Paris, Aug 25: Barcelona faces another tough Champions League group after being drawn with Bayern Munich and Inter Milan on Thursday as it tries to avoid a second straight group-stage exit since losing Lionel Messi.
Barcelona also faced Bayern in the group stage last season when the German club won 3-0 both home and away as the Spanish giant slumped to third place and failed to reach the knockout stage.
Still, Barcelona has since recruited former Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski – the two-time FIFA player of the year who will now face his his old teammates – despite financial turmoil that has affected its ability to register and retain players.
Inter Milan is another former champion in a group that boasts a combined 14 European Cup or Champions League titles. Viktoria Plzeň of the Czech Republic is the fourth team in Group C.
Real Madrid has 14 titles of its own and will defend the trophy in a group with Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic.
Shakhtar cannot play in Ukraine during the Russian military invasion and will play “home” games in Warsaw in neighboring Poland. UEFA has banned all Russian teams from its competitions.
Messi will try for a second year to bring a first European title to Paris Saint-Germain, which landed in a group with two former two-time champions – Juventus and Benfica – plus Maccabi Haifa. Another reunion after a blockbuster offseason move will see Manchester City’s star signing Erling Haaland going back to his old club Borussia Dortmund. That group also includes Sevilla and Copenhagen.
Liverpool and Rangers will have a rare England-Scotland clash in the Champions League, in a group that also includes Ajax and Napoli.
The Champions League group stage start early this season on Sept. 6 and end five weeks sooner than usual on Nov. 2 because of the World Cup in Qatar, which starts Nov. 20.
After six rounds of games spanning just eight full weeks, a three-month pause is taken before the round of 16 starts in February.
Fixture congestion caused by the first World Cup played in the European winter means the Champions League final in Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium is on June 10.
It’s the latest scheduled final since the inaugural European Cup title match in 1956.
World Cup schedule
Because the World Cup in Qatar starts Nov 20, these Champions League groups start early on Sept. 6 and end five weeks sooner than usual on Nov. 2.
Six rounds will be played in just nine weeks before a three-month pause until the round of 16 starts Feb. 14. That draw is on Nov. 7.
Fixture congestion caused by the first World Cup played outside the European summer means the Champions League final in Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium is on June 10.
That’s the latest scheduled final – not including the August title game in the pandemic-hit 2019-20 season – since the inaugural European Cup final on June 13, 1956.
Go West
The Champions League is more concentrated in western Europe – and not just because of the Russia ban. Teams from Greece and Turkey in south-eastern Europe all lost in the qualifying rounds.
Only Shakhtar, Viktoria Plzen and Dinamo Zagreb qualified from the old eastern Europe with Maccabi Haifa in Israel facing a 2,000-kilometer (1,250-mile) flight to its nearest potential opponent Napoli.
Recent Champions League teams Dynamo Kyiv, Red Star Belgrade, Sheriff, Ferencváros and Qarabag all lost in the qualifying rounds.
It means hundreds of millions in prize money flows to clubs in the already wealthier leagues of western Europe.
Prize money
The 32 teams share about 2 billion euros ($1.99 billion) in UEFA prize money.
Each team gets a basic fee of 15.6 million euros ($15.5 million), plus 2.8 million euros ($2.78 million) per win and 930,000 euros ($924,000) for each draw in the group stage.
The extra 930,000 euros ($924,000) left over from each drawn game is pooled and shared among teams who won games. Payments increase through each knockout round.
A fund of 600 million euros ($596 million) gets divided between clubs according to their place in a league table based on historical European titles and results in the past 10 years.
The top-ranked “coefficient” team, Real Madrid, gets 36.4 million euros ($36.1 million) and lowest-ranked Maccabi Haifa gets just 1.14 million euros ($1.13 million). Teams also get a share of their domestic broadcast rights deal.
UEFA deducts some cash to help repay broadcasters for games lost in the 2019-20 edition. It all adds up to the eventual champion getting around 125 million euros ($124 million) in UEFA prize money. (AP)
