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Home Sport Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus drawn against Manchester United
Sport
August 31, 2018

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus drawn against Manchester United

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Real Madrid won their third Champions League title in four years by beating Liverpool 3-1 in last year’s showpiece

MANCHESTER United will face a reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo after drawing Serie A champions Juventus in the Champions League group stage.

Ronaldo, who was at United between 2003 and 2009, joined Juve for £99.2m in July after nine years at Real Madrid.

Valencia and Young Boys are the other teams in Group H.

Tottenham have been drawn in a tough group to face Barcelona, while last season’s runners-up Liverpool face Paris St-Germain and Napoli.

Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven and Inter Milan complete the line-up in Spurs’ Group B and Red Star Belgrade are the other team to play Jurgen Klopp’s side in Group C.

Premier League champions Manchester City were drawn in Group F alongside Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon and Hoffenheim.

Last season’s winners Real Madrid, who have won the competition for the past three years, are in Group G with Roma, CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen.

Group stage draw in full:

Group A: Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Monaco, Club Brugge.

Group B: Barcelona, Tottenham, PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan.

Group C: Paris St-Germain, Napoli, Liverpool, Red Star Belgrade.

Group D: Lokomotiv Moscow, Porto, Schalke, Galatasaray.

Group E: Bayern Munich, Benfica, Ajax, AEK Athens.

Group F: Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon, Hoffenheim.

Group G: Real Madrid, Roma, CSKA Moscow, Viktoria Plzen.

Group H: Juventus, Manchester United, Valencia, Young Boys.

When are the group stage match days?

Match day one: 18-19 September

Match day two: 2-3 October

Match day three: 23-24 October

Match day four: 6-7 November

Match day five: 27-28 November

Match day six: 11-12 December

Ronaldo v United – the stats:

  • Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in both of his previous Champions League appearances against Manchester United for Real Madrid in February and March 2013.
  • Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola faced Lyon with Barcelona in the last 16 in 2008-09 on the way to winning the first of his two Champions League titles as a manager.
  • Liverpool met Red Star Belgrade in the last 16 of the European Cup in 1973-74, with the Reds losing both the home and away legs.
  • Tottenham met Inter Milan in the 2010-11 group stage, losing 4-3 away from home (despite Gareth Bale’s hat-trick) and winning 3-1 at home.Real Madrid, who beat Liverpool 3-1 in last year’s final, cleaned up in the Uefa awards, with their players winning in all the categories.Keylor Navas won the goalkeeper of the season award, Sergio Ramos was voted the best defender, while Cristiano Ronaldo claimed the forward of the season award.

    Croatia international midfielder Luka Modric – a Champions League winner with his club and World Cup finalist with his country – won both the midfielder of the year and overall best player awards.

    Meanwhile, former Manchester United and England midfielder David Beckham was awarded the Uefa President’s award.

    “From winning the Champions League with Real Madrid, achieving a historic result with Croatia, now this, it is amazing,” said Modric. “They are great feelings and I am happy and proud of everything that I have achieved.

    “This year I can say is the best year of my career, collectively and individually. Finally I achieved something I dreamed since I started playing for the national team. We reached the final of the World Cup and even without winning it was historic.” – bbc.com