The Champions League draw was kind to the five Spanish teams: Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid avoided the big guns in Pot 1 by being drawn against Napoli and Feyenoord, respectively; Barcelona were fortunate enough to avoid some of the toughest opponents and both Sevilla and Real Sociedad were placed in groups in which they have a chance of reaching the last 16.
The group of death is undoubtedly the one which contains PSG, Dortmund, AC Milan and Newcastle in Group F, so Luis Enrique will have a tough road to get through to the next round. Nobody wanted Newcastle in Pot 4 and the bombshell was PSG, who also find themselves up against Milan in Pot 3.
The road ahead for Barcelona looks simple. The objective of getting out of the first round after two seasons of failure seems more than possible given their opponents: Porto, Shakhtar and Antwerp. The Belgians are making their Champions League debut, the Ukrainians will have to play in exile in Hamburg and Porto do not look as strong as they have been in recent years.
Real Madrid were in Pot 2 and feared City, PSG and Bayern. The good fortune of meeting Napoli means that they will have to face three teams with little Champions League experience. The Italian champions, Napoli, will once again cross Madrid’s path and they will also face Portuguese side Braga and Union Berlin, who are making their debut in the top continental competition.
Atletico were drawn with the weakest opponent from Pot 1 in Feyenoord. Celtic are an opponent that are far from the level of Diego Simeone’s team and only Lazio seem to be the team that can compete with the red and white team in Group E.
Sevilla and Real Sociedad have a chance
The two Spanish teams with less experience in the Champions League were satisfied after the draw. Sevilla will have a very difficult opponent in Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, but face two beatable opponents in PSV and Lens.
Real Sociedad face tricky games against Inter, Benfica and FC Salzburg, but they certainly are good enough to compete for a place in the next round