The Champions League draw takes place tonight, the defending champions Man City and Manchester United are among the most noticeable teams. This season, the Red Devils are not considered as championship candidates considering their inconsistent performances in the domestic league, nor have they had high achievements in C1 over the years. While the neighbor Man City is the leading candidate for the throne.
City won the league last season as part of a historic treble as they beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the final. United have returned to Europe’s top division after a year-long absence as Erik ten Hag led the Red Devils to third place in the Premier League in his first season at Old Trafford.
Man United are in the second seed for the group stage draw, meaning they cannot face Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Porto, RB Leipzig, Inter Milan or Arsenal. Clubs from the same country are also unable to meet, meaning there will be no Manchester derby in the group stage.
City are in the top seed group along with Barcelona, ​​Bayern Munich, PSG, Sevilla, Napoli, Benfica and Feyenoord. Here are the results of the mock draw by MEN, as both Manchester clubs faced major obstacles on their way to the knockout stages.
Erik ten Hag is an experienced coach in C1.
Group A: Barcelona, ​​Porto, Shakhtar, Galatasaray.
Group B: PSG, Manchester United, AC Milan, Real Sociedad
This is not an easy task for Man United. The Champions League championship may still be unlucky for the French champions, but PSG is a team that regularly participates in the later stages of the tournament and Kylian Mbappe is one of the best players in the world. AC Milan are top of Serie A and have started the season in impressive form, while Real Sociedad won at Old Trafford in the Europa League last season.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven, Young Boys
Group D: Napoli, Leipzig, Braga, Antwerp
Group E: Manchester City, Real Madrid, Lazio, Lens
Pep finally helped Man City win the title last season.
Of all the teams that Man City want to avoid, Real will be at the top of the list. Man City may have beaten them on their way to the title last season but Real are still a classy team that has gone down in European history and with the signing of Jude Bellingham, Real are arguably stronger this time around. . Italian team Lazio started the Serie A season poorly but finished second behind Napoli last season. French team Lens is the weakest team in the tournament according to the UEFA coefficient and has not won the domestic tournament until now, certainly will not be a rival to Pep Guardiola’s team.
Group F: Feyenoord, Atletico Madrid, Salzburg, Union Berlin
Group G: Sevilla, Inter, FC Copenhagen, Celtic
Group H: Benfica, Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade, Newcastle.
Thanh Vu | 10:36 August 31, 2023
