Erling Haaland will play his previous team as Manchester City were paired with Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League group stage draw on Thursday in Istanbul. Bayern Munich was placed in the same division as Robert Lewandowski’s Barcelona.
Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen, and Bayern will compete in Group C along with Inter Milan. Viktoria Plzen is the reigning Czech champion.
Barcelona lost to Bayern 3-0 twice last season as they were ousted in the group stage, while the Catalans also lost 8-2 to the Germans in a one-off quarterfinal in Lisbon in 2020.
Lewandowski, 34, left Bayern after eight years and scored 344 goals for Barcelona during the close season for a fee that could top 50 million euros ($49.9m).
In the off-season, Haaland switched from Dortmund to the Premier League champions City. In Group G, those groups will also include FC Copenhagen, the defending Danish champion, and Sevilla.
Liverpool, the runner-up from the previous season, will compete in Group A alongside Ajax, Napoli, and Rangers, while Real Madrid, the current champions, will compete in Group F alongside Celtic, RB Leipzig, and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Paris Saint-Germain, who are once again among the favourites to win a title that has eluded them since the Qatari acquisition more than ten years ago, will compete in Group H alongside Benfica, Juventus, and Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa.
In Group E, which includes Serie A champions AC Milan, Red Bull Salzburg, and Dinamo Zagreb, the 2021 champion Chelsea will compete. In Group D, which includes Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon, and Marseille, Tottenham Hotspur will compete.
In Group B, which also included Bayer Leverkusen and the Belgian champions Club Brugge, Porto and Atletico Madrid would be facing off for the second consecutive season.
The first round of games for this season’s group stage will take place on September 6 and 7.
In order for UEFA to finish the group stage before the World Cup kicks off on November 20, all six matchdays will be played over the course of nine weeks, ending on November 1 and 2.
See the groups below:
Group A
1. Ajax
2. Liverpool
3. Napoli
4. Rangers
Group B
1. Porto
2. Atlético
3. Leverkusen
4. Club Brugge
Group C
1. Bayern
2. Barcelona
3. Inter
4. Plzeň
Group D
1. Frankfurt
2. Tottenham
3. Sporting CP
4. Marseille
Group E
1. Milan
2. Chelsea
3. Salzburg
4. Dinamo Zagreb
Group F
1. Real Madrid
2. Leipzig
3. Shakhtar
4. Celtic
Group G
1. Man. City
2. Sevilla
3. Dortmund
4. Copenhagen
Group H
1. Paris
2. Juventus
3. Benfica
4. M. Haifa
