Paris Saint-Germain, competing in their fourth straight UEFA Champions League group stage, were drawn in Group A in what many have called a tough group for Les Parisiens.
However, Laurent Blanc’s men were a bit fearful heading into the draw in Monaco on Thursday evening. Having been seeded in the Pot 1 among the other champions of their respective countries, they were awaiting who they would get in Pot 2 in their group with the likes of three major English clubs and two Spanish clubs.
Real Madrid
Surely the hardest opponent for the side from the capital, this is the first time these two powerhouses take on each other ever since the two powerful presidents Fiorentino Perez and Nasser Al-Khelaifi took control of their respective clubs to bring in huge names to their clubs.
It has all the major superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benezma, James Rodriguez, Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Sergio Ramos, pitting against players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Lucas Moura, Marco Verratti, Javier Pastore, David Luiz and Thiago Silva.
However, something that trumps all the showdown is the return of Argentine winger Angel Dí Maria to the Santiago Bernabeu. The last time we saw El Fideo in a Los Blancos shirt was when we won La Decima, also known as the 10th UEFA Champions League final for Real Madrid last year against Atletico Madrid, where he was an instrumental part for the entire campaign.
Fast forward to a year, it saw him go to Manchester United last season, where he was disappointing before signing for PSG just a few weeks ago. That being said, a win for either side in both their draws can see them one step closer of not only advancing to the Round of 16 but winning their group, just as long as they don't get any upsets against the other two sides.
Rafael Benítez's men will now look to avenge their trophyless domestic run where they lost in the semifinals to Juventus last season following the sacking of former PSG manager Carlo Ancelotti with a new look Real Madrid without their captain for over a decade Iker Casillas, who went to Porto.
FC Shakhtar Donetsk
And one of those sides is the Ukrainian outlet Shakhtar Donetsk. The side are back in the group stages having finished second in the Ukranian Premier League and qualified after having two playoff rounds against Turkish side Fenerbache and Austrian side Rapid Wien, but are currently playing at Arena Lviv in Lviv due in to safety concerns at their home ground: the Donbass Arena. Still, despite all this controversy, it will not be easy for the Paris side to pick up points in Eastern Europe.
A side that boasted the likes of Luiz Adriano, who became the first player to score hat-tricks in consecutive Champions League group stage games, both against BATE Borisov and ended up with nine goals during the entire tournament before being bought by AC Milan just this summer and also had to deal with the departure of Douglas Costa who went to Bayern Munich. Still, they boast the likes of players such as Bernard, Fred and Alex Teixeira that shows the huge Brazilian influence the side has.
Their performance in the Champions League saw them advance to the Round of 16 having finished runners-up in their group behind Porto where they were drawn in the knockout stages with Bayern Munich and after drawing 0-0 in the first leg in Ukraine, they were absolute trashed in the second 7-0 in Munich.
They can surely be the side to cause a surprise to the big French and Spanish clubs, if they don't want to get that Europa League spot and qualify out of the group.
Malmö FF
Homecoming has been the main subject of this group and this will surely come into place as Ibrahmiovic returns to the country and club where he was born, raised and started his professional career.
Many local fans will now have the chance to see their prodigal son and national idol who become an icon in the Scandinavian country in action in a competitive fixture at Swedbank Stadion will be a major event and an bittersweet as well as emotional 90 minutes for the 33 year old.
The Swedish champions qualified for their second straight group stage having won their qualifying rounds (Second qualifying round, Third qualifying round and the play-off round) against Lithuanian side FC Žalgiris, Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg and Scottish side Celtic FC. Åge Hareide's men will look to for a miracle to possibly have a chance of reaching Europa.
Prediction
On paper, this is PSG and Real Madrid's group to lose. It's been said that the winner of those two matches will win the group, however we've seen sides that have caused surprises in the history of the UEFA Champions League who didn't make the big sides' runs too easy.
Away matches in Ukraine and Sweden will be tricky but just as long as those two sides can win their major battle and not screw up against one of the other two sides, they should be fine. Tough one for PSG against the side from Madrid but could be winnable.
Prediction: Real Madrid, PSG, Shakhtar Donetsk, Malmö