The draw is in and we are underway.
The sixteen most elite teams of last season will enter the battlefield in Gameweek 5 and begin their quest for Champions League glory. Some have tasted this before, some have felt that glory slip through their fingertips, some are striding in as wide-eyed ambitious first-timers. Regardless of their experience, all sixteen will be giving their all for the title, the money and the prestige of adding their name to the history books.
These sides have all redrafted and re-set since their successful 2022/23 campaigns. This will be a stern test of their managerial skills, their footballing brains and hearts. Here’s how they line up for the first round:
Group A
>> Mighty fine feeling – Winners 2017 & 2021 – enter as Premier League Champions
>> CG XI – First CL tournament – entered via the CL Qualifying Round
>> Sporting Wicker Park – 7th CL – qualified as 4th-Place in the BFFA Cup winners’ league
>> Allison Wonderland – First CL tournament – League One runners-up
The first team out of the bowl were the Premier League and BFFA Cup Champions – Mighty fine feeling. The former Champions League Champions are back for their seventh go at it; they’ve won two and want a record third CL crown. They’ve not gone all the way out of Group A before (they’ve won it from Groups B & D); last time they were in Group A was 2018, they won 5 of the 6 group games but went out in the Quarter-Finals. The year before, however, they finished the group stage in second place behind Sporting Wicker Park, then, after wins the the QF’s and SF’s, they met again in the Final where MFF claimed their first CL title.
That particular Final will be remembered this year as MFF and SWP play each other twice again in the group stage and, dare we say, may meet again in the Final…? They’ve met once this season already – the third match in the Premier League saw MFF take three points from a 54-32 victory. It was their fourth win in the last five meetings; MFF had beaten SWP 3/4 times in the league last season. Wicker Park will be grateful to MFF however for winning the BFFA Cup last May as that did enable them to sneak into the CL group stage via the Premier League’s 4th-place, albeit after a scrappy season finale that could have seen any four of five teams qualify.
The Premier League pair will be joined in Group A by a couple of CL debutants – the Championship’s Allison Wonderland and CG XI of League One. The former met SWP in the IML last season, on Wicker Park’s way to taking the lesser title. It was Park’s first title after collecting five runners-up medals; now they will be looking to go far after breaking the curse. Allison Wonderland themselves tasted the bittersweet flavour of finishing runner-up last year, despite amassing the most matchpoints in the league (and just 11 FPts less than it took MFF to win the PL).
Unlike the Wonderlanders (who have been able to demonstrate their quality by claiming a third promotion in four years), CG XI haven’t yet been properly tested by the re-draft, and there will be tests aplenty over the next six gameweeks. The first hurdle for the lowest-ranked CL team in the world rankings will be the team #1 in the world rankings. If they can shock the BFFA Cup Champions this weekend, they could potentially climb 12 twelve places to 43rd in a single gameweek. And let’s not forget – MFF managed to win the CL at their first attempt too.
Group B
>> A.F.C. Chester – 4th CL – League One Champions
>> Fergi Time – Last season’s Runners-Up – entered via the CL Qualifying Round
>> Gloopy Yarbles – Champions League Holders
>> Barons – 4th CL – Premier League Runners-Up
A.F.C. Chester return to the Champions League as league champions. However, it’s hard to take your eyes away from the two teams drawn out below them – both of last season’s Champions League finalists, Fergi Time and Gloopy Yarbles! Yes that’s right ladies and gentlemen, they took two very different paths to return to the tournament, but they’ve both got here and will both begin their re-route to the Final from Group B.
Although they won’t meet until the third matchday, all eyes will be on how the holders defend their Champions League title, and that story begins with a League & Cup double-header gameweek against Barons FC. Although four places and four points apart in the early Premier League table, they’ve actually scored pretty much the same – 183 and 175 across the four weeks so far. That said, Barons have had some wildly differing scores (34, 38, 61, 42), while Gloopy have been much more consistant and ever-improving (42, 43, 46, 48). It would be impossible looking at that form to say which Barons team is going to show up and whether or not the champions can continue that progress after the international break. Either way, this will be the closest match up of the first round, according to the World Rankings, and the winner could be propelled from 7th/8th up to 4th on the back of this game alone.
In the other opening game Fergi and Chester meet again just five short months after they last clashed in League One. Both teams were (eventually) promoted and each took a share of the points. The first of their four games was won by the CL Runners-Up, 45-29 (who unfortunately drew their opening CL game that same week, 45-45). Nine gameweeks later, the pair shared the league points, themselves drawing 46-46. The final two meetings had Chester winning both games by just two fantasy points and, eventually, winning the league. This weekend they are reunited in the Champions League and then will once again face-off in the Championship immediately afterwards, one week later.
It was a very different story for Chester the year before when they fought for the Championship against both Gloopy and Barons. There, Gloopy got the better of Chester 3-2, but Barons took full advantage and got a clean sweep against Chester, taking all 12 points. Chester were relegated, but came straight back up and in style. Barons were promoted from fourth that year; Gloopy waited a year, rebuilt, then got promoted the year after. All these rivalries will be renewed next weekend and any two of them could make it to the knockout rounds.
