Tobias Sylvester
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has announced the group stage draws for the 2021/2022 Champions League games which feature 32 teams.
Champions League title holders Chelsea are up against Juventus, final hosts Zenit and Malmö after the group stage draw was made on Thursday in Istanbul, Turkey.
Manchester City are up against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in Group A, while Manchester United and Villarreal face a rematch of last season’s UEFA Europa League decider in Group F.
Group B is simply jaw-dropping, with four continental powers — Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Porto and AC Milan – fighting to make it out of the tournament.
Lastly, in a highly improbable scenario, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk were drawn into the same group for the second straight edition.
All group-stage matches will be played in the six prescheduled windows: Sept. 14-15, Sept. 28-29, Oct. 19-20, Nov. 2-3, Nov. 23-24 and Dec. 7-8.
2021/22 Champions League Group Stage Draw:
Group A
Pot 1: Manchester City (England)
Pot 2: Paris Saint-Germain (France)
Pot 3: RB Leipzig (Germany)
Pot 4: Club Brugge (Belgium)
Group B
Pot 1: Atletico Madrid (Spain)
Pot 2: Liverpool (England)
Pot 3: Porto (Portugal)
Pot 4: AC Milan (Italy)
Group C
Pot 1: Sporting CP (Portugal)
Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Pot 3: Ajax (Netherlands)
Pot 4: Besiktas (Turkey)
Group D
Pot 1: Inter Milan (Italy)
Pot 2: Real Madrid (Spain)
Pot 3: Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Pot 4: Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova)
Group E
Pot 1: Bayern Munich (Germany)
Pot 2: FC Barcelona (Spain)
Pot 3: Benfica (Portugal)
Pot 4: Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)
Group F
Pot 1: Villarreal (Spain)
Pot 2: Manchester United (England)
Pot 3: Atalanta (Italy)
Pot 4: BSC Young Boys (Switzerland)
Group G
Pot 1: LOSC Lille (France)
Pot 2: Sevilla (Spain)
Pot 3: RB Salzburg (Austria)
Pot 4: VfL Wolfsburg (Germany)
Group H
Pot 1: Chelsea (England)
Pot 2: Juventus (Italy)
Pot 3: Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia)
Pot 4: Malmo FF (Sweden)
Meanwhile, Jorginho has been named as UEFA’s men’s footballer of the year as Chelsea dominated the 2021 champions league award.
