Reunion with Ronaldo as Red Devils draw Juventus

Manchester United face a reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo after being pitted against Juventus in the Champions League group stage.

Tottenham and Liverpool received tough draws as top-seed Manchester City got a favourable group, but the return of an Old Trafford favourite at a difficult time was arguably most eye-catching.

Back-to-back defeats have ratcheted up the pressure on United manager Jose Mourinho, who may not get much respite in a Champions League group that also includes Valencia and Young Boys.

Finalists in two of the previous four years, the Serie A champions are Group H favourites and have been bolstered by the summer arrival of United favourite Ronaldo.

The Portuguese became a global star during his time at Old Trafford and Mourinho knows better than most about his compatriot’s threat after working together – sometimes uneasily – at Real Madrid.

Cross-town rivals City benefited from their place in pot one of yesterday’s draw at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions face Shakhtar Donetsk again, with Lyon and Hoffenheim completing Group F.

Liverpool and Tottenham, on the other hand, face far tougher challenges.

Barcelona, Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven are the Group B opponents for Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs, who also have to deal with off-field complications brought by their stadium delay.

Tottenham have agreed with Uefa that their first home Champions League group match will be held at Wembley, but it is unclear what happens after that.

Last season’s runners-up Liverpool also face difficult group-stage assignments. The Reds were in pot three despite their 2017-18 heroics and will face Paris St-Germain, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade in Group C.

Full draw:

Group A: Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Monaco, Club Brugge.

Group B: Barcelona, Tottenham, PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan.

Group C: Paris St-Germain, Napoli, Liverpool, Red Star Belgrade.

Group D: Lokomotiv Moscow, Porto, Schalke, Galatasaray.

Group E: Bayern Munich, Benfica, Ajax, AEK Athens.

Group F: Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon, Hoffenheim.

Group G: Real Madrid, Roma, CSKA Moscow, Viktoria Plzen.

Group H: Juventus, Manchester United, Valencia, Young Boys.