Champions League draw 2019: What can Tottenham expect from Bayern Munich, Olympiacos and Red Star?

Tottenham were drawn in Champions League Group B

As last season’s Champions League runners-up, Tottenham Hotspur would reasonably expect to progress to the knockout round of this year’s tournament regardless of the three teams they were drawn with in Monaco this afternoon.

Having been placed in the same group as Bayern Munich, Olympiacos and Red Star Belgrade their ambition will hardly have altered, although they now face two gruelling away trips, as well as a pair of titanic clashes with the reigning Bundesliga champions.

In truth, it could have been worse. But equally, it could have been much, much better.

Of the four English clubs involved in this year’s tournament, Tottenham surely have it the hardest, a natural consequence of them being placed in pot two rather than pot one. They will likely battle Bayern Munich for top spot in the group – and with it a favourable Round of 16 clash – although Olympiacos and Red Star should not be overlooked.

In a Champions League group stage draw short on real glamour and excitement, Tottenham’s forthcoming clashes with Bayern at least offer something genuinely new. Not since the early eighties – when Spurs lost to Bayern in the 1982/83 Cup Winners’ Cup before gaining revenge in the following campaign’s Uefa Cup – have these two sides met competitively. Both will fancy their chances.

Bayern’s European pedigree will likely see them as the early favourites to win the two matches, and with them the group. Their recent record in the tournament is extraordinary: defeating Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the 2013 final at Wembley, and reaching the semi-final stage in four of the six seasons since.

But they crashed out at the hands of eventual winners Liverpool at the Round of 16 stage last season, their worst Champions League finish in almost a decade. Their domestic dominance may have continued unabated, as they won both the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, yet there existed the unmistakable sensation that the club’s ageing squad had reached the end of an era.

And so this summer, manager Niko Kovač rang the changes.

35-year-old Arjen Robben retired, while 36-year-old Franck Ribery and 33-year-old Rafinha were let go. James Rodriguez returned to his parent club Real Madrid, with Mats Hummels sold back to Borussia Dortmund to help fund their summer overhaul. In their place came in the likes of Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernandez and Jann-Fiete Arp – young talents the club hopes will mature into world-beaters.

An intriguing subplot to Tottenham’s two matches with Bayern will be the presence of Philippe Coutinho. Spurs made very real enquires into loaning the Brazil international from Barcelona, only to be deterred by the exorbitant cost of bringing him to north London for a season. Instead, they turned their attention to Paulo Dybala, with Bayern signing Coutinho shortly after the Premier League transfer deadline. Coutinho is yet to start a match for Bayern but could be a key first-team figure by the time the Champions League rolls back around.

While much attention will be focused on Tottenham’s clashes with Bayern, Mauricio Pochettino surely won’t underestimate his club’s other two European opponents. Of them, Serbian SuperLiga champions Red Star Belgrade are perhaps the more dangerous, despite their place in pot four.

Pochettino and his coaching team will most likely already have reached for the video of Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat at the Rajko Mitić Stadium last season. Two early goals from Milan Pavkov stunned the eventual European champions who appeared cowed by the truly intimidating atmosphere, the raucous home crowd held back by rows upon rows of heavily armed soldiers. “They are a different beast at home,” Andrew Robertson surmised rather understatedly.

Tottenham will hope that they do not find themselves in a position where they travel to Serbia desperately requiring a result. A long trip to Olympiacos in Athens also poses its own set of problems, although Spurs should at least be more confident of securing all three points. The Greek side picked up just one point the last time they appeared at this stage of the competition, in 2017/18. Granted that did come against Barcelona.