In the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, UCL, this season, four outstanding African footballers including Mohammed Salah of Liverpool and Victor Osimhen of Napoli will lock horns when the competition begins in September.
In Group B, Zaidu Sanusi’s FC Porto will take on Club Brugge. The Belgians parade Denis Odoi (Ghana), Kamal Sowah (Ghana), Abakar Sylla (Cote d’Ivoire) and Angola’s Clinton Mata. The remaining two teams in that group are Geoffrey Kondogbia’s Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen who have Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso) and Odilon Kossounou (Cote d’Ivoire) on their payroll.
Additionally, in group C, the recently signed Sadio Mane from Bayern Munich and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona will clash. Other members of the group include Victoria Plizen and Inter Milan. Mane is from Senegal, and Aubameyang plays for the national team of Gabon.
After the 2022–23 season draw on Thursday night in Istanbul, Turkey, the other groups, with the exception of group H, where PSG, with talents like Lionel Messi, Kilian Mbappe, and Neymar, will face off against Juventus, have essentially low expectations.
While everything is going on, in Group D, Eric Bailly will try to motivate Olympique Marseille to defeat Yves Bissouma’s Tottenham Hotspur, Almamy Toure’s Eintracht Frankfurt, and Sporting Lisbon, who have Jovane Cabral of the Cape Verde in their ranks.
Edouard Mendy, Hakim Ziyech, and Kalidou Koulibaly, the goalkeepers for Chelsea, would be looking to assist the team advance from Group E against Red Bull Salzburg, AC Milan, Dinamo Zagreb, and goalkeepers Ismael Bennacer, Yacine Adli, and Fode Ballo-Toure.
When they play Milan, Tuchel’s Blues will also get to relive their reunion with Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud.
Amadou Haidara of Mali and Ilaix Moriba of Guinea are anticipated to be instrumental in helping Bundesliga team RB Leipzig defeat Real Madrid, Celtic, and Ukrainian powerhouse Shakhtar Donetsk in Group F.
When they test the waters against Bono’s Sevilla, Akinkunmi Amoo’s FC Copenhagen, and Borussia Dortmund in Group G, Riyad Mahrez’s Manchester City will have their hands full.
Along with Benfica, Maccabi Haifa of Mavis Tchibota, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain, this group also includes Idrissa Gueye, Achraf Hakimi, and Abdou Diallo.
2022/2023 UEFA Champions League Group Stage:
Group A
Ajax
Liverpool
Napoli
Rangers
Group B
FC Porto
Athletico Madrid
Bayern Leverkusen
Club Brugge
Group C
Bayern Munich
Barcelona
Inter Milan
Victoria Plizen
Group D
Frankfurt
Tottenham Hotspur
Sporting FC
Olympique Merseille
Group E
AC Milan
Chelsea
Salzburg
Dynamo Zagreb
Group F
Real Madrid
Leipzig
Shakhtar Donetsk
Celtic
Group G
Manchester City
Sevilla
Borrusia Dortmund
FC Copenhagen
Group H
PSG
Juventus
Benfica
Maccabi Haifa