Manchester City and PSG share group A, so there could be another duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
AFP
Lionel Messi, with his new team Paris Saint-Germain, will face his former coach Josep Guardiola, who directs Manchester City in group A of the Champions League, according to the draw carried out this Thursday in Istanbul, which also produced difficult keys for Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid.
Barça will meet again with Bayern Munich, the team that humiliated them (8-0) in the quarterfinals of the Champions League in 2020, within a group E that is completed by the also historic Portuguese Benfica and Ukrainian Dynamo Kiev.
In the case of Messi’s PSG and Guardiola’s Manchester City, the group also promises strong emotions, as it is completed by German RB Leipzig, one of the emerging formations in European football, and Belgian Bruges.
The PSG-Manchester City pulse would add even more attractive if finally the Premier League champion signed Cristiano Ronaldo, as has been speculated insistently in the last hours.
City and PSG met in the semifinals of the last Champions League, with victory for the English, so the pulse also has the aroma of revenge.
Real Madrid, which leads the competition with thirteen titles, will have as their main adversary Inter Milan, Italian champions, within a group E completed by the Ukrainian Shakhtar Donetsk and the Moldovan Sheriff Tiraspol.
Atlético de Madrid, winner of the last Spanish League, was framed in its group (B) with three former European champions within a quartet that is very open, with English Liverpool, Portuguese Porto and Italian AC Milan.
Among the rest of the Spanish teams, Villarreal will coincide with Manchester United, which they beat in the final of the last Europa League. Both will try to stay with one of the first two positions in group F, which also includes the Italian Atalanta and the theoretically more affordable Swiss Young Boys.
More fortune had Sevilla, who will play in their group G against French Lille, Austrian Salzburg and German Wolfsburg.
For its part, Chelsea, defender of the European title, will have Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus as their main threat, as long as the Portuguese star continues in Turin. That group H is completed by the Russian Zenit (in whose city, Saint Petersburg, the final will be played) and the Swedish Malmö. (D)