Champions League draw: Group fixtures in full for Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Man City, Celtic and Rangers

Real Madrid will begin their Champions League title defence in a group with Celtic, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk.

The draw took place on Thursday in Istanbul, Turkey – the venue of the 2023 final – which has special resonance for last season’s beaten finalists Liverpool after their famous victory over AC Milan in the city in 2005.

The Reds hope to go one better this time around and start with Rangers, Ajax and Napoli, who they failed to beat in the group stages in 2019. Rangers came within a penalty shootout of winning a European trophy in 2021-22 and made it into Pot 4 via the qualifiers, having beaten PSV Eindhoven 3-2 over two legs.

Meanwhile, Manchester City striker Erling Haaland will be quickly reunited with former club Borussia Dortmund in Group H, which also contains FC Copenhagen and Sevilla.

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The traditional “Group of Death” comes in Groups C. Czech side Viktoria Plzen will face Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Inter Milan, while Group H has also been unkind to Maccabi Haifa and Benfica, who were named alongside Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.

Tottenham return to the competition for the first time in two years, playing Europa League winners Frankfurt, Olympique de Marseille and Sporting CP. Their last encounter in the competition was a 4-0 aggregate defeat to RB Leipzig in 2020 under Jose Mourinho, but Antonio Conte has ensured they are back in the big time courtesy of last season’s fourth-placed finish.

Chelsea, last victorious in this competition in 2021, play AC Milan, Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb.

Group stage draw in full

Group A

• Ajax
• Liverpool
• Napoli
• Rangers

Group B

• Porto
• Atletico Madrid
• Bayer Leverkusen
• Club Brugge

Group C

• Bayern Munich
• Barcelona
• Inter Milan
• Viktoria Plzen

Group D

• Eintracht Frankfurt
• Tottenham Hotspur
• Sporting CP
• Olympique Marseille

Group E

• AC Milan
• Chelsea
• RB Salzburg
• Dinamo Zagreb

Group F

• Real Madrid
• RB Leipzig
• Shakhtar Donetsk
• Celtic

Group G

• Manchester City
• Sevilla
• Borussia Dortmund
• FC Copenhagen

Group H

• Paris Saint-Germain
• Juventus
• Benfica
• Maccabi Haifa

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