European champions Barcelona drew Inter, moneybags Real Madrid pulled AC Milan, while Manchester United will take on German surprise package Wolfsburg after the Champions League group stage draw was made on Thursday.
This season sees nine former champions go into action in the 32-team format split into eight groups of four, while the quartets of teams from England and Spain will battle for an historic 13th triumph, both countries having polished off a round dozen to date.
Group A pits four-time champions Bayern Munich against two-time winners Juventus, French champions Bordeaux and Maccabi Haifa of Israel.
In Group B, Manchester United, European champions in 1968, 1999 and 2007 and beaten finalists last season, will go up against German champions Wolfsburg, Turkey’s Besiktas and CSKA Moscow.
“These are difficult ties, especially the trips to Russia and Turkey,” United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said.
Former United star Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real Madrid will have to joust with seven-time champions AC Milan in Group C, meaning an early return to the San Siro for Brazilian Kaka.
Marseille, the only French side ever to lift the trophy, and outsiders FC Zurich of Switzerland complete the group.
Chelsea, bidding for a first crown under former AC Milan handler Carlo Ancelotti, are seeded in Group D where they meet two-time champions Porto, Atletico Madrid and Cypriots APOEL Nicosia.
“We are always looking to go one step further in Europe,” Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said. “There is not too much travel and we managed to avoid one of the bigger teams.”
Liverpool, who humiliated Real last season, will play in Group E along with French side Lyon, who have never been past the quarters, Fiorentina of Italy and Debrecen of Hungary.
“In the Champions League there will always be difficult games and tough teams to play against,” Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez said. “Lyon might not have won the league last season, but before that they won it many years in a row, so we know they have lots of good players who can play good football.”
Holders Barcelona will play in Group F along with Italian champions Inter, who won the last of their two European crowns in 1965 and are coached by former Barca assistant and former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.
Those encounters also mean a swift return to the Nou Camp for Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o, who twice lifted the Cup with the Catalan club.
Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who went the other way, will likewise get to renew old acquaintances back at the San Siro.
Dynamo Kiev and Russian champions Kazan complete the group.
Seville of Spain will compete in Group G alongside Glasgow Rangers, Germany’s VfB Stuttgart and Romania’s Unirea Urziceni.
Arsenal were drawn in Group H with AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands, Greek side Olympiakos and Belgium’s Standard Liege.
Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday fought through a second-set slump to post a roller-coaster 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, raced through the first set, but completely lost his way in the second, dropping his serve twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian. Alcaraz regained his intensity and cut down his errors in the third set as a seventh ace took him to a match point that was converted when Dzumhur fired wide. “It was just a roller coaster,” said the second
NEXT ROUND: World No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka opened their title defenses with straight-sets wins, while Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz also advanced Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defenses off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men’s and women’s top seeds, each ranked No. 1 in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon, where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women’s semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather, while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a service break in the final game
Taiwan’s men’s basketball team on Monday clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup quarter-finals with a 78-64 win over Jordan in Saudi Arabia, securing their best finish in the tournament since placing fourth in 2013. The win was sweet revenge for Taiwan, who were denied a quarter-final spot by Jordan at the same stage of the previous Asia Cup in 2022 after blowing a nine-point lead in the final minute and losing 97-96 on a half-court buzzer-beater. “History is part of the journey,” Taiwan head coach Gianluca Tucci said when asked about the 2022 collapse of the team, who he did
TECH ISSUES: Before Sinner’s match against Diallo the lights went out at the courts, and during it the electronic line-calling system partly failed and an alarm sounded Jannik Sinner on Monday ignored technical issues interruptions and a blaring alarm to defeat Gabriel Diallo 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) on a day of distractions at the Cincinnati Open. The top-seeded defending champion got down to business against the 35th-ranked Canadian, who was plagued by eight first-set double faults and 49 unforced errors in the match as he faced the best in the world. Sinner recovered smoothly from an early break down and had his hands full on his way into the fourth round, sending over an ace on match point after saving a set point in the tiebreaker. Play was stopped briefly with
RSS