Lewandowski, Haaland and the players who could face former clubs in the Champions League
Karan Tejwani
- 25 Aug 2022 03:30 CDT
- 4 min read
The Champions League draw takes place this afternoon as clubs wait to find out their fate for the group stages of Europe’s premier club cup competition.
With that, there will be a host of top names who will be returning to their former clubs, adding to the narrative in what is already set to be an exciting stage of the tournament.
This summer has seen several big transfers across all leagues as clubs aim to strengthen for this very purpose: competing to win the Champions League.
With that, here is a rundown of players who transferred clubs over the summer and could make a quick return to their former stomping grounds so soon after leaving.
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The headline will be Robert Lewandowski, who left Bayern Munich in rather acrimonious circumstances to join Barcelona – he could make a return as Bayern are in Pot 1 and Barcelona are in Pot 2.
The two clubs squared off in the group stage last season with the Germans winning both clashes 3-0, with Lewandowski scoring twice in the win at the Camp Nou.
Elsewhere, Erling Haaland could make a return to the Westfalenstadion to face Borussia Dortmund, having swapped Germany for his birthplace of England in one of the earliest moves of the transfer window.
Staying in England, Chelsea’s Kalidou Koulibaly ended a long stay at Napoli, but could return to Naples, with Chelsea being in Pot 2 while Napoli are in Pot 3.
Liverpool didn’t make too many transfers this year, but made one of the biggest as Darwin Nunez swapped Benfica’s Estadio da Luz for Anfield.
The Uruguayan could make his return to the Portuguese capital so soon after leaving, with Benfica being in Pot 3, while Liverpool, having lost last season’s Champions League final, are in Pot 2.
Lewandowski ile Haaland pic.twitter.com/fTQs5ln1fP
— FC Barcelona (@fcbarcelona_tr) August 24, 2022
Away from England, Juventus could be involved in two big returns: Matthijs de Ligt swapped Turin for Bayern Munich, and he could be on his way back after the Champions League draw.
Additionally, the club made the exciting signing of Filip Kostic from Eintracht Frankfurt, who are a Pot 1 team having won the Europa League last season, and could square off against each other.
Staying in Italy, one of Belgium’s highly-rated players, Charles De Ketelaere swapped Club Brugge for Milan in a big-money move this year, and could return to his first professional club in the competition.
Romelu Lukaku left Chelsea for Inter in 2021, but in 2022, returned to Inter on loan and there could be a return to Stamford Bridge on the cards too, although he probably won’t be too popular a figure there.
Paris Saint-Germain could see an intriguing return: Nuno Mendes has played for them for the last season on loan from Sporting, but he’s now a permanent PSG player and the two could meet in the Champions League.
Nordi Mukiele also left RB Leipzig to join the French champions and improve their back-line, and the two could meet again this season, having been in the same group in each of the last two campaigns.
Elsewhere, Karim Adeyemi is one of the most highly-touted talents in German football, and he could make a return to Red Bull Salzburg, having moved to Borussia Dortmund over the summer.
