Manchester United are facing a challenging group stage in the Champions League after being placed alongside Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig and Istanbul Basaksehir in Thursday’s draw.
United memorably cut a 2-0 deficit to knock out PSG 3-3 away on away goals in the last 16 at Parc des Princes two seasons ago. But last season Thomas Tuchel’s team reached the final, Leipzig was a semi-finalist and Basaksehir became Turkish champion for the first time.
In Group D, Liverpool will face Ajax, Atalanta and FC Midtjylland, while in Group G Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will have to face each other again alongside Dynamo Kyiv and Ferencvaros after the match between Barcelona and Juventus.
Manchester City face Porto, Olympiacos and Marseille in Group C. Defending champions Bayé Munich have Atlético Madrid, Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow in Group A, and Chelsea play with Europa League champions Sevilla, Krasnodar and Rennes in Group E.
Uefa also announced on Thursday that fans would be allowed to participate in the games of the competition, but only to 30% and in accordance with the respective local Covid regulations. Away fans are not allowed.
quick start GuideGroup stage tie
Group A: Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid, Salzburg, Moscow locomotive
Group B: Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Borussia Mönchengladbach
Group C: Porto, Manchester City, Olympiacos, Marseille
Group D: Liverpool, Ajax, Atalanta, Midtjylland
Group E: Seville, Chelsea, Krasnodar, Rennes
Group F: Zenit Saint Petersburg, Borussia Dortmund, Latium, Club Bruges
Group G: Juventus, Barcelona, Dynamo Kiev, Ferencvaros
Group H: Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, RB Leipzig, Istanbul Basaksehir
The British government had previously stated that the travel corridors for Poland and Turkey would be removed and the countries added to the national quarantine list. Players and team staff are expected to remain tax exempt. However, this means that all traveling media will have to spend 14 days in isolation reporting on United’s game in Istanbul. France is already on the list.
The opening group games will take place on October 20th and 21st. The first of three consecutive weeks of play before the international break in November are followed by the last three rounds, which are concluded on December 8th and 9th. Uefa will publish the schedule for the group stage on Friday.
At the draw, Pernille Harder from Chelsea and Robert Lewandowski from Bayern were named Player of the Year for UEFA Women and Men.
