Tottenham drawn in Champions League Group B with Bayern, Olympiacos, Red Star

The Champions League draw was held today in Monaco, and Tottenham Hotspur finally know who their group stage opponents are. Spurs were drawn into Group B with Bayern Munich, Olympiacos, and Red Star Belgrade.

Group B

• Bayern Munich (GER)
• Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
• Olympiacos (GRE)
• Red Star (SER)

It’s not the best draw Tottenham could’ve had, but it’s also far from the worst. In Bayern, Spurs drew a very good European power, but one that is eminently beatable. Spurs managed to avoid Barcelona, and by virtue of drawing Bayern it meant they also avoided Bayer Leverkusen and RB Lepizig, two other pretty scary teams in their pots.

Olympiacos and Red Star are both far from the best teams in their respective pots, but they both have really, really incredible home atmospheres, and the away legs in both of those games will be harrowing. Just look at this tunnel cam video which shows what it’s like to walk out onto the pitch in Belgrade. It’s like a portal to Hell.

Overall, this is definitely a group that Spurs can escape from, and they should be favorites to do so, but it will contain some distinctly tricky away fixtures.

The rest of the draw

Here’s the rest of the Champions League draw, followed by some thoughts.

Group A

• PSG
• Real Madrid
• Club Brugge
• Galatasaray

Your standard Champions League group — two good teams that should be favorites to advance, two teams that probably won’t. Poor Victor Wanyama.

Group C

• Manchester City
• Shakhtar Donetsk
• Dinamo Zagreb
• Atalanta

Weeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak. City should waltz this group. More exciting is that there’s a real chance for Carty Free masthead favorite Atalanta to get out of this group as well.

Group D

• Juventus
• Atletico Madrid
• Bayer Leverkusen
• Lokomotiv Moskow

This one could be interesting. Juventus and Atletico are the favorites, but Leverkusen are a good side and could surprise. Lokomotiv are nothing but potential spoilers.

Group E

• Liverpool
• Napoli
• Salzburg
• Genk

Another interesting group, if not super strong. Liverpool get drawn with Napoli again this season, and Salzburg are a potential spoiler. Liverpool the strong favorites to win the group.

Group F

• Barcelona
• Dortmund
• Inter Milan
• Slavia Prague

This is my pick for Group of Death. Extremely solid in the first three teams, and Slavia could be a tricky away tie.

Group G

• Zenit
• Benfica
• Lyon
• Leipzig

Weak group, which could make it interesting. Any of Lyon, Benfica, and Leipzig could win this group. I’d say Lyon is probably the favorite.

Group H

• Chelsea
• Ajax
• Valencia
• Lille

I have no real feel for how this group will go, with Chelsea in the midst of a youth movement and Ajax having gone through a fire sale after last season. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What are your thoughts on Tottenham’s draw, or the draw in general? Have your say in the comments!