October 19, 2020 – This season, fifteen Croatian footballers will play in the Champions League. A look at the Croatian representatives, from the biggest stars to the promising young talents.
Less than two months after Bayern beat PSG 1:0 in the Champions League final in Lisbon and won their sixth European title, a new edition of the elite European club football competition begins this week.
However, this year, it is held without a Croatian representative because Dinamo failed to qualify, losing to Ferencvaros, who then skipped Molde and won its first appearance in the Champions League in 25 years.
The formula is still the same – 32 clubs are divided into eight groups of four teams. The first two clubs from each group will make it to the round of 16, third-place will move to the Europa League, while the last place team ends their European story.
Placing in the group stage gave clubs 15.2 million euro, a victory in the group stage is worth 2.7 million, and a draw is 900,000 euro. Placing in the round of 16 brings another 9.5 million euro, and the prizes go up to 19 million euro, which is what the European champion title awards.
However, this season, at least the first part of the competition, will be played under the great shadow due to the coronavirus. Because of the pandemic, the competition was suspended last season, and after it resumed, a final tournament was held with the top eight teams in Lisbon.
The coronavirus continues to threaten the competition. The matches will be played under strict epidemiological rules. Still, as the cases heat up again, there is a huge fear about if the competition will be played regularly and to the end.
“In an outstanding season, the European football community has shown the strength of unity off the pitch. Players and clubs have come together to help their local communities cope with national restrictions. Leagues, national associations, and governments have worked with UEFA to organize competitions in four different countries, which was an unprecedented feat for any sports organization in the world,” UEFA President Alexander Ceferin said recently.
“Together, we have learned an important lesson for the future of our beautiful game, if we all work together, if we are willing to make sacrifices and solidarity, football can overcome any opponent,” he added.
Bayern will defend the title, and the circle of candidates traditionally includes Liverpool, Manchester City, PSG, Juventus, Barcelona, and Real Madrid. Last season, Lyon and RB Leipzig surprised by reaching the semifinals, as did Atalanta, who only lost in the quarterfinals at the very end against PSG, a finalist.
This year, Croatia will not have a representative in the Champions League. Still, the colors of Croatia will be represented by 15 players, two assistant coaches (Igor Tudor and Ognjen Vukojević), and one sports director (Darijo Srna).
The list is led by the former best football player in the world and the winner of four Champions League titles in the Real Madrid jersey, Luka Modrić. This season, we will also watch Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla), Dejan Lovren (Zenit), Mate Kovacic (Chelsea), Ivan Perisic (Inter), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter), Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv), Sime Vrsaljko (Atletico Madrid) ), Ivo Grbić (Atletico Madrid), Mario Pašalić (Atalanta), Duja Ćaleta-Cara (Marseille), Dominik Kotarski (Ajax), Roko Baturina (Ferencvaros), Luka Sučić (RB Salzburg) and Matej Mitrović (Club Brugge).
Spain, England, Italy, and Germany have the most clubs, four each, and, interestingly, Russia has three clubs.
The first round starts on October 20 and 21, and the final sixth round will be played on December 8 and 9. This season’s final is in Istanbul at Ataturk Stadium.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUPS
GROUP A: Bayern Munich (Germany), Atletico Madrid (Spain), RB Salzburg (Austria), Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)
GROUP B: Real Madrid (Spain), Shakhtar (Ukraine), Inter (Italy), Borussia Moenchengladbach (Germany)
GROUP C: Porto (Portugal), Manchester City (England), Olympiakos (Greece), Marseille (France)
GROUP D: Liverpool (England), Ajax (Netherland), Atalanta (Italy), Midtjylland (Denmark)
GROUP E: Sevilla (Spain), Chelsea (England), Krasnodar (Russia), Rennes (France)
GROUP F: Zenit (Russia), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Lazio (Italy), Club Brugge (Belarus)
GROUP G: Juventus (Italy), Barcelona (Spain), Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine), Ferencvaros (Hungary)
GROUP H: PSG (France), Manchester United (England), RB Leipzig (Germany), Istanbul Basaksehir (Turkey)
ROUND 1
TUESDAY
Group E: Chelsea – Sevilla, Rennes – Krasnodar (21:00)
Group F: Zenit – Club Brugge (18:55), Lazio – Dortmund (21:00)
Group G: Dynamo Kyiv – Juventus (18:55), Barcelona – Ferencvaros (21:00)
Group H: PSG – Manchester United, Leipzig – Istanbul Başaksehir (21:00)
WEDNESDAY
Group A: Salzburg – Lokomotiv Moscow (18:55), Bayern – Atletico Madrid
Group B: Real Madrid – Shakhtar Donetsk (18:55), Inter – Borussia Monchengladbach
Group C: Manchester City – Porto, Olympiacos – Marseille
Group D: Ajax – Liverpool, Midtjylland – Atalanta
Source: Gol.hr
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