2015-08-27



Arsene Wenger’s Gunners side will also play Olympiakos of Greece and Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia

27 August 2015
Last updated at
19:03

Arsenal will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League for the third time in four seasons after being drawn against the German club in the group stage.

Manchester United will play PSV Eindhoven on their return to the competition, with striker Memphis Depay to face his old club.

Chelsea will play Porto, with whom Jose Mourinho won the competition in 2004.

Manchester City face Serie A’s Juventus, Europa League winners Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach.

Each team will play six fixtures in the group stage, with the first match days taking place on 15 and 16 September.

All four English clubs avoided drawing either defending champions Barcelona, or Real Madrid, who have won the European Cup 10 times.

Group A: Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Malmo

Group B: PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, VfL Wolfsburg

Group C: Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, Astana

Group D: Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach

Group E: Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma, BATE Borisov

Group F: Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Olympiakos, Dinamo Zagreb

Group G: Chelsea, Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Maccabi Tel-Aviv

Group H: Zenit St Petersburg, Valencia, Olympique Lyon, Gent

Who will Man City face?

Borussia Monchengladbach – finished third in the German league last season. City have been drawn with a Bundesliga team in all five Champions League groups they’ve participated in.

Juventus – reach the final last season and are the current Serie A champions.

Sevilla – Unai Emery’s side won the Europa League for the second year in a row and finished fifth in La Liga last season.

City’s fixtures

15 September: Juventus (H)

30 September: Monchengladbach (A)

21 October: Sevilla (H)

3 November: Sevilla (A)

25 November: Juventus (A)

8 December: Monchengladbach (H)

Who will Arsenal face?

Bayern – Pep Guardiola’s side won the German league last year and have eliminated the Gunners from the competition in two out of the last three seasons.

Olympiakos – all three of Arsenal’s Champions League away games against the Greek champions have ended in defeat.

Dinamo Zagreb – the Croatian champions beat Albanian champions Skenderbeu 6-2 on aggregate in a play-off to qualify.

Arsenal’s fixtures

16 September: Dinamo Zagreb (A)

29 September: Olympiakos (H)

20 October: Bayern Munich (H)

4 November: Bayern Munich (A)

24 November: Dinamo Zagreb (H)

9 December: Olympiakos (A)

Who will Man Utd face?

PSV – the Dutch champions and Memphis Depay’s former club.

CSKA Moscow – beat Sporting Lisbon in a play-off to qualify and finished second behind Zenit St Petersburg in the Russian Premier League last season.

Wolfsburg – won the German Cup and were behind Bayern in the Bundesliga last year. United won both previous Champions League clashes with the Wolves back in the 2009-10 group stage.

United’s fixtures

15 September: PSV (A)

30 September Wolfsburg (H)

21 October: CSKA Moscow (A)

3 November: CSKA Moscow (H)

25 November: PSV (H)

8 December: Wolfsburg (A)

Who will Chelsea face?

Porto – runners up to Benfica in last season’s Primeira Liga, Chelsea have never failed to score in their six previous meetings with the Portuguese club.

Dinamo Kiev – the Ukrainian champions.

Maccabi Tel Aviv – won the Israeli Premier League last season and their chief executive Martin Bain is from Scotland – he previously held the same role at Rangers.

Chelsea’s fixtures

16 September: Maccabi Tel-Aviv (H)

4 November: Dynamo Kiev (H)

29 September: FC Porto (A)

24 November: Maccabi Tel-Aviv (A)

20 October: Dynamo Kiev (A)

9 December: FC Porto (H)



What have City done to deserve this?

BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty: ” Manchester United have been made very welcome on their return to the Champions League with a favourable draw in the group stage.

“Manager Louis van Gaal will feel quietly confident of progressing, while the meeting with German side Wolfsburg may be made slightly easier if Manchester City , as expected, sign their stand-out player Kevin de Bruyne.

“No such luck for City themselves, who must wonder who they have offended when it comes to the Champions League. Once again they have been handed a tough task.

“Arsenal’s group is not easy, with Bayern the main obstacle, but they should have more than enough to get through while Chelsea and Jose Mourinho will be delighted with their draw.

“All four Premier League contenders will feel they have every chance of going into the knockout stage but Manchester City, in particular, will long for the day when they get a comfortable passage.”

Ian Dennis BBC Radio 5 live senior football reporter: “All the English clubs have a realistic chance of going through to the knock-out stages.

“On paper Chelsea have the easiest assignment. There is no respite for Manchester City, although no-one will relish going to the Etihad Stadium.”



What about Madrid and Barca?

Defending champions Barcelona will play Bayer Leverkusen, Roma and BATE Borisov while Astana – the first club from Kazakhstan to play in the Champions League proper – were drawn against Benfica, Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray.

Valencia, who beat Monaco in a play-off to secure their place as
Spain’s fifth representative in this year’s group stage
– a record in the competition – will face Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg, French club Lyon and Gent of Belgium.

The king returns home

Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will face his old club Malmo for the first time, with Real Madrid and Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk completing their group.

Malmo’s assistant coach Olof Persson said: “It will be fun for Zlatan to come back home. It’ll be fantastic for the fans to see him and the other stars.

“I think he will be welcomed the way he always is when he comes home – like the king of Malmo that he is.”

English club reaction

Arsenal club secretary David Miles told BT Sport: “The draw started very ominously but as it progressed I would have to say we are relatively happy with it overall.

“If I’m being honest we would probably have preferred not to be facing Bayern Munich but that’s where we are. It’s about time we turned the tables on them.”

Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm on facing Arsenal told Uefa.com: “It’s great that we are meeting two old friends, Per Mertesacker and Mesut Ozil, when we play Arsenal.”

Manchester City director of football services Brian Marwood said: “Historically in the previous four years it’s been difficult for us to get out of the group because we have had tough draws. This is no different.

“I don’t know if it’s the strongest group. I would say it’s a competitive group.

“We are getting more experienced. I think we are getting better and we hope we can go further.”

Manchester United club secretary John Alexander told BBC Sport: “I think it will suit Louis and his staff going back to the Netherlands to face PSV. That will be a challenge and one they will want to succeed in going back to their home country.”

PSV Eindhoven boss Phillip Cocu on facing Manchester United : “It is a very tough draw, but on the other hand also great to play against Manchester United and to meet Louis van Gaal and of course Memphis Depay again.”

Social media reaction

Images from Monaco

Luis Suarez congratulated his Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi on the flight back to Spain

Former Mancheser United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel was co-host of the ceremony

Barca forward Lionel Messi beat Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo to Uefa’s Best Player in Europe prize

Malmo and Germany striker Celia Sasic won Uefa’s Best Women’s Player in Europe prize

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.

BBC Sport – Sport

Show more