The draw for the group stage of the Champions League took place on Thursday evening, with five La Liga sides involved in Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sevilla and Villarreal. There’s five clubs involved because Villarreal won last season’s Europa League despite finishing outside of the top four, beating Manchester United in the final in Gdansk.
All set for the 2021/22 season! 🤩
Which Champions League group are you most excited for?#UCLdraw | #UCL pic.twitter.com/gpOCzlRtOd
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 26, 2021
Atletico have been drawn in Group B, alongside Liverpool, Porto and Milan. Madrid are in Group D, alongside Inter, Shaktar Donetsk and Sheriff. Barcelona are in Group E, alongside Bayern Munich, Benfica and Dynamo Kyiv. Villarreal are in Group F, alongside United, Atalanta and Young Boys. Finally, Sevilla are in Group G, beside Lille, Salzburg and Wolfsburg.
Atletico will be going into this season’s Champions League campaign with serious confidence. They won La Liga last season, beating out Madrid by two points on the final day of the season. Now, the ultimate hurdle of the Diego Simeone era is the European Cup. They’ve made two finals before – in 2014 and 2016 – only to lose on both occasions to Madrid. This time, fans of Los Rojiblancos will hope, could be different.
