The group stages have wrapped up, and the draw has been made for the last 16 knockout stages.
Below is a review of my predictions and how the groups finished, including surprise teams and results.
My predictions are on the left, with the final positions on the right. The teams in red are the ones I got wrong.
The Champions League final will be on 1st June at Wembley Stadium, London, England.
Group A
Bayern Munich – Bayern Munich
Manchester United – Copenhagen
Galatasaray – Galatasaray
Copenhagen – Manchester United
The biggest surprise to everyone was United finishing bottom. I was expecting them to push Munich, but Bayern strolled the group, winning it by eight points.
Obviously, Copenhagen was the surprise of the group. You could say their 4-3 home win against United was the result of the group, but it was more Galatasaray’s 3-2 win at United.
Group B
Arsenal – Arsenal
Sevilla – PSV Eindhoven
PSV Eindhoven – Lens
Lens – Sevilla
Arsenal was the only one I got right in this group; aside from them finishing top, it was a difficult group to predict.
I’d say the biggest surprise was Sevilla finishing bottom. The result of the group was probably Lens beating Arsenal 2-1 at home before losing 6-0 away.
Group C
Real Madrid – Real Madrid
Napoli – Napoli
Braga – Braga
Union Berlin – Union Berlin
This was one of the more straightforward groups to predict. Nobody expecting anything but Madrid topping it, but maybe not as easy as by eight points.
There were no real surprises for me apart from Napoli being closer to Braga than Madrid. The surprise result was probably Berlin drawing 1-1 at Napoli.
Group D
Inter Milan – Real Sociedad
Benfica – Inter Milan
Real Sociedad – Benfica
RB Salzburg – RB Salzburg
Just the bottom team was correct. However, Sociedad, after a 10-year absence, surprised all to top the group on the same points as Inter but via goal difference after they drew both games.
I would say the surprise game of the group was Salzburg beating Benfica away 2-0 in game week one. It was a poor campaign for Benfica, who also lost home and away to Sociedad.
Group E
Atletico Madrid – Atletico Madrid
Lazio – Lazio
Feyenoord – Feyenoord
Celtic – Celtic
The second group I predicted all four positions correctly. I went with experience, which made it pretty straightforward. There were no real surprises in this group.
The closest you can call a surprise results were in game week three when Feyenoord beat Lazio 3-1 at home, and Madrid drew 2-2 at Celtic.
Group F
AC Milan – Borussia Dortmund
Paris St Germain – Paris St Germain
Newcastle – AC Milan
Borussia Dortmund – Newcastle
This was the most difficult group to predict, and as you can see, I struggled. Dortmund surprised me, at least by topping it, as I predicted them to finish bottom.
With such a hard group to predict, it’s hard to say any result was a surprise, but nobody saw Newcastle beating PSG 4-1 at home. Also, PSG getting a lucky 1-1 at Newcastle.
Group G
Manchester City – Manchester City
RB Leipzig – RB Leipzig
Red Star Belgrade – Young Boys
Young Boys – Red Star Belgrade
This group was straightforward, and I doubt anyone predicted anything other than the top two positions. If there was a surprise, it could have been Red Star collecting just one point.
There was also not much in the way of surprise results. But if I had to choose, it would be Young Boys getting a 2-2 draw at Red Star.
Group H
Barcelona – Barcelona
Porto – Porto
Shakhtar Donetsk – Shakhtar Donetsk
Royal Antwerp – Royal Antwerp
This was the group I predicted all four positions correctly. It was a straightforward group to predict, other than Barca only topping it via a better head-to-head with Porto, beating them home and away.
This was because the surprise results in this group were Barcelona losing at Shakhtar 1-0 and then losing at Antwerp 3-2.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST 16
Porto vs Arsenal
Napoli vs Barcelona
Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Sociedad
Inter Milan vs Atletico Madrid
PSV Eindhoven vs Borussia Dortmund
Lazio vs Bayern Munich
FC Copenhagen vs Manchester City
RB Leipzig vs Real Madrid
