August 25 – The 32-team draw for the lucrative group stage of the Champions League takes place later today in Istanbul – host of this season’s final with all manner of mouthwatering ties in prospect.
Scottish giants Rangers, last season’s Europa League runners-up, returned to the group stage for the first time in 12 years on Wednesday, upsetting PSV Eindhoven to join rivals Celtic in the draw
After being hit by financial troubles and going into liquidation, Rangers had to start again in the fourth tier of Scottish football in 2012.
Dinamo Zagreb also snatched a place amongst the big boys after edging past Norway’s Bodo/Glimt in the final qualifying round as FC Copenhagen also made it after a 0-0 draw at Turkey’s Trabzonspor secured a 2-1 aggregate win.
Today’s draw features no fewer than 14 former European champions who have won 56 of the 67 European Cup or Champions League titles to date. Seven more teams are previous beaten finalists.
The draw includes the ever-powerful trio of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus even though they are still jointly fighting UEFA in the courts for the right to resurrect the much-maligned European Super League.
Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk will be in the draw two days after playing their first competitive game – the resumption of the new domestic season – since the Russian invasion in February.
Shakhtar will be playing its home games in Warsaw in neighbouring Poland. “It will be difficult to be equal to (Manchester) City, or Bayern or Liverpool. Maybe we will be lucky,” said captain Taras Stepanenko.
Because of the World Cup in Qatar, the group stage starts early on September 6 and ends five weeks sooner than usual on November 2. Six rounds will be played in just nine weeks before a three-month pause until the round of 16 starts February 14. The 32 teams share around €2 billion in prize money.
Pot 1: Real Madrid (Spain), Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), Manchester City (England), AC Milan (Italy), Bayern Munich (Germany), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Porto (Portugal), Ajax (Netherlands).
Pot 2: Liverpool (England), Chelsea (England), Barcelona (Spain), Juventus (Italy), Atlético Madrid (Spain), Sevilla (Spain), Leipzig (Germany), Tottenham (England).
Pot 3: Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Salzburg (Austria), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Inter Milan (Italy), Napoli (Italy), Benfica (Portugal), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
Pot 4: Rangers (Scotland), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Marseille (France), Copenhagen (Denmark), Club Brugge (Belgium), Celtic (Scotland), Viktoria Plzeň (Czech Republic), Maccabi Haifa (Israel).
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