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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
1Liverpool17133140172342
2Chelsea18105338211735
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest1810442419534
4Arsenal1796234161833
5Newcastle UnitedNewcastle188553021929
6Bournemouth188552721629
7Manchester CityMan City188463026428
8Fulham187742623328
9Aston Villa188462629-328
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176742726125
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1872939261323
12Brentford177283232023
13West Ham UnitedWest Ham186572330-723
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd186482124-322
15Everton173861522-717
16Crystal Palace183871826-817
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1843112940-1115
18Leicester CityLeicester1835102240-1814
19Ipswich TownIpswich172691632-1612
20Southampton1813141137-266


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