UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE DRAW RELEASED

Premier League Champions Manchester City have been drawn to face Paris St-Germain, RB Leipzig and Club Bruges in the Champions League group stage.

Holders Chelsea come up against Serie A giants Juventus, Russian club Zenit St Petersburg and Swedish side Malmo.

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Manchester United face Villarreal, who beat them in last season’s Europa League final, as well as Italian club Atalanta and Swiss side Young Boys.

Liverpool are in a tough group with Atletico Madrid, Porto and AC Milan.

Group stage draw in full:

Group A: Manchester City, Paris St-Germain, RB Leipzig, Club Bruges

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

This year’s Champions League final takes place at the St Petersburg Stadium in Russia on Saturday, 28 May.

Mixed draw for English clubs

Pep Guardiola’s City side, who were beaten by Chelsea last season in their maiden final in the competition, face a brace of tantalising Group A meetings with Lionel Messi’s new club PSG.

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Those matches could see a reunion for Messi with old foe Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been heavily linked with a move to City from Juventus before transfer deadline day.

Bundesliga side RB Leipzig will also be a difficult proposition, having knocked out Manchester United in the group stage last season.

Jurgen Klopp’s six-time winners Liverpool are arguably in this season’s ‘group of death’, along with La Liga champions Atletico Madrid, Portuguese club Porto – winners in 1987 and 2004 – and seven-time European champions AC Milan.

Liverpool beat Milan in the famous 2005 final in Istanbul, but the Italians gained revenge in Athens two years later.

The toughest task for Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea side will be negotiating home and away meetings with Juventus, while the defending champions should have few problems against Zenit and Malmo.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be much happier with his side’s chances of progression from Group F, having been knocked out in the group stage last season.

The Red Devils will be aiming to take revenge on Unai Emery’s Villarreal, who beat them on penalties in the Europa League final last season.

Chelsea Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has also been named UEFA Goalkeeper of the Season.

Manchester City and Portuguese Defender Ruben Dias also won the UEFA Defender of the Season , While Chelsea’s Ngolo Kante won the UEFA Midfielder of the Season Award.

Chelsea Manager Thomas Tuchel won the UEFA Manager of the Year

Norwegian striker Erling Haaland won the UEFA Forward of the Season

After impressive season scoring 10 goals and setting up 4 assits

Chelsea’s Italian Midfielder Jorginho has won the UEFA Player of The Year Award.