Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will face off in a high-octane clash in the group stage of the Champions League after Barcelona and Juventus were placed in the same group following Thursday’s UEFA champions league draw.
Messi and Ronaldo will resume their rivalry that they perfected when the two went toe-to-toe during Ronaldo’s stint at Real Madrid.
The Argentinian and the Portuguese have won the last 11 of the 12 Ballons d’Or in a rivalry that has spanned more than a decade. Ronaldo’s Juventus and Messi’s Barcelona have been placed in Group G along with Dynamo Kiev and Ferencvaros. Defending champions Bayern Munich has been placed in Group A along with Diego Simone led Atletico Madrid.
In Group B, 13 times European Champions League winners Real Madrid have been placed alongside Italian giants Internazionale Milano, German side Borussia Mönchengladbach and Ukrainian champion Club Shakhtar Donetsk.
English giants Manchester United will play 2020 Champions league finalists Paris Saint Germain in Group H. The French and English club have German club Leipzig who reached the UCL semi-finals in 2019, in the group. Istanbul Basaksehir is also in Group H with Manchester United and PSG.
In Group C, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will compete with Portuguese side Porto, Greek side Olympiakos and French side Marseille for a place in the round of 16.
2018 Champions League winner Liverpool is in Group D of the Champions League along with Ajax, Atalanta and Midtjylland.
Russian owner Roman Abramovich’s side Chelsea have been placed in Group E along with Europa League champions Sevilla. Krasnodar and Rennes are the two other teams in Group E.
Borussia Dortmund are part of Group E along with Zenit St.Petersburg, Lazio and Club Brugge.
The group stages of the Champions League will commence on October 20 and all six rounds of games will be crammed into eight weeks, in a schedule that is even more packed than usual because of the coronavirus pandemic. This season’s final is scheduled to be staged in Istanbul, which was initially the host for last season’s final before UEFA was forced into a change of plans because of the health crisis. It remains to be seen whether spectators will be able to attend matches in the group stage.
