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Excitement is at peak levels for the return of the Champions League with the most prestigious club competition in football getting underway this week. It’s the most coveted trophy in club football and PSG will be determined to regain their crown after winning the competition for the first time in their history. Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid are amongst the favorites and it’s poised to be another thrilling season in the competition’s illustrious history.
The Champions League was reformatted last season with the league phase replacing the group stages and all 36 participating clubs are now guaranteed seven fixtures. The top eight clubs automatically progress to the last 16 with the teams finishing between 9th and 24th progressing into a play-off. The Champions League league phase draw was made last month in Monaco and we’ve analysed which clubs have the hardest seven fixtures based on the Transfermarkt market values of their opponents.
Which club has the most difficult Champions League league phase fixtures?
It’s unsurprising that so many English Premier League clubs feature in the top ten list as they are unable to play each other in the league phase. Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool are three of the top five most valuable clubs in the world and that has a major impact on the results. Tottenham have the easiest seven league phase fixtures based on the combined market values of their opponents, totalling €2.66 billion. PSG are the only club that Thomas Frank’s men will face with a higher squad market value than Tottenham (€891m).
Arsenal rank second with Mikel Arteta’s men expected to sail through to the last 16. Despite not winning a trophy in the past five seasons, Arsenal have the second most valuable squad in the world (€1.33bn) and they reached the semi-finals last season. Pafos were only founded 11 years ago with the Cypriot side competing in the Champions League for the first time and they rank fifth. Barcelona rank seventh with Hansi Flick’s men viewed by many as the favourites this season.
