Sports
Full details of UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco.
Updated : Sep 04, 2017, 11:58 PM IST
Real Madrid will start their attempt to win a record third straight Champions League title in a group with Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur and Apoel Nicosia after Thursday's draw.
The Group H draw will see Real's Welsh international Gareth Bale face his former club Tottenham for the first time since his 2013 move to Madrid. Real were drawn in the same group as Dortmund last year and drew 2-2 both home and away as the Germans topped the group.
Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said: "It's the toughest group but we've been in this situation before and won the group. Heroes are made in groups like these."
Former Real striker and current Director of Institutional Relations Emilio Butragueno said he expected a tough challenge for the champions.
Manchester United will face their opponents from their 1968 European Cup final triumph, Benfica, and were given a relatively kind draw with Switzerland's FC Basel and CSKA Moscow also in Group A.
The world's most expensive player, Brazilian Neymar, will be up against Bayern Munich, Anderlecht and Celtic in Group B as his club Paris Saint Germain look for their first Champions League title.
Lionel Messi and Barcelona will face last year's beaten finalists Juventus in Group D, as well as Olympiakos Piraeus and Sporting Lisbon.
Group C throws up some interesting games with 2012 winners Chelsea up against Atletico Madrid, beaten finalists in 2016 and 2014.
AS Roma will also fancy their chances of progressing from Group C and Qarabag, the first team from Azerbaijan to qualify for the group stage, will relish the big-name opponents.
Liverpool face familiar rivals in Sevilla, who beat them in the final of the 2016 Europa League, but Juergen Klopp's team will be confident against Spartak Moscow and Slovenia's Maribor.
Here is how the draw happened:
'21:25
Champions League group stage draw in full
Group A: Benfica, Manchester United, Basel, CSKA Moscow
Group B: Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Anderlecht, Celtic
Group C: Chelsea, Atlético Madrid, Roma, Qarabag
Group D: Juventus, Barcelona, Olympiakos, Sporting Clube de Portugal
Group E: Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Liverpool, Maribor
Group F: Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City, Napoli, Feyenoord
Group G: Monaco, Porto, Besiktas, Leipzig
Group H: Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham, Apoel Nicosia
'21:22
Maribor are allocated Group E. Apoel Nicosia have to go in Group H
'21:20
CSKA Moscow are in Manchester United’s Group A. Celtic will be in Group B
'21:19
Sporting will sit in Group D. Feyenoord is in Group F
'21:17
Qarabag join Chelsea, Roma and Atletico in Group C
'21:16
Leipzig, who go into Group G
'21:15
The groups as they stand:
The #UCLdraw after Pot 3 has been completed...
— #UCLdraw (@ChampionsLeague) August 24, 2017
Toughest group now?
LIVE: https://t.co/TFTgg9Wr1Q pic.twitter.com/SXS3tHh1WF
Group A: Benfica, Manchester United, Basel
Group B: Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Anderlecht
Group C: Chelsea, Atlético Madrid, Roma
Group D: Juventus, Barcelona, Olympiakos
Group E: Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Liverpool
Group F: Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City, Napoli
Group G: Monaco, Porto, Besiktas
Group H: Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham
'21:14
Olympiakos into Group D with Juventus and Barcelona, while Napoli go into Group F.
'21:13
Roma go into Group C with Chelsea and Atletico- oooohhhh.
'21:12
Spurs join Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund in Group H
'21:11
Liverpool go to Group E with Spartak Moscow and Sevilla.
'21:10
Besiktas head into Group G with Monaco and Porto.
'21:09
Basel join Group A with Benfica and Manchester United
'21:08
Anderlecht are in Group B with Bayern Munich and PSG
'21:07
Barcelona to go except in Group D with Juventus. Wow!
'22:04
Borussia Dortmund head into Group H with Real Madrid.
'22:03
Sevilla join Spartak Moscow in Group E
'22:02
Manchester City go into Group F with Shakhtar Donetsk
'22:00
Paris St-Germain go in Group B.
'21:59
Manchester United join Benfica in Group A
'21:58
Atletico Madrid are drawn in Group C.
'21:57
Now pot two will be drawan.
The first team drawn is Porto. It’s Group G for them, where they join Monaco.
Here's the #UCLdraw after Pot 1 is completed...
— #UCLdraw (@ChampionsLeague) August 24, 2017
LIVE - https://t.co/TFTgg9Wr1Q pic.twitter.com/0g3UMzk2Ig
'21:53
Real Madrid are drawn, and have to go into Group H because there’s something about Group D that’s not for them, so Juventus go into that one. And that’s the first pot allocated!
'21:51
Monaco will lead the way in Group G, then Shakhtar Donetsk are plopped into Group F.
'21:49
The second ball out of the team-name bowl is Chelsea – “back after a sabbatical year”, a delightful way of skipping gently over their dismal 2015-16 season. They will be in Group C.
Benfica come next, and are given Group A. Then Bayern Munich settle comfortably into Group B.
'21:48
They’re actually picking balls out of bowls now! And the first team to be drawn out of the first pot is … Spartak Moscow. And they get put into Group E.
Here are the details of which team belongs to which pot:
Pot One: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus, Benfica, Monaco, Spartak Moscow, Shakhtar Donetsk
Pot Two: Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Paris St-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla, Manchester City, Porto, Manchester United
Pot Three: Napoli, Tottenham, Basel, Olympiakos, Anderlecht, Liverpool, Roma, Besiktas
Pot Four: Celtic, CSKA Moscow, Qarabag, Sporting Clube de Portugal, Apoel Nicosia, Feyenoord, Maribor, Leipzig.
(With Reuters input)