Real up against Dortmund and Spurs in group stage

Top Stories

Real up against Dortmund and Spurs in group stage
The trophy of UEFA Champions League is put on display before the UEFA Champions League draw in Monaco.

Monaco - Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said it's the toughest group

By Reuters/AP

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Thu 24 Aug 2017, 10:39 PM

Last updated: Fri 25 Aug 2017, 12:44 AM

Holders Real Madrid will start their attempt to win a record third straight Champions League title in a group with Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur and Apoel Nicosia after Thursday's draw.
The Group H draw will see Real's Welsh international Gareth Bale face his former club Tottenham for the first time since his 2013 move to Madrid. Real were drawn in the same group as Dortmund last year and drew 2-2 both home and away as the Germans topped the group.
Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said: "It's the toughest group but we've been in this situation before and won the group. Heroes are made in groups like these."
Manchester United will face their opponents from their 1968 European Cup final triumph, Benfica, and were given a relatively kind draw with Switzerland's FC Basel and CSKA Moscow also in Group A.
Lionel Messi and Barcelona will face last year's beaten finalists Juventus in Group D, as well as Olympiakos Piraeus and Sporting Lisbon.
Group C throws up some interesting games with 2012 winners Chelsea up against Atletico Madrid, beaten finalists in 2016 and 2014.
AS Roma will also fancy their chances of progressing from Group C and Qarabag, the first team from Azerbaijan to qualify for the group stage, will relish the big-name opponents.
Liverpool face familiar rivals in Sevilla, who beat them in the final of the 2016 Europa League, but Juergen Klopp's team will be confident against Spartak Moscow and Slovenia's Maribor.
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.
 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.


More news from