Galatasaray to face Bayern, Man Utd in Champions League group stage
This photograph shows a screen displaying the fixtures for the group stage of the 2023/2024 UEFA Champions League at The Grimaldi Forum in the Principality of Monaco, Aug. 31, 2023. (AFP Photo)
by Daily Sabah with Agencies
Aug 31, 2023 8:51 pm


Galatasaray will kick off their first UEFA Champions League campaign in four years in a strong group featuring German heavyweights Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

Thursday's draw for this season’s Champions League placed the Turkish Süper Lig reigning champions in Group A, which will also see them face FC Copenhagen, the Danish champions.

Galatasaray will look to make a surprise in the group that will see Bayern Munich’s new signing Harry Kane return to England. Man United beat Bayern in the 1999 final after an injury-time comeback.

Paris Saint-Germain and its star forward Kylian Mbappe landed in the toughest group with former champions AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund, plus Saudi-owned Newcastle.

Newcastle are appearing in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years and their lack of recent pedigree in Europe's elite club competition meant they were left lurking dangerously among the sides in pot four for the draw.

Having held on to Mbappe, French champions PSG will be expected to advance to the last 16 but Newcastle will hope to finish ahead of Dortmund and a Milan team that got to the semi-finals last season.

Holders Manchester City, meanwhile, could hardly have asked for a kinder draw as they will take on RB Leipzig, Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys in Group G.

Pep Guardiola's side can be expected to rack up goals against the champions of Serbia and Switzerland, while City hammered Leipzig 8-1 on aggregate in the last 16 last season.

Back in the Champions League for the first time since 2016/17, Arsenal will face Europa League winners Sevilla, former European Cup winners PSV Eindhoven and Lens of France in Group B.

Real Madrid, the record 14-time champions who won the trophy in 2022, were drawn with Italian champions Napoli in Group C, which also features Braga of Portugal and debutants Union Berlin.

La Liga champions Barcelona was drawn in Group H with Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Royal Antwerp, another Champions League debutant which last played in the competition in the old European Cup in 1957.

Last season's finalist Inter Milan are in Group D and will play Portuguese champions Benfica – which it beat in the quarterfinals – plus Red Bull Salzburg and Real Sociedad.

Feyenoord, the 1970 European Cup winner, landed in Group E with the team it beat in that final, Celtic, plus Atletico Madrid and Lazio.

From left, 2022/2023 men's player of the year Manchester City's Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, women's player of the year Barcelona's Spanish midfielder Aitana Bonmati, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, Women's team best coach of the year Dutch manager of the England women's national team Sarina Wiegman and President's Award winner German football manager Miroslav Klose pose during the draw ceremony for the group stage of the 2023/2024 UEFA Champions League at The Grimaldi Forum in the Principality of Monaco, Aug. 31, 2023. (AFP Photo)

Teams from 15 different nations were in the draw, including 14 former European champions who have combined to win 48 titles in the competition's 68-year history.

Games start Sept. 19 and group-stage play ends Dec. 13.

The knockout stage starts in February and reaches the final at Wembley Stadium in London on June 1.

Meanwhile, the ceremony in Monaco on Thursday also saw Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Spain's World Cup-winning star Aitana Bonmati winning the UEFA Men's and Women's Player of the Year prizes.

Norway striker Haaland scored 52 goals in 53 games to help City win the treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup, while Bonmati helped Barcelona win the Women's Champions League and then inspired Spain to World Cup glory earlier this month.