The  2020-21 UEFA Champions League is all set to kick-start
on October 20. While the qualifying stages of the tournament were underway since
July, 32 of Europe’s elite clubs will now compete for the illustrious crown of
Europe’s best. Defending champions Bayern Munich will look to launch a
successful title defence this year, they must overcome the challenge posed by
some of Europe’s biggest clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Juventus
and others.

Bayern
Munich and Sevilla ensured an automatic qualification in the 66th edition of
the tournament, having won the UEFA Champions
League and UEFA Europa League respectively. Serie A has sent four of its best
in league champions Juventus, Inter Milan, Atalanta and  Lazio.

Juventus

Cristiano Ronaldo’s
Juventus, who crashed out the last edition of the Champions League in the quarter
final, losing the two legged tie to French side Lyon, will look to assert their
dominance in the tournament. While Ronaldo will miss the first few group stage
matches after having contracted coronavirus, the side from Turin will look to a
start their campaign in a positive note.

Also Read: Breaking down Ligue 1 clubs’ prospects in the Champions League

Since crashing out of the last edition
of the Champions League in August, the club has been crowned Serie A champions. The
club also underwent a seismic change when it parted way with coach Maurizio Sarri
and decided to appoint former player Andrea Pirlo as manager.

The “Old
Lady” however had a difficult transfer window 2020-21 with talismanic midfielder Miralem Pjanic departing for Barcelona. Argentine striker Gonzalo
Higuain and French midfielder Blaise Matuidi also parted way with the club,
while Daniele Rugani, Douglas Costa and Mattia De Sciglio secured loan moves
away from the club.

While the ‘Bianconeri’ signed 23-year-old
midfielder Arthur to bolster their
midfield, they also added forwards Felix Correia and Alvaro Morata to reinforce
their attacking options. The club also made significant chances to their
midfield by adding Weston McKennie, Rolando Mandragora and Federico Chiesa to
provide depth to their squad.

The
two-times Champions League winners will bank on forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and
Paulo Dybala to fire them to glory in the Champions League this season, and
with a dynamic midfield of Aaron Ramsey, Arthur, Sami Khedira, Adrien Rabiot, Weston
McKennie, and Federico Chiesa Juventus’ ace strike force will have plenty of
options. While the dynamic duo of Chiellini and Bonucci in the heart of the
Juventus defence will to look to cut off any threats posed by oppositions, the
presence of Matthijs de Ligt will add significant depth to their defence.

Manager
Pirlo will have to enthuse and motivate his squad and also outwit able managers
Jurgen Klopp, Zinedine Zidane, Hans Flick, Diego Simeone in the later stages of
the tournament. Juventus have been placed alongside Barcelona, Dynamo Kyiv and
Ferencvaros in the Group G of the Champions League. A showdown between
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in group stages of the tournament has
already left fans yearning for an epic show-down.

Inter Milan

Inter Milan
is the second side to qualify for Europe from Italy. The Nerazzurri’s who
crashed out in group stages of the Champion’s League last year, will look to
make amends this time around. The club has been placed in Group B alongside 13-times
Champions Real Madrid, Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk and German side Borussia
Monchengladbach.

The
Internazionale who came second in the Serie A last season, has lost star-player
Mauro Icardi in the transfer window, but has managed to bolster their defence
by adding Achraf Hakimi. The club also signed Nicolo Barella, Stefano Sensi, Arturo
Vidal and Alexis Sanchez in a fruitful transfer window for the side.

The club will rely on strikers Sanchez and Lukaku to
provide them with crucial goals and will be rely on a robust midfield of Christian
Eriksen, Arutro Vidal, Ivan Perisic, Nicolo Barella and Radja Nainggolan.

Atalanta

The third side from Italy, Atalanta was the high-flyer in
the previous edition of the UEFA Champions League managing to qualify for the
quarter finals. Atalanta made three key additions to their side in Mario
Pasalic, Aleksei Miranchuk and Sam Lammers.

The giant killers from Italy, Atalanta who dumped
Valencia in the Round of 16 of the Champions League last year has been placed
in Group D of this year along with Liverpool, Ajax and Midtylland. Atalanta who
finished third in the Serie A last year, will look to replicate last year’s
performance in the Champions League this time around.

Also Read: Breaking down Premier League clubs’ prospects in the Champions League

SS Lazio

The fourth and final contestant from Italy is SS Lazio. SS
Lazio was placed fourth Serie A last season. The Italian Supercoppa winners of
2019-20 defeated Juventus in the final, and have been placed in Group F of the
Champions League. SS Lazio will play German club Borussia Dortmund, Russian
side Zenit Saint Petersburg, and Club Brugge from Belgium for a place in the qualifying
rounds of Europe’s elite tournament. The club who bank on mid-fielder
Milinkovic-Savic and Ciro Immobile for propelling them to victory must be wary
of the challengers posted their opponents in the group-stage if they have to
make it to the round of 16.