Group A: Ajax Amsterdam, Liverpool FC, SSC Napoli, Rangers FC

Group B: FC Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, FC Bruges

Group C: FC Bayern, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen

Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham Hotspurs, Sporting Lisbon, Olympique Marseille

Group E: AC Milan, Chelsea FC, RB Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb

Group F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic Glasgow

Group G: Manchester City, Sevilla FC, Borussia Dortmund, FC Copenhagen

Group H: Paris St. Germain, Juventus Turin, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa

Lightning reunion with Robert Lewandowski? Early date with Jürgen Klopp? FC Bayern Munich wants to come back. 289 days after today’s group stage draw, the glittering final of the Champions League will also take place in Istanbul – and according to CEO Oliver Kahn, the German record champion would like to win the billion-dollar competition “every year” at best anyway.

The delegations of the four other Bundesliga clubs traveling to Turkey for the first time thanks to newcomer Eintracht Frankfurt are not quite as optimistic – after all, BVB and Bayer Leverkusen in particular are threatened by the much-cited hammer groups.

FC Bayern and Frankfurt in pot one

Bayern as champions and Europa League winners Frankfurt, on the other hand, are seeded in pot one – among others, defending champions Real Madrid, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain around Lionel Messi therefore fall away as possible opponents.

Instead, coach Julian Nagelsmann’s team could face tense duels with Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool FC, Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea FC, or FC Barcelona around the departed long-time Bayern goal-scorer Robert Lewandowski. In the third and fourth pots, there are attractive lots such as Inter Milan around international Robin Gosens or the traditional Scottish club Celtic Glasgow. The group stage will then start at the beginning of September.

Kahn on elimination against Villarreal: “Still in my head”.

The brutal exit in last – Season ‘s quarterfinals against Villarreal FC should be an extra motivation for FC Bayern. “That still haunts you in the head. But it has often been the case at Bayern Munich in the past that certain negative moments have triggered something,” Kahn had told Bild. “This Villarreal still stinks to me now, but that always leads to a now more than ever.” Such a setback the club “simply does not want to experience again”.

The knockout against the Spanish outsider had hit the Munich team very hard, and not just in sporting terms. FC Bayern lost out on 16 million euros in the top flight just by missing the semifinals.

Especially for Eintracht as a newcomer, the group stage in this special World Cup – Season will be a test. Uefa is whipping through the six games until the beginning of November because of the longer interrupted – Season due to the Qatar finals. English weeks are becoming a habit.

Europe’s footballer, female footballer and coach of the year are crowned

“We will need all the players in the squad this – Season , need everyone in top condition, because we have an extremely large number of games,” said Kahn, who left no doubt when introducing new signing Sadio Mané: “We formulate very clearly that we want to win the Champions League every year. You don’t win it just by saying that. You have to follow that up with action.”

As in previous years, Uefa is celebrating the drawing of lots in glamorous fashion. The fact that Istanbul is once again the venue for the draw may also have political reasons – the Turkish federation has not been the luckiest in recent tournaments and finals.

Europe’s soccer player, female soccer player and coach of the year will also be chosen on Thursday. From a German perspective, Lena Oberdorf, national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, and Jürgen Klopp have their hopes up.