulls might be constant throughout the entire season.

Salzburg has a lot of teenagers just waiting to explode, like Karim Adeyemi, Benjamin Sisko, or the American Brenden Aaronson. Believe us when we say that one of these young players will end up in a major team after this year for at least $40 million.

Here are the peviews for other UEFA Champions League groups:

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group H