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Five questions following the Champions League draw

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The Champions League trophy, currently held by Real Madrid once again

The 2018-2019 Champions League draw was held on August 30th, 2018 in Monaco. Like always, it was an eventful ceremony, and it left us with very exciting and interesting groups to watch for over the next year. It also sets up plenty of fun story lines to watch out for throughout the year, and plenty of interesting questions left to answer below:

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Which is the most exciting group?

By far the most exciting group on paper looks like Group B. You have arguably the greatest team in the world in Barcelona, along with a young and exciting Tottenham and two solid and possibly surprising teams like PSV and Inter Milan. Barcelona will look to win the group like they usually do, while Tottenham will try to make history this year and break out of their pattern of disappointing Champions Leagues. I was really looking forward to watching Inter Milan back in the elite European competitions, but I don't see them making it past this group and they'll end up in the Europa League. It'll be fun to watch them battle Barcelona and Tottenham though. Don't sleep on PSV.

How will Ronaldo's return to Old Trafford play out?

Ronaldo is heading back to Old Trafford once more, but this time in Juventus uniform instead. The 33-year old superstar is coming back home to the club that propelled his career from Sporting Lisbon to the bright lights in the Premier League. Last time Ronaldo played at Old Trafford in an opponent jersey, he scored for Madrid, and chose not to celebrate, as they beat Manchester United 2-1. This time around, I think he'll score again and he'll choose not to celebrate. I also see Manchester United losing once again vs. Ronaldo, and as I'm writing this I kinda realized this is a really boring question but just keep reading I guess.

Who will be the top goal scorer this year?

I'm going to keep this on question centered on Ronaldo once again, as the Champions League ALL-TIME top goal scorer will look to continue his run for a seventh straight year. There's no doubt Cristiano Ronaldo will be hungry to continue racking up the goals with Juventus, but this year is a prime chance to reign a new goalscorer. CR7 has struggled to score in Italy and is adapting to his new role in a different system with Juve. This could slow down Ronaldo, just a little bit, and could open up a chance for players like Messi, Kun Aguero, Lewandowski, and Mbappe to run wild this season. Who do I think will tear it up this season? I would like to put my money on Lewa. 

Any surprise team to look out for?

My personal choice for this question was Tottenham, but they are too talented and successful to be considered a "surprise choice" in my opinion, leaving the spot open for Valencia. I can picture Valencia squeezing right past Manchester United to qualify for the knockout rounds, and they could cause further damage and make it deeper. Hopefully if the Mourinho Curse remains intact all season long, Valencia can finish off an inconsistent Manchester United led by Gameiro, Cheryshev, and other key pieces.

Most exciting game?

PSG vs. Liverpool is looking to be an extremely fun and unpredictable match, and a perfect lesson for coaches to their their players how NOT TO defend. I mean, both teams are filled with World-Class forwards and skilled midfielders, but their defenses aren't so great. A 3-3 final score would be a wildly entertaining game for all football fans.

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