The 2017/18 UEFA Champions League group stage draw has been made, with highlights including Bayern Munich v PSG, Chelsea v Atlético Madrid, Juventus v Barcelona and Real Madrid v Dortmund.
GROUP A (BENFICA, MANCHESTER UNITED, BASEL, CSKA MOSCOW)
Jose Mourinho can be happy with how Manchester United’s return after a one-year absence shapes, and his own quest to be the first person to coach three different clubs to European glory. Benfica is a consistent performer in the second tier of Europe’s elite; Basel has been weakened by persistent sales of top players since eliminating United in the 2011 groups; and CSKA Moscow finished last in a group that included United in 2015. After such a powerful start to the English Premier League, the three-time European champion should start group favorite.
GROUP B (BAYERN MUNICH, PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN, ANDERLECHT, CELTIC)
Neymar made it his big goal to win the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain after securing his world-record transfer from Barcelona for 222 million euros ($262 million) last month, and advancing to the knockout stage should be a formality for his new team. The Brazil forward’s first European campaign with PSG will take him to five-time champion Bayern, whose coach Carlo Ancelotti used to manage the French club. Celtic is never an easy team to visit, but the Scottish champion is likely fighting it out with Anderlecht for third place.
GROUP C (CHELSEA, ATLETICO MADRID, ROMA, QARABAG)
Qarabag is the first Azerbaijani team to reach this stage and its reward is one of the most competitive groups. Atletico Madrid has reached the final twice in the past three years, losing both times to Real Madrid, while Chelsea is the current English champion and 2012 European champion. Chelsea and Atletico could be in negotiations over the next few months regarding the sale of Diego Costa, the Chelsea striker who is estranged in his native Brazil and wants to join former club Atletico.
GROUP D (JUVENTUS, BARCELONA, OLYMPIAKOS, SPORTING)
It will be a major surprise if Juventus and Barcelona, European champions a combined seven times, fail to qualify from the group. They met in the 2015 final, with Barca’s prolific front three of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez inspiring a 3-1 win in Berlin. Neymar, of course, is no longer around. Juventus lost last season’s final, too, to Real Madrid and hasn’t won the Champions League since 1996. Olympiakos and Sporting are regular qualifiers but rarely advance.
GROUP E (SPARTAK MOSCOW, SEVILLA, LIVERPOOL, MARIBOR)
Five-time European champion Liverpool came through the playoffs and gets a chance to avenge its loss to Sevilla in the 2016 Europa League final, which denied the English team a place in last season’s Champions League. Spartak, which won the Russian Premier League, is in the group stage for the first time since 2010-11, while Slovenian team Maribor is the big outsider in its third attempt to reach the knockout stage. This will likely be considered the weakest of the eight groups.
GROUP F (SHAKHTAR DONETSK, MANCHESTER CITY, NAPOLI, FEYENOORD)
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City avoided tougher options by being drawn into top-seeded Shakhtar’s group. The Ukrainian champion is always fighting against the disadvantage of not playing a real home game in three years due to the conflict involving pro-Russian separatists around its home city. Still, Napoli was one of the more difficult opponents for City from the third-seeded teams and eased past Nice in the playoffs round. Feyenoord returns to the group stage after a 15-year absence and is likely in for a learning experience.
GROUP G (MONACO, PORTO, BESIKTAS, LEIPZIG)
Monaco, last season’s surprise semifinalist, comes up against Porto in a rematch of the 2004 final won by the Portuguese team. Leipzig didn’t even exist then — the club was created in 2009 — and is a newcomer at this level, but the Bundesliga runner-up was the team from the fourth seeds that most of the continent’s heavyweights wanted to avoid. Monaco won its group as a fourth-seeded team last season, which is something Leipzig can cling to in a group which might be the hardest to predict.
GROUP H (REAL MADRID, BORUSSIA DORTMUND, TOTTENHAM, APOEL)
Real Madrid has won the Champions League three times in the past four years, and is looking to become the first team since Bayern Munich (1974-76) to be European champion in three straight years. Madrid’s path to the knockout stage may yet be smoothed by its fierce rival Barcelona, who is reportedly close to signing one of Borussia Dortmund’s star players, Ousmane Dembele. Tottenham will be hoping for better results at its temporary home of Wembley Stadium, where the English team lost two of its three group games last season. APOEL famously reached the quarterfinals in 2012 against the odds.
The opening games will take place on September 12 and 13, with the group phase running until early December ahead of the knockout stages in 2018.
The top two from each group progress to the round of 16, with the draw taking place in December and games starting at that stage in February.
The Champions League final will be played in the Olympic Stadium in Kiev on May 26.
