Issued on: 25/08/2022 – 20:00
Paris Saint-Germain will face familiar foe Angel Di Maria as they take on Juventus in the UEFA Champions League group stage, while Marseille will face Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur in a balanced group.
PSG – who start again among the favorites to win a trophy that has still eluded them since their takeover by Qatar more than a decade ago – were matched with their former Argentine ace Di Maria in Thursday’s draw in Istanbul.
The Parisians will also face Benfica and Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa in Group H.
Marseille, the other French club in the league, played in Group D last season against Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt, along with Conte’s Spurs and Sporting Lisbon.
The group stage of this season starts with the first round of matches on September 6 and 7.
All six matchdays will be played over a nine-week period, ending November 1 and 2, with UEFA having to complete the group stage before the World Cup starts on November 20.
Bayern meet Lewandowski
The highlights of the draw saw Bayern Munich paired with Robert Lewandowski’s Barcelona, while Erling Haaland will pit his former club against Borussia Dortmund against Manchester City.
Bayern and Barcelona will also meet Inter Milan in Group C, which will be completed by Czech champion Viktoria Plzen.
Bayern defeated Barcelona 8-2 in a one-off quarter-final in Lisbon in 2020, while the Catalans also lost 3-0 to the Germans twice last season when they were eliminated in the group stage.
Lewandowski, 34, signed for Barcelona during the closing season for a fee that could reach 50 million euros ($49.9 million) after scoring 344 goals in eight years with Bayern.
Haaland left Dortmund in the closing season for Premier League champions City. Those sides will also compete in Group G against Sevilla and the Danish champions FC Copenhagen.
Chelsea vs AC Milan
Elsewhere, last season’s defeated finalists Liverpool face Ajax, Napoli and Rangers in Group A, while reigning champions Real Madrid face Celtic, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk in Group F.
Chelsea, winners in 2021, will face Serie A champions AC Milan, Red Bull Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb in Group E.
Finally, Porto and Atletico Madrid meet for the second season in a row in Group B, which also featured Bayer Leverkusen and Belgian champions Club Brugge.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)