Both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will have their work cut out for them in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League while RB Leipzig will have an arguable less difficult time. Thursday marked the draw for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League and give the shape of the pots coming in, the potential for some explosive groups was there.
Bayern Munich were drawn in Group B with Paris-St. Germain, Anderlecht, and Celtic. PSG have won four of six matches against Bayern in years past, including all three matches at the Parc-de-Prince. Anderlecht won their last meeting with Bayern in the 2007-08 UEFA Cup Round of 16 in Munich, but lost the home tie, 5-0. The teams last met in the Champions League group stage in 2003 when Bayern got a win in Munich and a draw in Brussels. That was also the same year Bayern last met Celtic at this stage with the same set of results home and away.
“It’s an exciting group with great teams and PSG the pick of them,” said Bayern manager Carlo Ancelotti who managed PSG from 2011 to 2013. “That’s a nice story for me to come up against my former club. Celtic have great support as everyone knows and Anderlecht are the Belgian champions so not one to underestimate. Three different but difficult opponents.”
Given PSG’s ambitions for Europe, this will be an explosive group. While Bayern are expected to advance from this group, it won’t be easy, especially given their record against PSG away and the fact that Celtic Park is always a difficult place to play for the away team, especially on European nights.
BAYERN MUNICH UCL FIXTURES:
09/12: Anderlecht (home)
09/27: PSG (away)
10/18: Celtic (home)
10/31: Celtic (away)
11/22: Anderlecht (away)
12/05: PSG (home)
All matches at 1:45pm CT.
Borussia Dortmund is also in a tough group. That group is Group H with two-time defending champion Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, and APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus. Dortmund and Madrid are in the same group for a second straight year. The sides exchanged 2-2 results in the group stage which gave BVB the group and Madrid second. Madrid went on to win in Cardiff while Dortmund lost in the quarterfinals to Monaco. The series in Champions league play is 4 wins for Madrid, 3 for Dortmund, and five draws. Dortmund last played Spurs in the 2015-16 Europa League with Dortmund winning 5-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16. They have never played APOEL.
There is a combined 13 European Cups in this group—12 belong to Madrid and 1 to Dortmund. Given an ambitious Spurs team who is a contender to win the Premier League this season, this group could well be the Group of Death and not Group B. All depends on how Dortmund against Madrid and Spurs assuming they dot ‘i’s and cross ’t’s against APOEL.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND UCL FIXTURES:
09/13: Spurs (away)
09/26: Real Madrid (home)
10/17: APOEL (away)
11/01: APOEL (home)
11/21: Spurs (home)
12/06: Real Madrid (away)
Match away to Spurs is at Wembley Stadium. All matches at 1:45pm CT.
RB Leipzig’s maiden voyage to the group stage of the Champions League will not be as difficult as their fellow Bundesliga clubs, but won’t be as easy either. They are in Group G with Besiktas, Monaco, and FC Porto. Porto beat Monaco in the 2004 Champions League Final. The draw could well have been worse for RB Leipzig, but they are still playing two teams who have been to the Final and Monaco were in the semifinals last season. Besiktas in Turkey is also a difficult encounter.
“Nobody wanted us,” said RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff. “But we have not been unlucky with the group. We’ll take the group and we look forward to it, but we’ll not underestimate any opponent. Overall we look forward to the group and to each adventure that awaits us.”
RB LEIPZIG UCL FIXTURES:
09/13: Monaco (home)
09/26: Besiktas (away)
10/17: FC Porto (home)
11/01: FC Porto (away)
11/21: Monaco (away)
12/06: Besiktas (home)
All matches at 1:45pm CT.