Matchday 2
FC Basel 1893 – SL Benfica – Buy Champions League Tickets
PFC CSKA Moskva – Manchester United FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Paris Saint-Germain – FC Bayern München – Buy Champions League Tickets
RSC Anderlecht – Celtic FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Club Atlético de Madrid – Chelsea FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Qarabağ FK – AS Roma – Buy Champions League Tickets
Sporting Clube de Portugal – FC Barcelona – Buy Champions League Tickets
Juventus Football Club – Olympiacos FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Sevilla FC – NK Maribor – Buy Champions League Tickets
FC Spartak Moskva – Liverpool FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
SSC Napoli – Feyenoord – Buy Champions League Tickets
Manchester City FC – FC Shakhtar Donetsk – Buy Champions League Tickets
Beşiktaş JK – RB Leipzig – Buy Champions League Tickets
AS Monaco FC – FC Porto – Buy Champions League Tickets
Borussia Dortmund – Real Madrid CF – Buy Champions League Tickets
APOEL FC – Tottenham Hotspur FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Matchday 3
PFC CSKA Moskva – FC Basel 1893 – Buy Champions League Tickets
SL Benfica – Manchester United FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
RSC Anderlecht – Paris Saint-Germain – Buy Champions League Tickets
FC Bayern München – Celtic FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Qarabağ FK – Club Atlético de Madrid – Buy Champions League Tickets
Chelsea FC – AS Roma – Buy Champions League Tickets
Juventus Football Club – Sporting Clube de Portugal – Buy Champions League Tickets
FC Barcelona – Olympiacos FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
FC Spartak Moskva – Sevilla FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
NK Maribor – Liverpool FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Manchester City FC – SSC Napoli – Buy Champions League Tickets
Feyenoord – FC Shakhtar Donetsk – Buy Champions League Tickets
AS Monaco FC – Beşiktaş JK – Buy Champions League Tickets
RB Leipzig – FC Porto – Buy Champions League Tickets
APOEL FC – Borussia Dortmund – Buy Champions League Tickets
Real Madrid CF – Tottenham Hotspur FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Matchday 4
FC Basel 1893 – PFC CSKA Moskva – Buy Champions League Tickets
Manchester United FC – SL Benfica – Buy Champions League Tickets
Paris Saint-Germain – RSC Anderlecht – Buy Champions League Tickets
Celtic FC – FC Bayern München – Buy Champions League Tickets
Club Atlético de Madrid – Qarabağ FK – Buy Champions League Tickets
AS Roma – Chelsea FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Sporting Clube de Portugal – Juventus Football Club – Buy Champions League Tickets
Olympiacos FC – FC Barcelona – Buy Champions League Tickets
Sevilla FC – FC Spartak Moskva – Buy Champions League Tickets
Liverpool FC – NK Maribor – Buy Champions League Tickets
SSC Napoli – Manchester City FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
FC Shakhtar Donetsk – Feyenoord – Buy Champions League Tickets
Beşiktaş JK – AS Monaco FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
FC Porto – RB Leipzig – Buy Champions League Tickets
Borussia Dortmund – APOEL FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Tottenham Hotspur FC – Real Madrid CF – Buy Champions League Tickets
Matchday 5
PFC CSKA Moskva – SL Benfica – Buy Champions League Tickets
FC Basel 1893 – Manchester United FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
RSC Anderlecht – FC Bayern München – Buy Champions League Tickets
Paris Saint-Germain – Celtic FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Qarabağ FK – Chelsea FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Club Atlético de Madrid – AS Roma – Buy Champions League Tickets
Juventus Football Club – FC Barcelona – Buy Champions League Tickets
Sporting Clube de Portugal – Olympiacos FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
FC Spartak Moskva – NK Maribor – Buy Champions League Tickets
Sevilla FC – Liverpool FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Manchester City FC – Feyenoord – Buy Champions League Tickets
SSC Napoli – FC Shakhtar Donetsk – Buy Champions League Tickets
AS Monaco FC – RB Leipzig – Buy Champions League Tickets
Beşiktaş JK – FC Porto – Buy Champions League Tickets
APOEL FC – Real Madrid CF – Buy Champions League Tickets
Borussia Dortmund – Tottenham Hotspur FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Matchday 6
SL Benfica – FC Basel 1893 – Buy Champions League Tickets
Manchester United FC – PFC CSKA Moskva – Buy Champions League Tickets
FC Bayern München – Paris Saint-Germain – Buy Champions League Tickets
Celtic FC – RSC Anderlecht – Buy Champions League Tickets
Chelsea FC – Club Atlético de Madrid – Buy Champions League Tickets
AS Roma – Qarabağ FK – Buy Champions League Tickets
FC Barcelona – Sporting Clube de Portugal – Buy Champions League Tickets
Olympiacos FC – Juventus Football Club – Buy Champions League Tickets
NK Maribor – Sevilla FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Liverpool FC – FC Spartak Moskva – Buy Champions League Tickets
Feyenoord – SSC Napoli – Buy Champions League Tickets
FC Shakhtar Donetsk – Manchester City FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
RB Leipzig – Beşiktaş JK – Buy Champions League Tickets
FC Porto – AS Monaco FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
Real Madrid CF – Borussia Dortmund – Buy Champions League Tickets
Tottenham Hotspur FC – APOEL FC – Buy Champions League Tickets
