Real draw Dortmund, Tottenham
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW Neymar’s PSG clubbed with Bayern Munich in Group B; Juventus, Barcelona in Group D
MONACO: Two-time defending champion Real Madrid landed in a strong Champions League group with Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham and APOEL in the 32-team draw on Thursday.
Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo finished second to Dortmund in last season’s groups before lifting a third European title in four seasons.
Tottenham, who will face their former star Gareth Bale with Madrid, was arguably the unluckiest of the record five English sides.
Manchester United and Liverpool received favourable draws in the group stage which will kick-off on September 12. The top two in each of the eight groups advance to the knockout rounds.
United return after a oneyear and are clubbed in Group A with Benfica, who they beat at Wembley to win the first of its three European titles in 1968. Basel and CSKA Moscow are the other teams in the group.
Liverpool landed with the weakest top-seeded team, Russian champion Spartak Moscow, plus Sevilla and Maribor in Group E. Liverpool lost the 2016 Europa League final to Sevilla.
Barcelona, who were in the second-seeded pot, landed in Group D with Juventus. It will be a rematch of the 2015 final, which was won by the Catalans 3-1. Greece club Olympiacos and Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon are the other two teams in the group.
Neymar’s bid to win a first European title for Paris Saint-Germain will open in Group B with five-time winner Bayern Munich. Belgian side Anderlecht and Socttish champions Celtic round off the group. Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti, a three-time Champions League winner as a coach, formerly led the Paris-based club.
Chelsea, the last English team to win the Champions League in 2012, were grouped with Spanish giants Atletico Madrid, Italians Roma and Azerbaijani newcomer Qarabag.
The other newcomer,
RB Leipzig, is in a balanced group with top seed and French champions Monaco, Portugal’s Porto, and Turkish side 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 center of conflict between Ukraine government forces and pro-Russian separatists.
Kiev’s Olympic Stadium will host the final on May 26 and could be an option to host Shakhtar group games.