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00:00 The Champions League returns this midweek and with Manchester City current champions,
00:05 all roads will lead to Wembley in 2024 where a new champion will be crowned.
00:10 Anyways, this episode is solely dedicated to previewing all the groups as we would talk
00:16 about some of the biggest matches of the midweek as well.
00:19 My name is Ayomede Oshizuwa and this is The Nutmeg on Guardian TV.
00:28 Joining me is Habib who makes his debut to the show.
00:33 Habib, good to have you here.
00:34 But first, let me ask you, what club do you support?
00:38 Generally, I'm a football fan, let me just put it that way.
00:42 I don't really have a club in particular I'm supporting.
00:45 But if you ask me, the club that I have a little bit of love for,
00:50 I think I'm going to go for Liverpool.
00:53 Or AC Milan.
00:55 Okay, I wanted to make you as a football purist but with those two clubs you mentioned,
01:02 that's not going to be the subject of the matter.
01:04 But anyways, talking about subjects, we have to preview the groups.
01:07 Group A, we have Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Copenhagen and Galatasaray in that group.
01:14 Tough group, especially considering the heavyweights at the top.
01:17 Yes, especially the group A, to be honest, it is actually breathtaking.
01:22 Bayern Munich, the champions of the Bundesliga,
01:25 Manchester United, Copenhagen, the Danish champions,
01:29 and also Galatasaray, the Turkish giants in Turkey.
01:36 So I think that group generally is actually a huge group.
01:41 And I believe that Manchester United, with the current form that they are at the moment,
01:47 well, it's going to be a tough one.
01:48 But I just feel that the spirit can actually come into them and go all the way to...
01:54 The spirit of the Champions League.
01:55 The spirit of the Champions League, I mean, right?
01:58 So for me, I think it will be between Galatasaray and Manchester United,
02:01 but I will stick to Manchester United.
02:03 Let's move to group B. Arsenal make a return to the Champions League for the first time since 2017.
02:08 And their group on paper, Ba Sevilla, looks easy with PSV and Lens also in action there.
02:15 Yeah, of course it looks easy on paper.
02:18 For Arsenal, looking at the fact that their current form, all the way from last season,
02:22 now they continue where they left off.
02:24 And they are playing against PSV in the first game.
02:28 And last season they played against PSV in the Europa League group stage also.
02:31 So let's not forget that with PSV winning one, Arsenal also winning one.
02:34 So this time around, I think something of sorts can actually occur.
02:39 But is this a sort of scenario where you picture Sevilla dropping to the Europa League again
02:44 to go and win it again in May?
02:45 Well, anything can happen because that's Sevilla for you.
02:48 They will try as much as possible to...
02:50 You can't underrate PSV, can you?
02:52 Well, I can't really say they purposely... Maybe they are doing that on purpose.
02:57 But it's just how it is.
02:59 And whenever they drop into the Europa League, you always give them the chance to go all the way.
03:03 Anyway, let's move to group C now.
03:05 We have Napoli, there's Real Madrid, there's Braga, there's Union Berlin.
03:09 Real Madrid obviously having a good shot.
03:12 You can't put it past them to get out of the group, of course.
03:14 Yeah, of course. Yes, of course.
03:16 But looking at their first game against Union Berlin, if I'm not wrong,
03:20 and they are also facing off against Victor Simmonds on the Napoli side,
03:25 with Braga also, that's the Portuguese side.
03:29 So I think it's actually a relatively easy group for Real Madrid.
03:33 Okay, if you say so. No problem.
03:35 We're going to see how it goes down right then.
03:37 Let's move to group F.
03:39 There's Paris Saint-Germain.
03:40 Obviously, this is a group of death on paper.
03:42 It could change much later during the campaign.
03:45 But there's Paris Saint-Germain, there's Borussia Dortmund, there's Milan.
03:49 And there's a first appearance for Newcastle for the first time in 20 years.
03:52 Yeah, that's actually, you know, as a club, you can't be praying for this kind of group.
03:57 Fans at St James' Park want to see these kind of games on their pitch.
