Galatasaray to face Bayern, Man Utd in UCL group stage

MONACO

Turkish champions Galatasaray will begin their first UEFA Champions League campaign in four years in a strong group featuring Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

The two giants will be favourites to advance from Group A, which also includes FC Copenhagen, the Danish champions.

The ties between the Bundesliga champions and the Old Trafford club will evoke memories of the most famous meeting between the sides, in the 1999 Champions League final won 2-1 by United after a remarkable late comeback.

England captain Kane, who recently moved to German heavyweights from Tottenham Hotspur, tweeted a picture of the finalised groups on Thursday, saying: "Can't wait for this."

Group F looks to be the toughest of all with Saudi-owned Newcastle facing AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund as well as Qatar-backed PSG.

Having held on to Kylian Mbappe, French champions PSG will be expected to advance to the last 16 but Newcastle will hope to finish ahead of Dortmund and a Milan team that got to the semi-finals last season.

Fresh from winning the Champions League last season for the first time, City could hardly have asked for a kinder draw as they will take on RB Leipzig, Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys in Group G.

Pep Guardiola's side can be expected to rack up the goals against the champions of Serbia and Switzerland, while City hammered Leipzig 8-1 on aggregate in the last 16 last season.

Back in the Champions League for the first time since 2016/17, Arsenal will face Europa League winners Sevilla, 1988 European Cup winners PSV Eindhoven and Lens of France in Group B.

Real Madrid, the record 14-time champions who won the trophy in 2022, were drawn with Italian champions Napoli in Group C, which also features Braga of Portugal and Champions League debutants Union Berlin.