UEFA Champions League group stage draw results

The Champions League group stage draw sent Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to Barcelona, and put Atletico Madrid in the same group as Bayern Munich.

Pep Guardiola will face old club Barcelona twice. Bayern Munich will look for revenge against Atletico Madrid, the team who beat them in last season’s semi-final. Meanwhile, Arsenal and Arsene Wenger will return to Paris, the site of their loss in the 2006 final.

Those are the main highlights from the draw for the group stage of the 2016-17 Champions League. UEFA’s official site relayed the final draw with the completed groups:

Group matches will begin on Sept. 13-14.

Group C immediately stands out, specifically the two meetings between five-time winners Barca and Guardiola’s City. The Spaniard’s Manchester revolution has started brightly, but facing the Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar forward line will test his defensive resources.

Guardiola won’t be considered a success if he doesn’t deliver European glory to City the way he did for Barca, where he won this competition twice.

It’s yet another tough draw for the Citizens, who have had to share groups with Juventus and Bayern Munich in recent seasons.

However, Stuart Brennan of the Manchester Evening News believes City must act big enough to roll with the punches:

It’s a similar story for Arsenal, who likely won’t have welcomed the sight of Paris Saint-Germain in Group A. Yet, the Ligue 1 giants are under new management with Unai Emery succeeding Laurent Blanc. They’ve also parted ways with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The Gunners will still have to contend with classy playmaker Angel di Maria and a talented midfield underpinned by Polish enforcer Grzegorz Krychowiak.

James Benge of the London Evening Standard believes Arsenal should see the positives of this draw:

By contrast, French Football writer Jonathan Johnson is confident about PSG’s chances:

One of the more intriguing draws came in Group D, where Bayern and Atleti will get to renew hostilities after last season’s semi-final. The Spanish side frustrated the Bundesliga club last season with manager Diego Simeone’s pragmatism and forward Antoine Griezmann’s ruthless streak.

But Munich are now guided by Carlo Ancelotti, the master of this tournament. He’s a good bet to turn the tables on Simeone.

One outsider to watch in this group is PSV Eindhoven. Manager Phillip Cocu won a second Eredivisie title in 2016, even after losing Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay. PSV also came within a whisker of eliminating Atletico at the last-16 phase.

Holders Real Madrid pulled some tough duty when they were drawn with Borussia Dortmund in Group F. The German outfit boasts a plethora of dynamic attackers, including striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and is expertly guided by forward-thinking manager Thomas Tuchel.

Finally, Cinderella story Leicester represent the Premier League as its champions. They were handed a couple of tricky trips to Porto and Club Brugge in Group G.

Still, Claudio Ranieri’s team retained its title-winning core this summer and might have saved a surprise or two for Europe’s elite.