Ronaldo, Pogba face familiar foes

MONACO Cristiano Ronaldo will be reunited with Manchester United and Paul Pogba with Juventus after the storied teams were drawn together in a Champions League group on Thursday.

After winning four titles at Real Madrid, and one with United, Ronaldo aims to end Juventus’ 23-year wait for a third European title.

Pogba played for Juventus in its 2015 final loss against Barcelona before moving back to Manchester for a then-world record fee in 2016.

Valencia and Young Boys are also in Group H with United and Juventus.

Three-time defending champion Real Madrid will start its quest for a record-extending 14th European title in Group G with Roma, CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen.

Barcelona heads a tough-looking Group B with Tottenham, plus former champions PSV Eindhoven and Inter Milan, while three more former European champions — Bayern Munich, Benfica, and Ajax — are together with underdog AEK Athens in Group E.

Liverpool, the runner-up last season, was the toughest thirdseeded team and landed with Paris Saint-germain, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade in Group C.

English champion Manchester City got a favourable draw in Group F with Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon and Hoffenheim.

Atletico Madrid, whose Metropolitano stadium hosts the final on June 1, is grouped with Borussia Dortmund, Monaco and Club Brugge in Group A.

Lokomotiv Moscow, seeded in the top pot as Russia’s champion, will play Porto, Schalke and Galatasaray in Group D.

Games kick off on Sept. 18, and two teams from each group advance to the Round of 16.

Teams from the same country could not be drawn together Thursday, and teams from Ukraine and Russia were kept apart due to political tensions.