Champions League Group C predictions and odds: Dortmund gunning for last 16

Team-by-team guide, betting predictions, best bets and analysis for Champions League Group C.

Ajax

Manager
Erik Ten Hag has led Ajax to league and cup doubles in two of the last three years.

Transfer activity
Signing Steven Berghuis from bitter rivals Feyenoord caused quite a stir, less so the purchase of another lively forward Mohamed Daramy from Copenhagen. Argentinian international left-back Nicolas Tagliafico has stayed put, snubbing offers from West Ham among others.

Key man
Dusan Tadic, the old man at 32 in a fairly young group, was crowned Dutch player of the year last season and the ex-Southampton star remains a silky talent on the left of Ajax's three-quarter line.

Prospects
Last season's Champions League flop – they took just one point out of 12 off Liverpool and Atalanta to get demoted to the Europa League – will have hurt, especially coming on the back of another third-placed near-miss the season before.

The draw this time has been kinder to the four-time European champions who, as ever, will be banking on a number of kids – Jurrien Timber and Ryan Gravenberch already look the real deal – plus ex-Premier League aces like Daley Blind, Davy Klaassen and Dusan Tadic who have shone since leaving England for the Eredivisie.

Another Premier League misfit, Sebastien Haller, will lead the line in a side who will be easy on the eye and expecting to go through.

Inside info

Best 11 Stekelenburg; Masraoui, Timber, Martinez, Blind; Alvarez, Gravenberch; Berghuis, Klaassen, Tadic; Haller.

Penalty taker Dusan Tadic

Set-piece aerial threat Sebastien Haller

Card magnet Nicolas Tagliafico

Star rating out of five Two

Besiktas

Manager
Sergen Yalcin, a Besiktas legend as a player, enhanced his status by winning the 2020-21 double six months after becoming coach.

Transfer activity
Veteran midfielders Mehmet Topal and Alex Teixeira have been signed while Chelsea's Michy Batshuayi has a season on loan to finally prove his worth. Batshuayi's task will be to replace 15-goal Vincent Aboubakar, who has left for the Gulf. Miralem Pjanic made the switch from Barcelona to Turkey late in the transfer window.

Key man
Wide striker Cyle Larin was a record-breaking rookie in the MLS when he left his native Canada for Orlando. After taking a while to find his feet in Super Lig the 26-year-old came of age last season banging in 23 goals in all competitions.

Prospects
There is an overwhelming sense of optimism under Sergen Yalcin, a gifted, enigmatic icon of the Besiktas terraces in his playing days and an instant smash on his return as coach.

Yalcin probably doesn't possess the calibre of squad which Senol Gunes took to the last 16 in 2017-18, but last May's domestic double has reignited a sense of belief at Vodafone Park.

Ageing veterans like Welinton, Domagoj Vida and 38-year-old Atiba Hutchinson will be the cornerstone of their group assault with Black Eagles' fans crossing their fingers that Alex Teixeira can rediscover that old Shakhtar magic.

Relying on Michy Batshuayi for goals, however, might be a leap of faith too far.

Inside info

Best 11 Destanoglu; Rosier, Vida, Welinton, N'Sakala; Ucan, Hutchinson; Ghezzal, Teixeira, Larin; Batshuayi.

Penalty taker Rachid Ghezzal

Set-piece aerial threat Domagoj Vida

Card magnet Welinton

Star rating out of five Five

Borussia Dortmund

Manager
Former Borussia Monchengladbach boss Marco Rose was appointed in February, taking up the post in the summer.

Transfer activity
Jadon Sancho's record-breaking £75m exit to Manchester United left a hole to fill with young goalscoring machine Donyell Malen trusted to step in after leaving PSV. Keeping hold of superstar striker Erling Haaland was Rose's best piece of work in the summer.

Key man
Surely the most sought-after striker on the planet, Haaland will eventually come at a price and it will be a huge price given his extraordinary goalscoring exploits in under two years in Dortmund.

Prospects
Dortmund have been a model of consistency in recent seasons with three quarter-final appearances since reaching the final in 2012-13. Always on the cusp of conversations about lively outsiders, they habitually make it out of the group but usually meet their match somewhere in the knockout stage.

Their array of forward options alongside Haaland, featuring the likes of Marco Reus, Gio Reyna, Thorgen Hazard and Donyell Malen should ensure they have no difficulty scoring goals.

To that end, they should be able to power their way through the group but without a clean sheet in their last ten knockout-round ties it's clear where their weakness lies.

Inside info

Best 11 Kobel; Meunier, Hummels, Akanji, Guerreiro; Bellingham, Dahoud; Hazard, Reus, Reyna; Haaland

Penalty taker Erling Haaland

Set-piece aerial threat Mats Hummels

Card magnet Mats Hummels

Star rating out of five Three

Sporting Lisbon

Manager
Ruben Amorim's big-money switch from Braga paid off when the innovative coach landed Sporting their first league title in 19 years.

Transfer activity
Amorim fended off endless bids for top scorer Pedro Goncalves but was helpless to prevent 19-year-old left wing-back Nuno Mendes from departing for PSG. Ruben Vinagre has been loaned from Wolves to cover the gap.

Key man
Sporting won the league without any superstars though 23-year-old Goncalves looks a talent. Pote, as he's known, was released by Wolves and they must be cursing that decision after seeing the forward net 23 goals last season and hit the ground running again this term.

Prospects
Amorim's transformation of Sporting was one of the biggest stories in Portuguese football for many years.

Inheriting a basket case of a club, he made them hard to beat, installing a five-man back line which has made accident-prone centre-back Sebastian Coates suddenly resemble Franz Beckenbauer, and 20 clean sheets last season said it all.

There is a blend of experience and kids and the frontmen are allowed to roam. That Amorim – with the backing of the board – has managed to hold on to some of his gems over the course of the summer says much about his personality, and this is a team which has to be taken seriously during the group phase, though this is a new test.

Inside info

Best 11 Adan; Ricardo Esgaio, Goncalo Inacio, Coates, Feddal, Vinagre; Palhinha, Nunes; Pote, Paulinho, Cabral

Penalty taker Pote/Jovane Cabral

Set-piece aerial threat Sebastian Coates

Card magnet Zouhair Feddal

Star rating out of five Two

Best bet

Dortmund-Ajax forecast
1pt Evs Betfred

Group preview

Qualification from Group C is up for grabs with what looks like a keenly-fought contest to accompany Borussia Dortmund into the last 16.

Dortmund do look, by some distance, the pick of the quartet and fully merit their odds-on quote to win the section.

The Bundesliga powers have reached the last 16 in each of the last three seasons, winning their qualifying group twice, and with Erling Haaland seeming to get better and better, they ought to have way too much firepower for their three opponents.

Second place looks to be a two-way tussle between Sporting Lisbon and Ajax and the Dutch club get the nod.

Four years have passed since Sporting were last at this stage of the competition and where once they were packed with household names who would under-achieve in the money games, there is a new look to their side which won the Portuguese double last season.

But this is newish territory for a lot of them whereas Ajax have been here before and are desperate to make amends for a pair of group-stage failures over the last two campaigns, although in much tougher groups than this one.

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