MONACO: Cristiano Ronaldo is going back to Old Trafford to face his former club Manchester United and Paul Pogba will return to Juventus after the storied teams were drawn together in the Champions League group stage on Thursday.

After winning four titles at Real Madrid, and one with United, Ronaldo aims to end Juventus’ 23-year wait for a third European title.

Pogba played for Juventus in their 2015 final loss against Barcelona and won four straight Italian titles before moving back to Manchester where he was first recruited as a teenager for a then-world record fee in 2016.

Valencia and outsider Young Boys Bern, Swiss champion for the first time in 32 years, are also in Group ‘H’ with United and Juventus.

“It’s a manageable group, but it all depends on us. Our destiny is in our own hands,” said Juve CEO Giuseppe Marotta.

Last season’s runners-up Liverpool, big-spending French league champions Paris St Germain and Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli were thrown together in the pick of the groups while holders Real Madrid must face last season’s semi-finalists AS Roma.

Inter Milan, back in the competition after a six-season absence, were pitted against Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur.

The Champions League has been altered this season, with more places given to teams from the bigger leagues — Spain, England, Germany and Italy now have four guaranteed slots apiece — and fewer from Europe’s less glamorous competitions.

The new system could cut down on the number of one-sided contests which have spoiled the group stage in recent seasons.

But critics say it could increase the competitive imbalance in European football and remove what romance is left.

Due to the seeding system and UEFA’s policy of keeping teams from the same countries apart in the group stage, there was a shortage of big heavyweight clashes but lots of intriguing ties.

CLEAR FAVOURITES

One of the most interesting will be in Group ‘H’ where Ronaldo — who twice faced United in the Champions League as a Real player — meets them again in a Juve shirt.

Ronaldo, who was not in Monaco despite being nominated for an individual award, spent six years at United, winning the Champions League in 2008, before moving to Real in 2009.

He will come up against his compatriot Jose Mourinho, under whom he played during his time at Real. United host Juve on October 23 before going to Turin on November 7.

Juve are clear favourites in the group where Mourinho’s troubled United are likely to battle Valencia for second spot, with debutants Young Boys the rank outsiders.

“It’s a demanding group with teams of great value, great tradition and historic stadiums,” said Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri. “This is the new Champions League”

Three-time defending champions Real will start their quest for a record-extending 14th European title in a kind-looking Group ‘G’, featuring Roma, CSKA Moscow and Czech side Viktoria Plzen.

“We want to defend our title for one more year,” Emilio Butragueno, Real’s Director of Institutional Relations, told Spanish television.

KLOPP FACES TUCHEL

Group ‘C’ was closest to a ‘Group of Death’ with last season’s beaten finalists Liverpool set to have their work cut out alongside the PSG of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, as well as Napoli.

A meeting between Liverpool and PSG means a confrontation between two German coaches, Jurgen Klopp and his successor at Borussia Dortmund, Thomas Tuchel.

“I expected a difficult group, we have a difficult group and that’s what the Champions League is all about,” Klopp told UEFA, with Liverpool hosting PSG in their first game on September 18.

Carlo Ancelotti, who became coach of Napoli in the close season, will return to the French capital, where he led PSG to the title in 2013. That group is completed by Red Star Belgrade, who won the old European Cup in 1991 but will be appearing in the Champions League group stage for the first time.

“Its a very tough group but the most important thing for us is that we have managed to get into the group stage and compete at this level,” Red Star president Svetozar Mijailovic told reporters.

BAYERN FOCUSED

Group ‘E’ has three former European champions — Bayern Munich, Benfica and Ajax Amsterdam — alongside AEK Athens. Bayern should progress comfortably with Benfica and Ajax likely to battle for second place and AEK as dangerous outsiders.

“It could have been worse, but we cannot afford negligence if we want to finish first,” said Bayern forward Thomas Mueller.

The draw also looks kind to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City as they look to win the trophy for the first time. The English champions are in Group ‘F’ where they will be the favourites against Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk, Olympique Lyonnais and debutants Hoffenheim.

“Manchester City are a massive challenge for us,” said Hoffenheim coach Julien Nagelsmann. “But I was hoping we would draw a big team and we got one.”

Atletico Madrid, AS Monaco and Borussia Dortmund were drawn in Group ‘A’, an evenly-balanced group completed by Club Bruges.

Having won the Europa League last year, three-time finalists Atletico are hoping to go all the way in this competition, with the final to be played at their own Wanda Metropolitano stadium on June 1, 2019.

SPURS INTER MEET AGAIN

Inter’s wildly unpredictable form under Luciano Spalletti means anything can happen in Group B where they face Barca, PSV Eindhoven and Tottenham. The English Premier League team are the only ones of the four who are not former European champions.

Inter were in the same group as Tottenham in 2010/11, with the Italians memorably winning 4-3 at San Siro despite Gareth Bale scoring a hat-trick.

“You want to test yourselves against the best players in the world, but we don’t want to just test ourselves, we want to compete against them. That’s definitely the case with Barcelona,” Tottenham’s Eric Dier told his club’s website.

Group ‘D’ is possibly the most open, featuring former European champions Porto, Lokomotiv Moscow, Schalke 04 and Galatasaray.

The 32 teams will share 1.95 billion euros ($2.28 billion) in prize money from UEFA with the winner likely to top 100 million euros ($117 million) for the first time.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2018