Champions League 2018/19 draw: Man Utd drawn with Ronaldo's Juventus

Tottenham and Liverpool received tough draws as top-seed Manchester City got a favourable group, but the return of an Old Trafford favourite at a difficult time was arguably most eye-catching.

Back-to-back defeats have ratcheted up the pressure on United manager Jose Mourinho, who may not get much respite in a Champions League group that also includes Valencia and Young Boys.

Finalists in two of the previous four years, the Serie A champions are Group H favourites and have been bolstered by the summer arrival of United favourite Ronaldo.

The Portuguese became a global star during his time at Old Trafford and Mourinho knows better than most about his compatriot's threat after working together - sometimes uneasily - at Real Madrid.

Cross-town rivals City benefitted from their place in pot one of Thursday's draw at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

Pep Guardiola's Premier League champions face Shakhtar Donetsk again, with Lyon and Hoffenheim completing Group F.

Liverpool and Tottenham, on the other hand, face far tougher asks.

Barcelona, Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven are the Group B opponents for Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs, who also have to deal with off-field complications brought by their stadium delay.

Tottenham have agreed with UEFA that their first home Champions League group match will be held at Wembley, but it is unclear what happens after that.

Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA's deputy secretary general, said of the stadium issue: "In principle the regulations state that you have to play in a single stadium, but we will have to see."

Last season's runners-up Liverpool also face difficult group-stage assignments.

The Reds were in pot three despite their 2017-18 heroics and will face Paris St Germain, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade in Group C.

"To be 100 per cent honest, it was not that I had a group I wished for or whatever," Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp told the club's official website.

"I expected a difficult group, we have a difficult group and that's what the Champions League is all about.

"PSG are one of the most exciting teams in the world and I think their target is to win the Champions League, so that will be two interesting matches.

"Napoli, we beat them in pre-season but it goes without saying these two games will be completely a different challenge."

Klopp is expecting "a very, very intense atmosphere" at Red Star, who confirmed earlier in the day that UEFA had accepted their appeal against an impending stadium ban for racist chanting.

The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary body announced earlier this month that the Serbian champions would have to play two matches behind closed doors, with a one-match ban for racist behaviour against FK Suduva in July kicking a suspended disciplinary measure into force.

Red Star were also fined 72,000 euros (£64,500) but a statement on the club website confirmed that the second match of the ban has now been wiped off.

"Two-match stadium ban has been changed to one-match stadium ban and a fine," the group-stage debutants said.

"The stadium ban has already been served since we played our Champions League play-off first leg match against FC Salzburg in front of empty stands.

"Football is nothing without fans and we are delighted to have our supporters with us when we play in the UEFA Champions League."

Elsewhere, Europa League holders Atletico Madrid's bid to reach the final held at their Wanda Metropolitano home starts in Group A against Borussia Dortmund, Monaco and Club Brugge.

Bayern Munich, Benfica, Ajax and AEK Athens make up Group E, with holders Real Madrid joined by Roma, CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen in Group G.

Group D looks the easiest of the eight, with Lokomotiv Moscow, Porto, Schalke and Galatasaray drawn together.

Champions League group draw

Group A

• Atletico Madrid
• Borussia Dortmund
• Monaco
• Club Brugge

Group B

• Barcelona
• Tottenham
• PSV Eindhoven
• Inter Milan

Group C

• Paris St-Germain
• Napoli
• Liverpool
• Red Star Belgrade

Group D

• Lokomotiv Moscow
• Porto
• Schalke
• Galatasaray

Group E

• Bayern Munich
• Benfica
• Ajax
• AEK Athen

Group F

• Manchester City
• Shakhtar Donetsk
• Lyon
• Hoffenheim

Group G

• Real Madrid
• Roma
• CSKA Moscow
• Viktoria Plzen

Group H

• Juventus
• Manchester United
• Valencia
• Young Boys

Champions League odds (via Sky Bet)

• Manchester City - 9/2
• Barcelona - 6/1
• Juventus - 7/1
• PSG - 7/1
• Bayern Munich - 8/1
• Real Madrid - 8/1

Odds via Sky Bet, click here to see the list in full...

Champions League Opta facts

• 40% of Champions League winners have come from group F under the current formula, since 2003/04 (6 out of 15). Meanwhile, Group G is the only group not to have produced a single winner in the last 15 seasons.
• 3.21 goals per game were scored in last season’s Champions League (401 in 125 games), the highest ever average in the competition’s history (since 1992/93). In fact, five of the last six seasons have been in the Top 5 highest scoring per match in the Champions League.
• Last season, Real Madrid became the first team since Bayern Munich in the mid-70s (1974, 1975, 1976) to win three consecutive European Cup/Champions League titles.
• Real Madrid have won 13 of their 16 European Cup/Champions League finals, more than any other team in history. In fact, they’ve won each of their last seven finals in the competition, last losing in 1981 against Liverpool.
• Real Madrid’s last two Champions League titles have come despite finishing second in their group. This had only happened once in the previous 11 seasons (Inter Milan, 2010).
• Spanish clubs have won the last five European Cup/Champions League titles (Real Madrid 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018; Barcelona 2015), the longest run in the competition since English sides won six consecutive European Cups from 1977 to 1982.
• Porto are the last team from outside the Top 4 leagues (Spain, England, Germany, Italy) to win the Champions League. It was in 2004 under José Mourinho.
• The 2019 final will take place in Atlético Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano; this is the fifth time the Spanish capital will be hosting the European Cup/Champions League final after four others being held at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu. Only London has welcomed the showpiece event on more occasions (7).
• A 100% win ratio has been achieved six times in a Champions League group stage: Real Madrid in 2011/12 and 2014/15, AC Milan in 1992/93, Paris Saint-Germain in 1994/95, Spartak Moscow in 1995/96 and Barcelona in 2002/03 (first group stage). However, none of these clubs went on to lift the trophy that same year.
• The lowest total of points needed to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages is 6 points. It’s been done twice: Zenit St Petersburg (2013/14) and Roma (2015/16). On the opposite – since the new format in 2003/04 – Napoli were knocked out of the Champions League despite amassing 12 points in 2013/14. They finished third.
• Only one club has drawn all six of their games in a Champions League group stage: AEK Athens in 2002/03 (first group stage).
• 20 teams have lost all six of their games in a Champions League group stage, the latest being Benfica in 2017/18.
• Cristiano Ronaldo and/or Lionel Messi have finished top scorers in each of the last 11 Champions League campaigns (Neymar was joint-top scorer with both players in 2014/15).
• Cristiano Ronaldo has reached the 10-goal mark in each of the last seven Champions League campaigns – no other player has done it in more than two consecutive seasons (Messi, Van Nistelrooy).

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Odds correct as of 1810 BST on 30/08/18

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