Group C
>> Housewives Favourite – 3rd CL – Championship Champions
>> Smash & Grab – 7th CL – entered as the Premier League’s third-placed team
>> Whiskey de Bruyne – First CL – League Two runners-up
>> Atletico Topo Chico – Second CL – entered as League One’s third-placed team
One of the favourites for the Champions League this year are Housewives Favourite and they have started the season 4-0, one of only two teams in the association to still be in possession of their 100% record. The four-time League Champions have had huge success in the league, but less in knockout format. Last season they were unable to collect any wins in the group stage, despite winning five of those six same weeks in the league. That really goes to show how tough this elite competition can be!
Their elite opposition this year will include Smash & Grab – multi-League and Cup winners, Atletico Topo Chico – former league opposition and the team that owned League Two the season after Wives Fave left, and Whiskey De Bruyne – the League Two runners-up last year and another team enjoying a good run of form in August. In fact, WdB would also be unbeaten at this point if they had picked up just one more matchpoint last week.
Smash & Grab have already tasted defeat at the hands of Wives Fave this season, losing 56-49 in Week One. But they responded to that defeat by winning the next three in a row and moving up to second place behind their rivals. Of course, had S&G won that first encounter then it would be they who were top of the ladder and unbeaten, but it is what it is. So it goes. But they often say that you can’t judge a league until after the tenth game, and that tenth gameweek will put Wives Fave and S’n’G right under the spotlight; they will meet each other in both the PL and the CL on the same weekend. It could be pivotal for both.
Atletico Topo Chico have been a very strong side in the last couple of seasons, winning the league in 2021 and followed that up with a third-placed finish (tied-second for league points) in a much tougher division. However, this season has started slowly for ATC. Two low-scoring losses were followed by third game agony, going down in a 71-54 loss to CL SF-ists Cullen the herd. Fourtunately, that half-century was followed-up by a big win, 49-36 over second-placed Fergi Time, and suddenly they had momentum. Let’s hope that the international break hasn’t broken that flow.
Whiskey de Bruyne are one of four teams with 3-1 records in League One and, as mentioned above, that loss came last week in a 44-43 defeat to East Loop United. They’re picking up and running with the great form that they enjoyed at the end of last season and have lost only three games in their last sixteen. But despite outperforming their Matchday One opponents this season, they run the risk of underestimating the former L2 Champions. Both teams go into the game on fairly level-pegging. Both enjoyed Edouard’s brace against Wolves last week and both have Ruben Dias at the back (against a West Ham side who have failed to score against him in the last 180 minutes). It would be difficult to imagine either of them being left out next weekend. They both also have Arsenal and Spurs defenders playing against bottom-four teams, they both have Newcastle United midfielders that scored against Brentford last season and they both have three Liverpool players who might enjoy a run out at Molyneux in the first match of the weekend. Expect a close and high-scoring game at the Whiskey Stadium this weekend.
Group D
>> Uncle Monty – First CL – League Two Champions
>> Hung Like a Bony – 3rd CL – qualified from 4th-Place in the CL winners’ league
>> El Dude Bros – 3rd CL; 2021 Runners-Up – Championship runners-up
>> De Bruyne Trousers – First CL – entered as League Two’s third-placed team
The seeded team in Group D was Uncle Monty. They stormed League Two last season, were the first after the Yarbles to secure a CL spot and were the first side to secure a league title. Currently second in League One, they make their CL debut against another team in second place this week – Hung Like a Bony of the Championship.
Coming up to the third tier with Monty and also adding a new name into the Champions League history books are De Bruyne Trousers. Currently top of League One, DBT made the topscore in Week 1 (a massive 77 fantasy points) and won three of their first four games after the promotion. They start their campaign with a match against a team that’s no stranger to promotions – El Dude Bros.
Life in the Premier League hasn’t been easy for The EDB in August, but they did pick up a 15-pt win over Boss in Week Two. Their exploits in the Champions League have been much rosier though, reaching the Final in their first CL, plus a Quarter-Final appearance the following season too. Given that they won the BFFA Cup in the intervening months, you know that they’re capable of doing great things in the tourneys.
The key matches to watch in Group D will be across the back-to-back meetings in Gameweeks 7 & 8. We will be able to see how the two League One teams – Monty and DBT shape up against each other over consecutive weeks. Of course, DBT had the better outcome most recently, slaying Uncle Monty 77-44 in Week One, but overall they’ve shared two wins and a draw each in their five meetings. There are another five more to come this season, at least.
And across that same eight-day stretch we will watch Hung and El DB cross swords in the Champions League for the second year in a row. This time last season, the (then-)Championship pair were able to take a win from each other, but one made it through to the Quarters while the other slipped down into the IML. In the League, El Dude Bros won three of their four meetings; again, they got the promotion while Hung LaB were the bubble boys of the group. This time, Hung Like a Bony enter the group on a run of form. Can they carry that form throughout the next six fiercely-contested weeks?
The Knockout Rounds
The Quarter-Finals will match the same format as previous seasons:
QF1) Winner Group A vs. Runner-Up Group B
QF2) Winner Group C vs. Runner-Up Group D
QF3) Winner Group B vs. Runner-Up Group A
QF4) Winner Group D vs. Runner-Up Group C
Two-legged ties (GW’s 11 & 12). The best aggregate score goes to the Semi-Finals.
Semi-Finals:
Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF2
Winner QF3 vs. WInner QF4
Again, two legs (GW’s 13 & 14). Winners meet in the Final.
We skip Gameweek 15 as it’s a midweek fixture and Gameweek 16 for the IML Final.
The Champions League Final will be played in Gameweek 17, on the weekend of the 16th December.
Enjoy the tournament!
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