Champions League: Barcelona draw Bayern Munich, Manchester City to face Borussia Dortmund

Even when it still h Lionel Messi, Barcelona took an epic 8-2 beating from Bayern Munich in Champions League quarterfinals two years ago. And Bayern won 3-0 home and away against Barcelona in group stage last season as Spanish giant without Messi h its worse European season since before Argentina great’s 17-year run in team.

On Thursday, Barcelona landed with Bayern yet again in a tough Champions League draw as coach Xavi Hernández’s team tries to avoid a second straight group-stage exit since losing Messi to Paris Saint-Germain.Still, Barcelona has since recruited former Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski — two-time FIFA player of year who will now face his recent teammates — despite financial turmoil that has affected its ability to register and retain players.

“What a terrific story that we’re going to meet Barcelona with Robert Lewandowski,” said Bayern forward Thomas Müller, who played alongside Poland international for eight years. Inter Milan is anor former champion in a group that boasts a combined 14 European Cup or Champions League titles. Viktoria Plzeň of Czech Republic is fourth team in Group C where only top two vance to round of 16.

Real Mrid has 14 titles of its own and will defend trophy in a group with Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic.Shakhtar hosted Mrid in Kyiv last October — and lost 5-0 — but now cannot play in Ukraine during Russian military invasion. Shakhtar will play “home” games in Warsaw in neighboring Poland. UEFA has banned all Russian teams from its competitions.

Messi will try for a second year to bring a first European title to Paris Saint-Germain, which landed in a group with a pair of two-time champions — Juventus and Benfica — plus Maccabi Haifa. Anor reunion after a blockbuster offseason move will see Manchester City’s star signing Erling Haaland going back to his old club Borussia Dortmund. That group also includes Sevilla and Copenhagen.

Coach Pep Guardiola’s team shapes as early favorite for a first Champions League title in his seventh season and beat Dortmund — when it still h Haaland — 2-1 in both legs in quarterfinals of 2020-21 edition. Liverpool and Rangers will have a rare England-Scotland clash in Champions League. ir Group A that also includes Ajax and Napoli and promises a pulsating atmosphere in each stium.

“This is a proper challenge,” Liverpol coach Jürgen Klopp said. “All of clubs have quality, y all have pedigree and I would say y all have a chance.” UEFA will announce a fixture schedule by Saturday. Champions League starts early this season on Sept. 6 and end five weeks sooner than usual on Nov. 2. That is because of World Cup in Qatar, which starts Nov. 20.

After six rounds of games spanning just eight full weeks, a three-month pause is taken before round of 16 starts in February. Fixture congestion caused by first World Cup played in European winter means Champions League final is on June 10 at Atatürk Olympic Stium in Istanbul, city that hosted draw ceremony Thursday..

It’s latest scheduled final since inaugural European Cup title match in 1956. 32 teams will share about 2 billion euros ($1.99 billion) in UEFA prize money.Each team gets a basic fee of 15.6 million euros ($15.5 million), plus 2.8 million euros ($2.78 million) per win and 930,000 euros ($924,000) for each draw in group stage. Payments increase for vancing through each knockout round. It all ds up to eventual champion getting around 125 million euros ($124 million) in UEFA prize money.