English powerhouse Manchester United have received a challenging group after the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League draw was made on Thursday night in Geneva.
The Red Devils have been drawn in Group H with French champions and last season’s runners-up Paris Saint Germain and last season’s semi-finalists RB Leipzig along with Turkish champions Istanbul Basaksehir.
Manchester United didn’t participate in the UEFA Champions League draw last year, reaching the Europa League semis instead, but finished third in the Premier League to re-claim their spot among Europe’s elite.
Italian champions Juventus and rebuilding Spanish La Liga runners-up FC Barcelona have been drawn together in Group G.
Juve and Barca are grouped with Ukrainian runners-up Dynamo Kiev and Hungarian newcomers Ferencvaros who’ve been assigned a tough initiation.
Arguably the toughest is Group B where Real Madrid are alongside Ukrainian champions and last season’s Europa League semi-finalists Shakhtar Donetsk as well as Italian powerhouse and three-time European champions Inter Milan and German club Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Reigning European champions Bayern Munich are in Group A with Luis Suarez’s new club Atletico Madrid, along with emerging Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg and Russian runners-up Lokomotiv Moscow.
Manchester City will fancy their draw in Group C with Portuguese champions FC Porto, Greek champions Olympiacos and French runners-up Olympique Marseille.
Liverpool will go in as favourites against Dutch champions Ajax Amsterdam, Italian entertainers Atalanta Bergamo and Danish champions FC Midtjylland in Group D.
Chelsea are up against Europa League winners FC Sevilla as well as two debutant clubs in Krasnodar and Stade Rennes who finished third in Russia and France respectively.
Group F rounds it out, with Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg, German runners-up Borussia Dortmund, Italian fourth-place getters Lazio and Belgian champions Club Brugge.
The group stage commences on October 20/21 and runs through until December 8/9.
