Madrid draws tough group in Champs league

GENEVA Real Madrid’s route to retaining the Champions League title looks a lot like last year’s. Only tougher.

On Thursday, the two-time defending champion was drawn with Borussia Dortmund, which won its group last year, Tottenham, as classy as a third-seeded team gets, and fourth-seeded APOEL of Cyprus, a recent quarter-finalist.

Madrid’s rival, Barcelona, has a more routine path to the last 16. Though it could battle for top spot in the group with last season’s runner-up, Juventus, it should face few problems from Olympiakos and Sporting Lisbon.

Spain aims for a fifth straight Champions League title with just four teams in the 32-team competition, while England has five for the first time.

Tottenham was arguably the unluckiest of the English.

Manchester United and Liverpool received favourable draws in the groups that begin play on Sept. 12.

United returns after a one-year absence to play top-seeded Benfica, Basel, and CSKA Moscow.

Liverpool landed with the weakest top-seeded team, Russian champion Spartak Moscow, plus Sevilla and Maribor.

Neymar’s bid to win a first European title for Paris Saint- Germain will open in a group with five-time winner Bayern Munich plus Anderlecht and Celtic.

Chelsea was grouped with Atletico Madrid, Roma, and Azerbaijani newcomer Qarabag.

The other newcomer, Leipzig, is in a balanced group with top-seeded Monaco, Porto, and Besiktas.

Shakhtar Donetsk heads another strong group with Manchester City, Napoli, and Feyenoord. Shakhtar continues to play home games away from Donetsk, which is at the centre of conflict between Ukraine government forces and pro-Russian separatists.

Kyiv’s Olympic Stadium will host the final May 26 and could be an option to host Shakhtar group games.