Champions League draws, Garlando’s analysis

In one word? Fine. By averaging between the infernal group of Milan, the pleasant one of Lazio and the acceptable purgatory of Naples and Inter. Instead, having to choose an adjective to qualify the draw, we would say: sentimental. Heartbreaking stories have come out of the polls: Milan will find themselves against two former captains (Donnarumma, Tonali); Pulisic will be the opponent under his old yellow wall (Dortmund); Ancelotti against De Laurentiis who torpedoed him from Naples; Bonucci, opponent of many championship challenges, will go to Maradona in another guise (Union Berlin); Inter-Benfica at San Siro will once again renew Jair’s rainy goal and the legend of Inter’s second Champions Cup; let’s add the derby of the Hernandez brothers (Milan-Psg). Worse than Pioli only went to the Fontana della Barcaccia: the lansquenets of Feyenoord will return to Rome, as Alain Elkann would call them. Paris Saint Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle: hellish group for the Devil, we said. The French and Germans have lost their most dazzling stars (Messi, Neymar, Bellingham…), but have maintained their competitiveness at a very high level. On the contrary, under Luis Enrique, the Parisians, who have made a 250 million euro spending anyway, could become more of a team and less of a sticker album. The 70 million spent on Tonali clearly explain Newcastle’s availability and ambitions. There were none stronger than the English in fourth tier. Qataris and Saudis: Milan in the group of nabobs.

more from champions than a year ago

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But there is something that cannot be marketed: the tradition and attitude towards the Champions League which, last season, allowed the Rossoneri to eliminate Napoli in the quarter-finals, who were 20 points ahead in the league. And then the millions from Tonali allowed Pioli to arm the team with more powerful athletes of greater international standing. This Milan is from the Champions League much more than before. In the group of death, Milan absolutely do not start beaten. As for tradition and familiarity with the Champions Cup, no one is as good as Real Madrid which has won 14. Napoli, the only Italian in the first tier, could have wished for better by picking in the second urn. To say: Leipzig, Porto… We know the wisdom of the patriarch Ancelotti and the young talent of Vinicius and Rodrigo well. Bellingham (2003), with 4 goals in the first 3 Liga games, is in a phase of explosion, but Napoli remains the team that, one Champions ago, scored 4 against Liverpool and 6 against Ajax in his living room. And anyway, two pass. Braga and Union Berlin, despite all their rookie enthusiasm, remain opponents who make the Azzurri’s qualification much more than a hypothesis. There are few of Osimhen in Europe.

CHALLENGE ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD

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The same goes for Inter who started from the second pot and could have drawn from the first urn a much more disturbing rival than Benfica, defeated in the quarter-finals in the last edition, with an authoritative 2-0 at Da Luz. In this round, coach Schmidt, a lover of aggressive pressing, has one more world champion: Angel Di Maria. True, but Inzaghi also has it: Lautaro who scored against Benfica in the 3-3 draw at San Siro. As usual, Salzburg sold its jewels (from Okafor down) and made a new roll of the dice: the enthusiasm of the youngsters should be taken with a grain of salt, as well as the Basque pride of Real Sociedad. But Inter runners-up in Europe are favorites in the group. From the second and fourth pots, Lazio could have chosen something softer than Atletico Madrid and Celtic, but Feyenoord was the option that everyone wanted in the most noble urn. So Sarri, for once, can’t complain. The moral of Monte Carlo? We can qualify four of them to the round of 16 and hope to bring some players all the way, or nearly so, as in the last edition. Inter, Milan and Napoli started the championship with a dominant game of quality and courage. This is how Europe seduces itself.