04:01 Actually, they want to see the UEFA Champions League back at St James' Park,
04:06 but not with these huge amount of, huge fixtures.
04:11 Because we know you are playing against PSG, you are playing against Dortmund.
04:14 And also with the start they've had in the Premier League,
04:17 they only won 5-1 and then they won another 3 games,
04:20 and losing straight before they defeated Brentford.
04:22 So it's not looking good for them.
04:24 But I know this is going to be probably the most difficult assignment for you on this show.
04:29 Who do you think makes it out of the group?
04:31 Well, you know, Newcastle United, I think I don't see them making this,
04:37 what's it called, this into the next round of the UEFA Champions League.
04:42 But I feel AC Milan can actually do something,
04:47 although they lost heavily against Inter Milan in the debut de la Madonena,
04:51 that's the Italian debut there.
04:53 So I think I'll fancy AC Milan.
04:57 And PSG Dortmund, to be honest, PSG haven't really been in this season.
05:03 So I think I'll still go for PSG.
05:06 All right, all right, all right, let's go.
05:07 That's pretty much easy.
05:09 Maybe the most difficult assignment, like I said, is Milan versus Newcastle.
05:12 I'm just going to take your score prediction as we wrap things up.
05:15 Milan versus Newcastle.
05:17 Milan in San Siro and Newcastle travelling.
05:21 And I'm not used to travels like this.
05:22 Paris Saint-Germain facing Dortmund, big game.
05:24 Every game in the group that contains PSG and Dortmund is, they are important games.
05:29 No question about that. And then there's Lazio versus Atletico on Tuesday.
05:33 Yeah, for me, AC Milan and Newcastle, well, I will actually give it to AC Milan.
05:40 No disrespect to Newcastle United, but these are their four-star appearances.
05:44 And they're actually travelling a week, all the way to San Siro.
05:49 So I think AC Milan, they're European royalties.
05:53 Yeah, and they have a point to prove after losing France.
05:55 Exactly, and you can't take that off them.
05:57 So with the attacking talent that they have in their mix currently with Pulisic,
06:02 Raphael Leal, Olivier Diu and the likes, I think they have enough to go up against them.
06:06 How about Paris Saint-Germain and Dortmund though?
06:09 Yes, the last time they met was actually way back in 2020.
06:12 Yeah, the lockdown season.
06:13 Yes, exactly. So, and we know how that pans out.
06:17 I think PSG actually was going to go through the next round.
06:21 So this time around, I think PSG really also, you know, they haven't really been impressive.
06:26 I must say to you, and Dortmund also have been really having a roller coaster season
06:30 since the beginning of the season.
06:31 So for me, I think it's going to be a score draw, maybe a 2-all draw.
06:35 Okay, I'll take your word for it for now.
06:37 So let's move to Wednesday's fixtures.
06:39 We have Bayern Munich versus Manchester United and then Arsenal will make a return against PSG and Dover.
06:47 Well, Manchester United, another bad news.
06:50 I think it's going to be, you know, let me just say, I don't see Manchester United winning.
06:57 Especially at the Allianz Arena.
06:59 Yeah, exactly. And if they, you know, lose the game against Bayern Munich,
07:02 I think the pressure will start coming in on Eric Tena, you know, calling him, you know.
07:09 All right, final match of our pick. It is Arsenal versus PSG.
07:12 Everything looks good for the Gunners.
07:14 Yes, at the moment. Everything also looks good for PSG at the moment.
07:17 Yeah, because they've won all their games in the Eredivisie.
07:20 So for me, I think Arsenal will take this one for me.
07:23 Yeah. All right. That's our show. Thank you very much for watching.
07:26 We'll see all of the action in midweek.
07:28 And we're here to also talk about the next round of fixtures as well.
07:32 And you can also follow all the content right here on Guardian TV.
07:37 You can follow the page of the channel and also you can tap the notification bells to have access to all our latest content.
07:45 Again, thank you for watching. Thank you for coming, Habib.
07:48 Thanks for having me. And I'll see you in the next episode.
07:51 [MUSIC]