Group E is arguably the most evenly-balanced with CSKA Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen, Tottenham Hotspur and Monaco.
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Hoops defender Kieran Tierney said: “It is the biggest competition and we are delighted to be there, but we are not just there to make up the numbers”.
According to the new rule announced in Nyon, France, the top four finishers in Europe’s top four leagues – now English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A – will receive automatic qualification in the group stage of the Champions League from the 2018/19 season.
As such, it grants an extra place to Serie A (or whomever is within that top four at the time) and means that half of the group stage allocations are taken up by that block of 16.
The UEFA Champions’ League group stages start from September 14 onwards.
There is a tougher path through for Bayern Munich, who will meet last season’s runners up Atletico Madrid as well as PSV Eindhoven and Rostov in Group D.
FC’s Steve Nicol presents a few of the Champions League groups to look out for in this year’s competition.
This year Manchester United, Liverpool, AC Milan and Internazionale – who have 18 European Cup victories between them – have missed out on qualifying while debutants Leicester City are making their maiden appearance in the competition.
City captain Vincent Kompany tweeted: “Usual type of draw for us”.
“It’s not a nightmare draw at all because we are in a wonderful competition and we are really happy to be here, but in Barcelona, Borussia Monchengladbach and Celtic we know it won’t be easy”, said City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain.
Paris St-Germain (France), Arsenal (England), Basel (Switzerland), Ludogorets (Bulgaria).
Group F: Real Madrid (Spain), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Legia Warsaw (Poland).
Juve’s Italian counterparts Napoli are in Group B with Benfica, Dynamo Kiev and Besiktas.
Brøndby drew Panathanaikos at home 1-1 (1-4 on aggregate), FC Midtjylland lost 0-2 away to Osmanlispor (0-3 on aggregate) and SønderjyskE came so close to making it before throwing it all away in the final minutes in Prague. “It is obviously a hard group but it always is in the Champions League”.
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Last season saw Tottenham face Monaco in the Europa League group stages.
