Mixed luck for the Spanish teams in the Champions League group stage draw. In addition to Barça and Real Madrid, the Blaugrana with a very tough group and the current champion with a more benevolent one, Seville and Atlético de Madrid met their rivals.
The Andalusian team has been the worst unemployed by being paired with Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund despite being in the second pot of the draw held this Thursday in Istanbul, where the final will be played on June 10, 2023. A priori the Copenhagen should soften at least two of the six days.
In the Sevilla group, the curiosity is served with the return of Erling Haaland to Dortmund just a few months after signing for Manchester City. Two seasons ago the Norwegian striker was the executioner of Sevilla in the Champions League. Now he will return to Pizjuán dressed in light blue.
The president of Sevilla, Pepe Castro, was optimistic despite the toughness of the opponents. “It’s a tough, powerful, strong group, with the eternal contender (City) and a Dortmund that doesn’t have Haaland but that keeps the bulk of the team. It will be tough, but sometimes benevolent groups don’t go well. You have to be happy , play a good tournament and try to get to the round of 16”.
On the part of Atlético, Simeone’s men will face Porto again in the group stage as happened last season, when they obtained the pass to the next round in extremis. The German Bayer Leverkusen and the Belgian Bruges complete a competitive group but in theory it should not be an impediment for the rojiblancos to access the round of 16.
The first day of the Champions League starts on Tuesday, September 6 and ends on November 2, with much more consecutive days as a result of the World Cup in Qatar between the months of November and December.
