
FILE PHOTO: Arsenal's William Saliba, left, Martin Odegaard, centre, Eddie Nketiah celebrate their victory at the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. PICTURE: Frank Augstein/AP
MONACO: Champions Manchester City, who received a favourable draw are in Group G.
The 2023/24 UEFA champions season is upon us, with the draw conducted yesterday in Monaco, France. The biggest club competition in the world, which features the best of Europe, has delivered an interesting group stage draw.
The draw features notable returnee Arsenal, who have been absent from the competition for seven years, and find themselves in Group B while the Gunners made a return Liverpool and Chelsea failed to qualify for the Champions League.
Champions Manchester City, who received a favourable draw are in Group G with RB Leipzig, Crvena Zvezda and Young Boys. In contrast, their city rivals, Manchester United, are in a tough Group A alongside Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, FC Copenhagen, and Galatasaray.
Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona found themselves with favourable draws as well, as they avoided the big guns of Europe in Group C and H respectively.
As with many draws, there is always anticipation of the so-called group of death. Well, in this edition, the group of death is made up of Newcastle, AC Milan, Paris Saint Germain and Borussia Dortmund who together form Group F.
The rest of the groups are as follows:
| Group A • Bayern Munich • Manchester United • FC Copenhagen • Galatasaray | Group B • Sevilla • Arsenal • PSV • Lens |
| Group C • Napoli • Real Madrid • Braga • Union Berlin | Group D • Benfica • Internazionale Milan • Salzburg • Real Sociedad |
| Group E • Feyernoord • Atletico De Madrid • Lazio • Celtics | Group F • Paris Saint Germain • Borussia Dortmund • Newcastle • AC Milan |
| Group G • Manchester City • RB Leipzig • Crvena Zvezda • Young Boys | Group H • Barcelona • FC Porto • Shakhtar Donetsk • Antwerp |

