The Champions already restless by the weight of the memory.
Leo Messi
will cross his path again with
Pep Guardiola
, both at the head of the oil projects of PSG (Qatar) and Manchester City (Abu Dhabi), and with the unknown whether
Cristiano Ronaldo
He will also manage to leave Juventus to join Santpedor's coach's English squad. Barcelona will have to relive what happened at the Da Luz stadium in May 2020, where it was massacred by Bayern (2-8). And Real Madrid will only have to look at last season, when the Ukrainian Shakhtar made him sweat blood in a group where Inter also repeated, then last and eliminated. Atlético may be able to look back on March 2-3, 2020 with their triumph at Anfield. And Villarreal, his last victory against Manchester United in the Europa League. Sevilla looks at all of them, perhaps the one who best stands out being Lille, the French champion, the seed of their group.
In the absence of that Super League for which Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus still yearn, the Champions once again measures the sporting, economic and institutional strength of all those projects that feed the mammoth football industry. Spanish clubs have not entered a Champions League final for three years. They will oppose the difficult redemption in a tournament whose group stage will be played between September 14 and December 8. After qualifying rounds in which the double value of the goals in the opponent's court will disappear in the event of a tie, the competition will culminate in the final on May 28, 2022 at the stadium on Krestovski Island in Saint Petersburg.
The draw held this Thursday in Istanbul marked the path of the 32 teams in contention, divided into eight groups. With the transfer market still open and some of its stars with the possibility of changing
boats
(especially
Mbappé
and Cristiano), all predictions remain fallow.
In group A, Leo Messi, Mauricio Pochettino's new PSG flag and awaiting whether Mbappé will set up the trident with
Neymar
, will not be able to have a more exciting debut in his first Champions League without Barcelona. He will face Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, the coach who helped him reach the top of the world and with whom he won the 2009 and 2011 European Cups. Leipzig, fueled by Red Bull and where
Dani Olmo
leads the offensive front, and the Belgian Bruges round out the list.
In group B, the rivals were falling on Atlético like a slab. Beyond having to face the Livepool of
Klopp
,
Salah
,
Mané
and
Firmino
, champions in 2019, there will be no respite from the other two rivals. From pot four fell
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's
Milan
, still dangerous at 39 (it will be 40 in October) and where
Brahim
, on loan from Real Madrid, this season wears number 10. Porto, second classified in the last Portuguese league, also awaits.
In group C,
Haaland's
Borussia Dortmund
will be the main entertainer together with the Portuguese champion,
Nuno Mendes'
Sporting de Portugal
,
Palhinha
or the Spanish
Pedro Porro
. The Dutch Ajax and the Turkish Besiktas follow them in the list of applicants to pass to the round.
In group D, Real Madrid will meet two of their rivals in last season's group stage, Inter and Shakhtar. While the
Nerazzurri
are the reigning Serie A champions, they have lost their two main stars: forward
Romelu Lukaku
, transferred to Chelsea, and coach
Antonio Conte
, who has left his post to
Simone Inzaghi
. Endure
Barella
, recent Euro champion, and Argentine striker
Lautaro Martínez
despite his attempts to recruit the Premier League. The winger
Dumfries
, who starred in an excellent European Championship with the Netherlands, and the midfielder
Çalhanoglu
, who arrives free from Milan, reinforce their aspirations. Shakhtar Donetsk, by the way, beat Real Madrid in the last Champions League in their two games, both in Valdebebas (2-3) and in Ukraine (2-0). As an exotic note from the group, Sheriff Tiraspol of Transnistria, a ghost state since it declared its independence from Moldova in 1990.
In group E, Barcelona will meet again with their Bayern demons, still led by
Lewandowski
but now with
Nagelsmann
on the bench. The German coach, by the way, was one of the candidates raised by
Joan Laporta
to replace
Ronald Koeman
on the Barça bench. Nor did he listen to the proposal.
Jorge Jesus'
Benfica
, despite having lost their way in Portugal, is animating a program in which they will travel to Kiev again to face the young Dinamo.
In group F, Villarreal will reissue the final of the Europa League that they won on May 26 against Manchester United after 21 penalties without failure and a final error by goalkeeper
David de Gea
.
The
reds
of
Solskjaer
have this season with the addition of
Jadon Sancho
(85 million euros) and await the final confirmation of the front
Mason Greenwood
.
The dangers do not end because Atalanta de Gasperini and his football at the limit of sanity also fell there.
It was only necessary to see the last European Championship to notice the level reached by some of its players, such as the lanes
Gosens
and
Maehle
.
The Swiss Young Boys is left to soften the bad drink.
In group G, Sevilla avoided the great dangers of the draw and will have as their main adversary Lille, the last French champion ahead of PSG. The Portuguese
Renato Sanches
continues to be one of the great lungs of a team in which Canadian striker
Jonathan David stands out,
one of the great animators of Ligue 1 last season. Salzburg, also sponsored by Red Bull and loaded with young talents, complete the scene alongside German Wolfsburg, fourth-placed in the last Bundesliga.
In Group H, the reigning European champions,
Thomas Tuchel's
Chelsea
, will be able to cast hope of a new title after the acquisition of Lukaku.
His first steps will not have too many stocks, with a Juventus coming to less and perhaps without Cristiano (
Chiesa
,
Morata
and
Dybala
are his great hopes), Zenit de Saint Petersburg and Swedish Malmö.
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