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Liverpool draw Ajax while Manchester United handed tough assignment in Champions League group stage

Liverpool draw Ajax while Manchester United handed tough assignment in Champions League group stage
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The group stage will also see Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi renew their rivalry.

Liverpool will take on Ajax, Atalanta and Midtjylland in the group stages of the Champions League, which will also see Barcelona face Juventus following Thursday’s draw in Geneva.

The Premier League champions, who have won the European Cup six times, were one of the eight top seeds and went into Group D.

European heavyweights Barca, thrashed 8-2 by eventual champions Bayern Munich in last season’s one-off quarter-finals, were drawn together with Juve in Group G – which will see Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo renew their rivalry.

Group G is completed by Dynamo Kyiv and Hungarian side Ferencvaros.

Manchester City have been drawn alongside Porto, Olympiacos and Marseille in Group C.

Manchester United are in Group H, where they will take on last season’s runners-up Paris St Germain as well as RB Leipzig and Istanbul Basaksehir.

Former United full-back Rafael da Silva signed for the Reds’ Turkish opponents last month and he is relishing a return to Old Trafford.

The Brazilian wrote on Twitter (orafa2): “Back to where everything start dreams come true.”

In Group E, Chelsea have been drawn alongside Europa League winners Sevilla, Krasnodar and Rennes.

Holders Bayern Munich are in Group A along with Atletico Madrid, Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow.

Group B will see Real Madrid, who hold a record 13 European Cup titles, face Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Monchengladbach.

Zenit St Petersburg are top seeds in Group F, where they will take on Borussia Dortmund, Lazio and Club Brugge.

The opening Champions League group fixtures will take place on October 20 and 21, with the scheduling set to be confirmed on Friday evening.

The 2021 Champions League final is set to be held at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul on May 29.

During the ceremony, Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne was named Champions League men’s midfielder of the season.

“It’s really nice. In the Champions League you play against the best players in world and I want to compete with them,” the Belgium international said in a broadcast on the UEFA website.

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Crystal Palace121561017-78
19Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
20Southampton11119721-144


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