Holders Real Madrid draw Liverpool in group stage
Thursday, August 28, 2014
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Real Madrid CF will play Liverpool FC – a repeat of the 1981 European Cup final – in Group B after the Monaco draw, while Zlatan Ibrahimović will be on familiar ground in Group F.
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Holders Real Madrid CF face a reunion with Liverpool FC following the UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco today.
Madrid claimed a tenth European title in Lisbon in May and added the UEFA Super Cup earlier this month. Their bid to become the first team to retain the UEFA Champions League begins in Group B, where FC Basel 1893, PFC Ludogorets Razgrad and Liverpool – who beat the Merengues in the 1981 European Cup final in Paris – form the opposition.
2014/15 UEFA Champions League draw
Group A: Club Atlético de Madrid, Juventus, Olympiacos FC, Malmö FF
Group B: Real Madrid CF, FC Basel 1893, Liverpool FC, PFC Ludogorets Razgrad
Group C: SL Benfica, FC Zenit, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, AS Monaco FC
Group D: Arsenal FC, Borussia Dortmund, Galatasaray AŞ, RSC Anderlecht
Group E: FC Bayern München, Manchester City FC, PFC CSKA Moskva, AS Roma
Group F: FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, AFC Ajax, APOEL FC
Group G: Chelsea FC, FC Schalke 04, Sporting Clube de Portugal,
NK Maribor
Group H: FC Porto, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Athletic Club, FC BATE Borisov
Group stage dates
Matchday one 16–17/09/14
Matchday two 30/09–01/10/14
Matchday three 21–22/10/14
Matchday four 04–05/11/14
Matchday five 25–26/11/14
Matchday six 09–10/12/14
Full calendar
Draw highlights
• Group A is the only section to include four domestic champions; Groups E and F both have three.
• Paris striker Zlatan Ibrahimović has also played for Barcelona (2009/10) and Ajax (2001–04), two of the three sides the French club face in Group F.
• Barcelona overcame Paris on away goals in the 2012/13 quarter-finals.
• Galatasaray beat Arsenal on penalties in the 2000 UEFA Cup final in Copenhagen, becoming the first Turkish team to win a European competition.
• Arsenal and Dortmund are in the same group for the third time in four seasons, while Bayern, Manchester City and CSKA Moskva all met at this stage a year ago.
• Also in last term's group stage, Chelsea defeated Schalke 3-0 home and away while Ajax went down 4-0 in Barcelona but edged the Catalan club 2-1 in Amsterdam.
• Basel beat Ludogorets – one of two group stage debutants, along with Swedish champions Malmö – 6-2 on aggregate in the 2013/14 play-offs.
• Liverpool pipped Real Madrid in the 1981 European Cup final in Paris, but were eliminated from the 2002/03 competition by Basel.
• Roma swapped home wins with Bayern in the 2010/11 group stage, the Italian side's most recent UEFA Champions League appearance.
