Geneva (AFP)

Messi-Ronaldo, the return!

The cracks of Barcelona and Juventus Turin will cross swords in the group stage of the Champions League, according to the draw made on Thursday, which gave defending champions Bayern Munich affordable opponents apart from Atlético Madrid.

With the Juventus Turin-FC Barcelona clash, Group G offers the most enticing poster of the autumn between the teammates of Lionel Messi, six times Ballon d'Or, and the partners of Ronaldo, five times winner of the prestigious individual trophy .

The two, once opponents on La Liga lawns, have reunited for the first time since the 35-year-old Portuguese left Real Madrid in 2018.

Organizer of the draw on Thursday in Geneva, UEFA could not dream of a better duel for its flagship competition, back in October two months after its "Final-8" without an audience which crowned Bayern.

In view of the start of the group stage on 20 and 21 October, UEFA has authorized the immediate return of spectators to the stadiums with a tonnage limited to 30%, if the local authorities do not provide for more stringent health instructions, without however allow visiting supporters for the time being.

In Group A, Bayern is doing quite well, inheriting the Austrians from Salzburg and the Russians from Lokomotiv Moscow.

The toughest opponent will be Luis Suarez's Atlético Madrid, whom the Bavarians had humiliated last season (8-2 in the quarter-finals) when the Uruguayan was still playing for Barcelona.

- Chelsea well off -

The most significant draw surely concerns the group H of Paris SG, finalist of the last edition.

The team led by the Brazilian Neymar and the French world champion Kylian Mbappé will have to face Manchester United again, which will revive for the Parisians the painful memory of the round of 16 lost in extremis in 2019.

The Germans from Leipzig and the Turks from Basaksehir Istanbul will also compete for the two qualifying places in the group.

Real Madrid, thirteen times winner of the event, inherits Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Mönchengladbach in group B. This promises matches played for the men of Zinedine Zidane, crowned for the last time in 2018 under the thumb, already, of the French.

The Marseille-born coach will surely have an eye on Group C where OM will have a lot to do with Manchester City, FC Porto and Olympiakos led by Mathieu Valbuena, a former Marseille club (2006-2014).

In a group D weighing ten C1 titles in total and which promises to be rich in good football, Liverpool will face Ajax Amsterdam, Atalanta Bergamo and the Danes of Midtjylland, who are participating in their first C1.

Borussia Dortmund, placed in a suspenseful group F, will have to decide between Zenit Saint Petersburg, Lazio Rome of Ciro Immobile and Club Bruges.

Chelsea finally gets a rather accessible group E, alongside Sevilla, six times winner of the Europa League, and two neophytes at this level, Krasnodar and Rennes.

The new goalkeeper of the "Blues" Edouard Mendy surely did not think to find his former team of Rennes so quickly ... The reunion will take place under the spotlight of the C1.

© 2020 AFP