UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW

REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

It’s that time of the year again. The Champions League 2017-18 group stage draw has been made, and football fans all around the globe will be licking their lips in expectation, with potential blockbuster games set to take place once the competition kicks off three weeks from now.

Arguably the most exciting group of the lot is Group H, which will see the likes of heavyweights Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspur face off against each other, while Apoel complete the group.

Mauricio Pochettino could not have asked for a worse draw, considering the fact that his side were knocked out at the group stage last season to teams they really should have beaten.

Group B will see the likes of Bayern Munich and PSG go head-to-head, while 2015 finalists Juventus and Barcelona have been pitted against each other in Group D.

Premier League champions Chelsea will hope that Antonio Conte can follow up his league success by leading the Blues to Champions League glory, and his side will go up against some stiff competition in the form of Atletico Madrid and Roma.

Last season’s Europa League winners Manchester United have been put in a favourable group (Group A), with the likes of Benfica, Basel and CSKA Moscow to compete against. The last time United had both Benfica and Basel in the same group was back in 2011, when Sir Alex Ferguson’s men went crashing out at the end of the group stages itself.

Manchester City and Liverpool have both been put into favorable groups too, as they look to make an impression on the competition this year. While England will boast of five representatives in the mix this season, this will be the first time in over 20 years that Arsenal have failed to make it into the draw.

The groups for the upcoming Champions League are as follows:

GROUP A

Benfica's Ederson saves from Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Reuters / Wolfgang Rattay

Benfica (Portugal)

Manchester United (England)

Basle (Switzerland)

CSKA Moscow (Russia)


GROUP B

Bayern Munich's players celebrate after the match after winning the Bundesliga.

Reuters / Fabian Bimmer

Bayern Munich (Germany)

PSG (France)

Anderlecht (Belgium)

Celtic (Scotland)


GROUP C

Reuters / Carl Recine

Chelsea (England)

Atletico Madrid (Spain)

Roma (Italy)

Qarabag (Azerbaijan)


GROUP D

Juventus' Paulo Dybala celebrates with teammate Miralem Pjanic after scoring a penalty against Bologna.

REUTERS/Giorgio Perottino

Juventus (Italy)

Barcelona (Spain)

Olympiacos (Greece)

Sporting Lisbon (Portugal)


GROUP E

Sevilla's Steven N'Zonzi celebrates after scoring against Dinamo Zagreb.

REUTERS/ Marcelo del Pozo

Spartak Moscow (Russia)

Sevilla (Spain)

Liverpool (England)

Maribor (Slovenia)


GROUP F

Manchester City's Danilo celebrates a goal with team mates.

REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)

Manchester City (England)

Napoli (Italy)

Feyenoord (Holland)


GROUP G

Monaco's Kylian Mbappe-Lottin celebrates with Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy.

Reuters / Andrew Couldridge

Monaco (France)

Porto (Portugal)

Besiktas (Turkey)

RB Leipzig (Germany)


GROUP H

Real Madrid's Gareth Bale celebrate with the trophy after winning the UEFA Champions League Final.

Reuters / John Sibley

Real Madrid (Spain)

Borussia Dortmund (Germany)

Tottenham (England)

Apoel (Cyprus)

 



Written by Reyhan Ashley Nath  

Manchester United fan, Wayne Rooney is his role model. Passionate writer who has written for several sites in the past. He’s also an aspiring pianist and creates background music for BlameFootball’s Youtube channel.

 

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