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UEFA conducted the draw for the 2016-17 Champions League group stages in Monaco today. The draw pulled out some fine ties and a few sensational returns.
Debutants and Premier League champions Leicester City have got a fairly favourable draw. They will square off against Portugal’s FC Porto, Denmark’s FC Copenhagen and Belgium’s Club Brugge in Group G. Tottenham, who will contest their Champions League games at Wembley this season, will face AS Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen and CSKA Moscow of France, Germany, and Russia respectively in Group E.
Arsenal had their blushes spared by being drawn against FC Basel and Ludogorets after being drawn against French champions Paris Saint-Germain from the first pot in Group A. Pep Guardiola and Claudio Bravo will return to Barcelona after being drawn against them in Group C. Manchester City will also face Scotland’s Celtic and Germany’s Borussia Monchengladbach.
Defending champions Real Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund and there will be a special reunion with Sporting Lisbon for Cristiano Ronaldo. Legia Warsaw, who are Poland’s first representatives in the Champions League since 1996, are also paired in that group.
GROUP STAGE DRAW IN FULL:
