NIGHTMARE DRAW FOR OLE
Solskjaer drawn in group of death with PSG and Leipzig
MANCHESTER UNITED were handed a nightmare draw on their return to the Champions League. And they face a further handicap after UEFA confirmed the partial return of supporters to grounds for their club competitions as well as international matches starting next week, where local laws permit.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were handed the toughest task of the Premier League’s four representatives after being placed in the Group of Death with Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig and Istanbul Basaksehir.
United were in the second pot of eight teams and followed French champions PSG, Champions League runners-up last season, into group B during the draw in Geneva.
Solskjaer’s men famously pulled off a dramatic comeback to knock PSG out at the last-16 stage, after losing the first leg 2-0 at home, during their last Champions League campaign in 2018/19, a victory that helped the Norwegian land the permanent job at Old Trafford.
But they will face an uphill task to reach the knockout stages after RB Leipzig, semi-finalists last season and led by highlyrated manager Julian Nagelsmann, were added to the group from pot three and then Champions League debutants and Turkish champions Istanbul Basaksehir, who signed f ormer Manchester United defender Rafael this summer.
Following their trial in the Super Cup between Bayern Munich and Sevilla in Budapest, UEFA are rolling out their reintroduction of fans to stadium.
Only home fans will be able to attend matches with the number allowed in capped at 30 per cent of stadium capacity.
However, plans to allow fans back into sporting events in England from October 1 were pushed back by up to six months.
That will leave United at a disadvantage when they travel to France and Germany, two countries that have allowed supporters back into grounds.
Italy, Holland, Denmark and Russia are among the other countries where fans have returned.
Portugal’s upcoming games against Spain and Sweden will be played in front of supporters while a test event in the Portuguese League is also due to take place this weekend.
Italy, Holland, Portugal, Denmark and Russia will also welcome English clubs in the Champions League group stage.
This year’s final is in Istanbul at the Ataturk Stadium on May 29 where Liverpool produced their unforgettable comeback from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan on penalties in 2005.
Premier League champions Liverpool were first out in Group D and will face Dutch giants Ajax, high- scoring Italians Atalanta and Danes Midtjylland who qualified for the competition for the first time this week and share an owner with Brentford in Matthew Benham.
Manchester City, quarter-finalists last year, will launch their latest bid to win the Champions League with Group C games against Portuguese champions Porto, Greek l eague winners Olympiacos and French runnersup Marseille. Former Chelsea duo Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda gave their old club a favourable draw, placed the Blues in Group E with Europa League winners Sevilla and two Champions League new boys, Russians Krasnodar and French side Rennes.
The Rennes ties have also set up a quick reunion for Chelsea’s new £22m goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, with his old club.
Elsewhere, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will resume their La Liga rivalry in Europe’s biggest competition after Juventus and Barcelona were both placed in Group G.
Ronaldo, 35, and Messi, 33, the two highest scorers in Champions League history with 130 and 115 goals respectively, have not clashed since the Portuguese left Real Madrid to join Juventus at the end of the 2017-18 season.
“United will be at
a disadvantage when they travel”
“Liverpool
will face Ajax and Atalanta”
The pair have only met five times in the Champions League, most recently in 2011 when Barcelona beat Real 3-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals.
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski won the UEFA men’s Player of the Year award, ahead of Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
The Polish forward scored 15 goals on the way to Bayern Munich’s s i xth Champions League title, hitting the target in every match before the final except a group game against Tottenham when he was rested.
He also fired 34 goals in 31 Bundesliga matches and six in five German Cup games, helping Bayern win both competitions. The German champions’ manager Hansi Flick won the coach of the year of the award.