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The draw for the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League just finished in Monaco, and Tottenham Hotspur fans should probably breath a sign of relief. Spurs were drawn into Group E of the Champions League along with CSKA Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen, and Monaco.
The official result of the #UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/WxbnD5tLEP
— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 25, 2016
If you’re of the opinion that in order to have the best chance to progress, Spurs needed to avoid the big scary teams, then this was a near ideal draw. Tottenham somehow managed to avoid being in a group with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, or Dortmund, and are looking like a favorite on paper to not only escape the group, but maybe even win it.
CSKA is almost certainly the weakest club in Pot A not named Leicester City. Bayer Leverkusen is a solid team and could make some noise in the Bundesliga title race if their cards fall the right way, but they’re still well behind Bayern and Dortmund on paper.
Monaco is probably the strongest team coming out of Pot 4, which isn’t saying much since there aren’t very many good teams in that group. Remember too that Spurs pretty much blitzed past Monaco last season in the Europa League, and while they’ve improved a little from last year, they should still be manageable.
On the other hand, if you’re one of the fans that wanted to take on the big boys early in the group stages, then you might be a touch disappointed with this draw. Spurs actually look like they might be the strongest team in this group, but there’s not a whole lot of glamour in these match ups. In fact, jokes were made on Twitter about how much this group resembles what Spurs might have faced in the Europa League in years past.
Respect to Tottenham for being in the Europa League even when they aren't.
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) August 25, 2016
Other reactions from the draw: Groups D & F look to be killers, Leicester got one of the easiest possible draws, and Arsenal also landed in a relatively soft group in Group A.
The schedule for the group stage matches has not yet been released but we expect it to be announced soon.
We’ll have more on Spurs’ Champions League draw and their prospects for progressing out of Group E a little later. In the mean time, feel free to discuss the draw, Spurs’ prospects, and the other groups in the comments.