Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) announced the group stage draws for its annual European competitions this week. The draws took place in Istanbul, Turkey. Here are the group stage draws of UCL, UEL, and UECL.
UEFA Champions League (UCL)
The 32-team draw has 8 groups between them. Defending UCL and La Liga champions Real Madrid are drawn in Group F with Leipzig, Shakhtar, and Celtic. The club will begin its UCL defense against Celtic on 7th September.
https://twitter.com/ChampionsLeague/status/1562848239199473665?s=20&t=gZcPfr3Jgi5rQzi1C6yx6A
- Netherland Eredivisie champions Ajax is in Group A with Premier League club Liverpool, Serie A side Napoli and Scotland’s Rangers FC.
- Liga Portugal champion Porto is with La Liga side Athletico Madrid, Leverkusen, and Club Brugge in Group B.
- Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich is with La Liga’s Barcelona, Serie A Inter, and Plzeň in Group C. This group is considered the group of death.
- Group D consists of the Bundesliga side and current Europa League champions Frankfurt, Tottenham, Sporting CP, and Marseille.
- Serie A champions Milan is with Chelsea, Salzburg, and Dinamo Zagreb in Group E.
- Premier League champions Manchester City is with Sevilla, Bor. Dortmund, and Copenhagen.
- Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain will play Juventus, Benfica and M. Haifa in Group H.
UEFA Europa League (UEL)
Notable groups in Europa League include Group A where Arsenal is in with PSV. Defending UEFA Conference League champions Roma is in Group C with Real Betis. Group E is another important group where Manchester United is with Real Sociedad.
https://twitter.com/EuropaLeague/status/1563129029846532096?s=20&t=gZcPfr3Jgi5rQzi1C6yx6A
It will be interesting to see how the group stages unfold in Europa League before the inclusion of sides coming down from the Champions League. It is not difficult to see however that Group A, C, and E are the most exciting ones here.
UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL)
The qualifiers for UECL finished this week before the draw. Premier League side West Ham defeated Viborg FF 6-1 on aggregate to qualify. The club is in Group B with Anderlecht. ACF Fiorentina is with İstanbul Başakşehir in Group A. Spanish side Villarreal defeated Hajduk Split 6-2 on aggregate and is into Group C.
https://twitter.com/europacnfleague/status/1563152632985763841?s=20&t=gZcPfr3Jgi5rQzi1C6yx6A
UECL gives mid-tier domestic teams the stage to showcase themselves. This time again it will be a fierce face-off between these 32 teams to win a European Cup. The competitions are set to begin in September and will run until we get new champions next May, in 2024.
