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Football London
Football London
Sport
Andy Ha

Champions League group stage predicted: Liverpool and Chelsea top but Spurs finish behind Bayern

The wait is finally over. After the drama of last season's competition, the UEFA Champions League is back for another season.

England four representatives will be hoping for a successful campaign, with Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur all looking to reach the final in Istanbul next May.

Jurgen Klopp's side will want to defend their crown and win the competition for the seventh time, after beating Tottenham 2-0 in last year’s final in Madrid.

Frank Lampard's Chelsea side are back in the tournament after finishing third under Maurizio Sarri last season - and winning the Europa League for good measure - while Pep Guardiola's Man City will be looking to banish their quarter-final hoodoo and reach the latter stages after falling in the last-eight for the past two seasons.

But how will the four English teams progress through the group stages?

Tottenham were drawn alongside Bayern Munich, Olympiacos and Red Star Belgrade, while holders Liverpool got Napoli, Red Bull Salzburg and Genk.

Manchester City have Shakhtar Donetsk, Atalanta and Dinamo Zagreb, while Chelsea's return to the Champions League saw them draw Valencia, Lille and last season's semi-finalists Ajax.

We ran a predictor for all four groups and this is how they finished.

In Group B, Tottenham narrowly finished second behind German champions Bayern Munich after a 2-2 draw in north London but a defeat at the Allianz Arena.

In Group C, Manchester City comfortably topped the table as expected, with Ukrainian side Shakhtar also qualifying.

In Liverpool's group, the defending champions edged Napoli to qualify for the knockout rounds, with Carlo Ancelotti's side taking the runner-up spot.

And last, but not least, in Group H, Chelsea's return to the Champions League was a successful one, with Frank Lampard overseeing a successful group stage and qualifying for the last-16.

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