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PSG and Mbappe get tough Champions League draw

Manchester City, the defending champions, got a favourable draw and will play Leipzig, Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys

Published: Fri 1 Sep 2023, 1:06 AM

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  • AP

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Paris Saint-Germain's French forward Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring a goal against RC Lens. — AFP

Paris Saint-Germain's French forward Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring a goal against RC Lens. — AFP

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

Bayern Munich’s new signing Harry Kane will return to England to face Manchester United in a rematch of the memorable 1999 final, in a group that also includes Copenhagen and Galatasaray.


Record 14-time champions Real Madrid play Napoli, the runaway winner of Serie A last season, Braga and competition debutant Union Berlin, which will use the city's Olympic Stadium for home games.

PSG's group already looked like a difficult task for the French champions — which are still looking for an elusive first Champions League title — even before Newcastle were added as the final team.

Newcastle will take on PSG which has retained Mbappe in a turbulent offseason that saw Lionel Messi leave for Inter Miami and Neymar sold to Saudi club Al Hilal, which is also majority owned by PIF.

Manchester City, the defending champions, got a favourable draw and will play Leipzig for the third straight season, plus Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys.

Last season's finalists Inter Milan will play Benfica – which they beat in the quarterfinals – plus Salzburg and Real Sociedad.

Barcelona were drawn with Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Royal Antwerp, another Champions League debutants which last played in the competition in the old European Cup in 1957.

Arsenal’s return after six years away will be against Sevilla, PSV Eindhoven and Lens.

Feyenoord, the 1970 European Cup winner, were grouped with the team they beat in that final, Celtic, plus Atlético Madrid and Lazio.

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.

The 32 teams will get a share of billion euros ($2.2 billion) in prize money, with each guaranteed at least 15.64 million euros ($17.1 million). Clubs get more depending on their results in the group stage and knockout rounds.

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