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.
It’s been a summer of change at Madrid, of course, with Zinedine Zidane leaving and Carlo Ancelotti taking over as well as both Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane departing the club. Carletto led Los Blancos to La Decima back in 2014, when they famously beat Atletico in Lisbon; can he repeat the trick close to a decade later?
