Holders PSG handed tough draw in UCL
Monaco: Paris Saint-Germain was handed a tough start to the defence of their Champions League title when the draw was made Thursday with no opponent from any of the lower-ranked nations.
PSG was drawn against Bayern Munich and Barcelona from the pot of top-ranked teams, while Tottenham came from the pot of third-seeded teams in a repeat of their tight Super Cup game two weeks ago. And the French champion was paired with arguably the two toughest opponents from the lowest-ranked teams: Newcastle and Athletic Bilbao.
Bayer Leverkusen, Atalanta and Portuguese champion Sporting Lisbon complete the title holder’s slate of eight games in the 36-team league phase. “It’s always difficult,” said PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, whose team stumbled to 15th place in the single-standings league last season before surging to its first Champions League title. “We forgot last season, we think about this season.”
Real Madrid also got a challenging draw, including a long-haul trip to play Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan — 6,420 kilometers (4,000 miles) from the Spanish capital, which is the furthest east the Champions League has ever gone.
Record 15-time champion Madrid got two English opponents from the pot of highest-ranked teams. Madrid will host Manchester City, which it beat in the knockout playoffs last season, and return to Liverpool after losing 2-0 at Anfield in the league phase last year.
Madrid also will face Juventus in a repeat of their 2017 final win, and two French opponents, Marseille and Monaco — where superstar forward Kylian Mbappe started his career. Liverpool fans will welcome Trent Alexander-Arnold back to Anfield with Madrid which he joined in June, and have away trips to the vibrant stadiums of Inter Milan, Eintracht Frankfurt, Marseille and Galatasaray.
“That is, I am sure, a fixture that the whole world will be looking at,” Liverpool coach Arne Slot said about another Madrid challenge.
Rematches and reunions
Bayern Munich will have rematches of two recent finals — at home to Chelsea where the German champion lost the 2012 title game on home turf, and away to PSG, which it beat in the 2020 final. Bayern also will go to Cyprus to face Pafos.
Manchester City will travel north of the Arctic Circle to face Bodo/Glimt of Norway, and host former fan favourite Kevin De Bruyne with his new club Napoli.
