2016 Champions League draw results: Group B is wide open

Group B of the UEFA Champions League features no established top teams. None of its participants are regular fixtures in the quarterfinals of the competition, there are no global superstars, and even the winner will likely be picked to lose their Round of 16 battle. This is, then, a group of huge opportunity for the teams from Pots 3 and 4. Dynamo Kiev and Besiktas went into the draw hoping for one that offered an easy path to the Europa League and instead got very beatable teams in Napoli and Benfica.

While the Serie A runners-up are still involved in a very tumultuous transfer window and it’s impossible to predict what their squad will look like in two weeks, they’re still going to be the strongest team in this group. They’re not going to sell anyone they don’t want to get rid of after raking in €94 million for Gonzalo Higuaín, and they have plenty of money to spend on new talent as well.

Expect Napoli to have a bit more firepower when these games roll around than they do right now.

The days of Benfica being a place to see great young talent develop appear to have passed. In order to compete with their rivals Porto, it seems like Benfica’s come more and more to rely on veteran players. While that might not be great for their long-term future or neutral fans who want to catch the next big thing, it will help keep them from slipping up in the Champions League this year. However, there is one big young talent to keep an eye on -- André Horta, a 19-year-old midfielder who’s already established himself as first choice.

Besiktas opened a brand new stadium this year, and it should help them compete with Europe’s elite over the long term. But at the moment, their squad looks a bit thin, and they’ve just lost key playmaker José Ernesto Sosa to AC Milan. Still, Oğuzhan Özyakup is a very exciting attacking talent in the middle, while Ricardo Quaresma is always worth watching to see what kind of tricks he’ll try to pull off.

Even though we’re picking them last, Dynamo Kiev can’t be counted out. They have plenty of talent, and this group is wide open. They’ve stunningly managed to hang on to superstar winger Andriy Yarmolenko for another year (though the transfer window hasn’t shut yet). Most of their starters have experience in European competition. But Dynamo lost some of the top players that took them to the knockout stage of last year’s competition, and they haven’t replaced them with proven European stars.

Someone’s going to have to score goals for Napoli with Higuaín gone, and they’ll be counting on Milik to have a big year. The Polish international made a €35 million move from Ajax after a great season in the Eredivisie. The only question about Milik is his finishing -- he has everything you’d ever want in a striker and is a very intelligent player, but he misses a lot of chances. If he can correct that, he’ll be a superstar.

Besiktas’ fans create an incredible home atmosphere, so the Turkish side will expect to collect some points at home. On the road, they’ll be underdogs in all of their games. Since we’re predicting Benfica will go through in second, Besiktas’ game in Portugal will be a big one.