The way to “Orejona” is marked. The draw for the group stage of the 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League has already taken place in Monaco. The series was created for the cast looking to snatch the title from Manchester City, who at this point will have an easy path, not so much as PSG, who are part of the so-called ‘group of death’.
A tough test for Kylian Mbappé’s Paris Saint-Germain, who has been placed in the F bracket along with Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Newcastle. For their part, Barcelona and Real Madrid were luckier.
Barça, who have failed to make it past the opening stages of this competition for the last two seasons, will have an easier game this time against Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Antwerp (Group H), while Real Madrid will start alongside the Italians as favourites champion Naplesin a quartet completed by Sporting de Braga and Unión Berlin (Group C).
Defending champions Manchester City present an easy path to the Champions League group stage on paper, where they meet Leipzig, Red Star and Young Boys.
After being crowned for the first time against AC Milan last season, Spanish manager Pep Guardiola’s side embarked on another journey that was poised to confirm an era. With certain changes in the squad and without players like Ilkay Gündogan, Riyad Mahrez or Aymeric Laporte, he is in his group and for all applicants the opponent to beat.
Eliminated in this group stage last year, Atlético de Madrid’s Diego Pablo Simeone from Argentina is once again fighting for the maximum. From the start they will face Feyenoord, Lazio and Celtic, very different rivals but a few notches below the Rojiblancos.
Bayern Munich and Manchester United, who still remember the dramatic 1999 final at Camp Nou Barcelonain which the English team managed an incredible comeback in the final stages, Group A also present encounters with history and ambitions for the present and future, completed by Copenhagen and Galatasaray.
The best of the season were also recognized at the ceremony. Josep Guardiola took the Best Manager of the Year award at the Best Awards, ahead of Inter Milan’s Simone Inzaghi and Napoli’s Luciano Spalletti.
Infographic – The Republic