The complete 2017/18 UEFA Champions League Group Stage draw!

The two-time defending champion Real Madrid was matched against Dortmund, Tottenham and APOEL of Cyprus in Thursday’s draw for the group stage of this season’s UEFA Champions League, while its archrival, Barcelona, drew an early chance to avenge a humbling exit at the hands of Juventus in last season’s quarterfinals.

Real Madrid and Dortmund also were in the same group last season — Dortmund won it, though it tied both its matches with the Spanish champion — when Madrid beat Juventus to win the competition for the third time in four years. Madrid is a heavy favorite to win a third straight title this season, and, in a twist, could get an assist in the group from Barcelona, which is reportedly about to acquire Dortmund’s French forward Ousmane Dembélé.

Juventus and Barcelona will be favored to advance out of their group, which includes Olympiakos and Sporting Lisbon, regardless of what happens in their home-and-home meetings. Bayern Munich, whose toughest test should come against a Neymar-led Paris Saint-Germain, also received a favorable draw, though Tottenham, in Madrid’s Group H, and Chelsea, Atlético Madrid and Roma — tossed together into a difficult Group C — were not nearly as fortunate.

Tottenham received the toughest draw of the five Premier League clubs in the group stage, but at least it avoided the kind of energy sapping midweek journey to Eastern Europe that many top coaches disdain. Its Premier League rivals were not as lucky.

Manchester United’s group included Portugal’s Benfica and Switzerland’s Basel, but also CSKA Moscow. In addition to tough games in Spain and Italy, Chelsea faces a journey to Qarabag in Azerbaijan.

Liverpool, which advanced to the group stage through the final qualifying round, will be pleased with its opponents, which included Sevilla and Slovenia’s Maribor, but less excited about its coming visit to Spartak Moscow. And Manchester City drew Napoli, an underrated contender, and Feyenoord, but also Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk.
United, City and Liverpool, at least, can take comfort in knowing that points should be available to them elsewhere after relatively favorable draws. And Tottenham striker Harry Kane, perhaps thrilled just to have his club back in Europe’s biggest tournament again, took an optimistic tone on Spurs’ 

The group stage begins Sept. 12 and 13 and ends with the final two matchdays on Dec. 5 and 6. This season’s Champions League final will be played May 26 in Kiev — less than three weeks before the 2018 World Cup opens in Russia.