Champions League draw: Liverpool to meet Rangers and Celtic face Real Madrid

Liverpool and Rangers will meet in the Champions League group stage, while Manchester City’s Erling Haaland is set to face his old club Borussia Dortmund.

Eintracht Frankfurt, who are making their group stage debut, are in the same group as Tottenham.

Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Inter Milan have been drawn in the same group.

Group stage draw in full

Group A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers

Group B: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Bruges

Group C: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen

Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham, Sporting Lisbon, Marseille

Group E: AC Milan, Chelsea, RB Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb

Group F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic

Group G: Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, FC Copenhagen

Group H: Paris St-Germain, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa

Matches will take place between 6 September and 2 November.

This season’s Champions League final will take place at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, on 10 June 2023.

Mixed draw for British clubs

Rangers are in the group stage for the first time in 12 years after overcoming PSV Eindhoven, and the Scottish club face two mouth-watering Group A games against six-time champions of Europe Liverpool.

Ajax and Napoli make up the rest of Group A.

As well as record 14-time winners Real Madrid, Celtic also face RB Leipzig and Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk, who are playing their home games in Warsaw, Poland, because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Group F.

Tottenham will be confident of making progress after being drawn in the same group as Eintracht Frankfurt, last season’s Europa League winners, Sporting Lisbon and Marseille.

Although two-time winners Chelsea face two tough games against AC Milan, Thomas Tuchel’s side will hope to advance to the knockout stage in Group E which is also made up of RB Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb.

Sevilla and FC Copenhagen also await Manchester City in Group G, while there are two heavyweight games between Paris St-Germain and Juventus in Group E.

But one of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Inter Milan will miss out in Group C. The three club have been crowned champions of Europe 14 times between them.

‘Plenty of intrigue’ – analysis

BBC Sport’s chief football writer Phil McNulty:

The Premier League’s quartet of Champions League clubs will all be guardedly optimistic about their chances of progress into the knockout phase – but there is still plenty of intrigue wrapped up in the draw for the group stage.

And a stand-out is in Group A, where last season’s beaten finalists Liverpool will face Rangers at Anfield and Ibrox as the latter make their return to the Champions League stage after an absence of more than a decade.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Rangers reached the group stage after winning their second leg qualifying tie away to PSV Eindhoven and how they and their supporters will relish facing Liverpool in an attractive group that also contains Ajax and Napoli. They will feel this signals the club’s official return to the big time.

Manchester City’s summer signing Erling Haaland will have a reunion with former club Borussia Dortmund as they seek that elusive Champions League crown. City will be favourites to top a group containing Sevilla and FC Copenhagen.

Tottenham’s reward for their rejuvenation under Antonio Conte is a group they will believe they can get out of as they face Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon and Marseille.

The same will apply to the 2021 Champions League winners Chelsea as they come up against AC Milan, RB Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb.

And what a magnificent night is in store at Parkhead when legendary coach and record four-time winner Carlo Ancelotti brings the Champions League holders Real Madrid to Glasgow.

The great names have suffered on that stage and in that atmosphere before. Celtic will feel if they can make it a fortress once more they can get out of Group F, which also includes RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Source

About The Author