Tough draw for Real, Barca
Holders Real Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League group stage while five-time winners Barcelona were drawn with last season's runners-up Juventus on Thursday.
Zinedine Zidane's side are chasing a third successive European title and fourth in five seasons after demolishing Italian champions Juventus 4-1 in Cardiff in June.
The record 12-time European champions will also take on APOEL of Cyprus in a testing Group H.
Real's rival Barcelona did not get any easy pass either. They will however have the chance to get revenge for last season's Champions league defeat to Juventus as the pair were drawn together in the group phase alongside Olympiakos and Sporting in Group D.
World record signing Neymar and Paris Saint-Germain were paired alongside Bayern Munich, with Scottish champions Celtic and Belgian outfit Anderlecht completing the line-up in Group B.
Chelsea, one of a record five English teams to qualify for the group phase, will meet Atletico Madrid in Group C as well as Roma and Qarabag, the first side from Azerbaijan to reach this stage of the competition.
Jose Mourinho will return home with Manchester United after his team drew Benfica in Group A along with CSKA Moscow and Basel.
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City are in Group F alongside Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk, Napoli and Feyenoord while Liverpool will play Spartak Moscow, Sevilla and Maribor in Group E.
French champions Monaco, who reached last season's semi-finals, face Porto, Besiktas and debutants RB Leipzig in Group G.
Greek champions Olympiacos and Sporting Lisbon are also in the group alongside the two giants, after the draw was held in Monaco.
Aside from Spurs, English teams received slightly easier draws, with Chelsea's matchup with Atletico Madrid among the more challenging matchups, while Liverpool will face Sevilla.
Teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Clubs from the same national association -- as well as Russian and Ukrainian clubs -- could not be drawn together. The first group games will be played on September 12-13.
Comments