Defending champions Chelsea will face two-time winners Juventus, Russian club Zenit St Petersburg, and Swedish side Malmo in the group stage of this year’s Champions League.
Runners-up and current Premier League champions Manchester City were drawn with PSG, the team they beat in the semi-finals of last season’s competition, as well as German team RB Leipzig and Belgian team Club Brugge. It means Guardiola will again be re-united with Lionel Messi after the two enjoyed a very successful four years at Barcelona together, winning three La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey, and two Champions Leagues between 2008 and 2012.
Liverpool got arguably the toughest draw of the English teams, being grouped with Spanish champions Atletico Madrid, the team that knocked them out in 2020, 2004 winners Porto, and Italian giants AC Milan, returning to the competition for the first time in seven years.
Manchester United will be happiest, being drawn with Spanish side Villareal, the team that beat them on penalties in last season’s Europa League final, as well as Italian club Atalanta and Swiss team Young Boys.
There were tantalising draws elsewhere, with 13-time winners Real Madrid set to face 3-time winners Inter Milan. 5-time winners Barcelona were also drawn with 6-time winners Bayern Munich, a repeat of the 2020 quarter-final when the Germans won 8-2.
The group stages begin the week commencing 13 September, with the final taking place at the St Petersburg Stadium in Russia on Saturday, 28 May.
Group stage draw in full:
Group A: Manchester City, Paris St-Germain, RB Leipzig, Club Brugge
Group B: Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Porto, AC Milan
Group C: Sporting Lisbon, Borussia Dortmund, Ajax, Besiktas
Group D: Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sheriff Tiraspol
Group E: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Benfica, Dynamo Kyiv
Group F: Villarreal, Manchester United, Atalanta, Young Boys
Group G: Lille, Sevilla, FC Salzburg, Wolfsburg
Group H: Chelsea, Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg, Malmo
Featured image by Rafael Henrique Serra – Own work, CC BY 3.0; no changes made.
