Bayern Munich had been placed within the identical segment as Robert Lewandowski’s Barcelona in Thursday’s draw for the UEFA Champions League institution stage in Istanbul, at the same time as Erling Haaland will face his former membership as Manchester City had been paired with Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern and Barcelona will also arise against Inter Milan in Group C, which is completed by way of the Czech champions Viktoria Plzen.
Bayern beat Barcelona eight-2 in a one-off quarter-very last in Lisbon in 2020, at the same time as the Catalans additionally misplaced 3-0 two times to the Germans closing season as they have been removed inside the institution degree.
Lewandowski, 34, signed for Barcelona in the course of the close season for a fee that might reach 50 million euros ($49.9m) after scoring 344 goals in eight years at Bayern.
“Only soccer writes such tales,” said Bayern carrying director Hasan Salihamidzic.”Barcelona have got stronger. ‘Lewy’ is there. They’ve done a component or two in the transfer marketplace. There will be a few exciting video games.”
Haaland left Dortmund for Premier League champions City inside the close season. Those sides can even face Sevilla and Danish champions FC Copenhagen in Group G.
City and Dortmund last met within the Champions League sector-finals in 2021, with Pep Guardiola’s side advancing 4-2 on mixture. City additionally beat Sevilla two times inside the organization level in 2015/16.
Last season’s crushed finalists Liverpool will play Ajax, Napoli and Rangers in Group A, at the same time as reigning champions Real Madrid will face Celtic as well as RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk in Group F.
It is the 1/3 season walking wherein Real and Shakhtar were placed in the identical organization.
With struggle continuing to rage in Ukraine, Shakhtar will play their domestic video games inside the Polish capital Warsaw.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side confronted Ajax in the organization level just two years ago, while the Anfield outfit came up against Napoli in 2019.
Meanwhile, Rangers are returned within the institution phase of Europe’s elite club opposition for the primary time in 12 years – inside the 2010/eleven season they held Manchester United to a 0-zero draw at Old Trafford but in 2012 they were demoted to the Scottish fourth tier whilst mounting money owed pressured them into liquidation.
After attaining remaining season’s Europa League final, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side knocked out PSV Eindhoven inside the play-offs on Wednesday to reach the group level.
“The first issue to mention is this is a right, right project,” Klopp informed Liverpool’s official internet site.
“We did no longer ask for any favours and we’ve got no longer been given any but this isn’t a opposition in which you can look for smooth approaches via due to the fact the standard is continually unbelievably excessive.”
Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain – who once more start among the favourites to win a trophy that has persisted to escape them for the reason that Qatari takeover of greater than a decade in the past – will meet Juventus in addition to Benfica and Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa in Group H.
Chelsea, winners in 2021, will take on Serie A champions AC Milan as well as Red Bull Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb in Group E, even as Tottenham Hotspur will face ultimate season’s Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt at the side of Sporting Lisbon and Marseille in Group D.
Porto and Atletico Madrid meet for the second one season walking in Group B, which additionally features Bayer Leverkusen and Belgian champions Club Brugge.
This season’s organization degree will start with the primary round of games on September 6 and 7.
The suit calendar is anticipated to be released following the draws on Friday for the organization ranges of the Europa League and Europa Conference League.
All six matchdays may be performed inside the area of 9 weeks, finishing a whole lot earlier than normal on November 1 and a couple of, with UEFA needing to finish the group degree before the World Cup starts offevolved on November 20.
The final can be performed on June 10 subsequent yr on the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, which became alleged to host the very last in 2020 and again in 2021 – on every event UEFA moved the game to Portugal because of pandemic-related restrictions.