Surprise leaders in the Champions League groups! Who surprised the favourites?

The group stage of the millionaire’s Champions League competition is in full swing and brings the first interesting results. While Viktoria Plzeň is the only Czech representative that is not enough for the opponents in the very difficult Group C, elsewhere the outsiders defy paper expectations.

The first surprise is undoubtedly to be found in Group B. The four-man battle, in which the Czech duo of Schick and Hložek in the Bayer Leverkusen jersey also play their part, is so far looking best for Club Brugge. The Belgian team is the only one undefeated and with six points, not only Leverkusen, but also Atletico Madrid and FC Porto are on its back.

Moreover, the Benelux club has not scored a goal yet this season and is thus the surprise of the opening Champions League group fights. Last time out, Porto were beaten 4-0, confirming their excellent start to the competition. And while Porto are last in Group B without a point, another Portuguese team managed to surprise the rest.

That’s the famous Sporting Lisbon. The Western Europeans broke Tottenham of England in their last match. With two goals in stoppage time and a 2::0 win, they followed up their 3::0 win against Frankfurt and currently have a 5::0 record.

The situation is the same as in Group B. Sporting have six points, Tottenham and Frankfurt are on three. Olympique Marseille are in last place in Group D. The French team is waiting for the first goal to be scored in this season’s Champions League.

In the other groups, the favourites are almost always at the top. The only interesting thing so far is Chelsea’s last place in the “E”, which Graham Potter’s charges occupy after losing to Dinamo Zagreb and drawing with Salzburg.

The last group worth mentioning is Group H, in which the famous Juventus still has zero points. Although they met PSG and Benfica Lisbon in the first two rounds, they couldn’t make anything out of the matches.

Against Maccabi Haifa, coach Allegri’s charges must get full points to keep their hopes of reaching the eighth round alive. For the record, the French team leads the group by a score ahead of their Portuguese opponents.

It is still too early to assess the preliminary groups and their outcome. The national break will now come into play, giving the coaches and most of their charges room to improve their game. However, we can expect a few surprises, as in previous years.

Source: UEFA