The Champions League group stage draw has unsurprisingly served up a series of interesting matchups, with a potential clash between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo topping the trends.
In Thursday’s event conducted in the Turkish capital of Istanbul, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City were drawn together in Group A, setting up a possible duel between PSG’s Messi and Ronaldo, should the latter player seal a transfer from Juventus to English side City before the summer transfer window closes on August 31.
A meeting between the world’s two iconic football superstars will rekindle their El-Clasico rivalry during their La Liga days with Barcelona and Real Madrid.
German side RB Leipzig and Belgian outfit Club Brugge complete the four teams in Group A.
Other fixtures which have also generated interest are the encounter between Bayern Munich and Barcelona in Group E, the duel between Chelsea and Juventus in Group H, the tie between Manchester United and Villarreal in Group F, and the match between Atletico Madrid and Liverpool in Group B.
Below are the best reactions to Thursday’s draw:
PSG and Man City in the same group.UAE vs QatarPotentially Ronaldo vs Messi. #UCLdraw— Fentuo Tahiru Fentuo (@Fentuo_) August 26, 2021
PSG vs Manchester CityMessi vs Ronaldo once again? 👀— Owuraku Ampofo (@_owurakuampofo) August 26, 2021
What a group stage! Potential #CR7 clash with Messi in Group A as Man City meet #PSG. Man Utd to face Villareal in repeat of #UEL final in Group F as Chelsea meet Juventus in Group H. #Inter meet Madrid again in Group D. Bayern vs Barca, another walloping expected? #UCLdraw #UCL pic.twitter.com/pRS7SCd5ur— Dennis Mirpuri (@MirpuriOfficial) August 26, 2021
Werner Vs Morata when they finally meet #UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/zZ7DDxhtwc— Petu 🗽🇿🇦💐 (@iamPetu_) August 26, 2021
Ronaldo against Ramos as well as Messi against Pep. Football is just magical🥺🥺#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/Z0qscPeNFQ— Uncle Chu (@datchuguy) August 26, 2021
It's time for revenge Manchester United vs Villarreal #UCLdraw— YGee😎 (@y3guyy) August 26, 2021
Chelsea won the Champions league in 2012 and was seeded in a group with Juventus in 2012/13 then again in 2021 and has been seeded with Juventus 2021/22 again.. Are u thinking what I’m thinking?😂❤️#UCLdraw— Ara Maestro 🇬🇭🐬 (@_MukadasMaestro) August 26, 2021
Barça fans should blame Michael Essien for this situation. How can you place Barça and Bayern in the same group for another humiliation😭😭#UCLdraw #ChampionsLeague— Maestro (@GazaliFauzan5) August 26, 2021
Bayern and Barca in the same group...Barca fans right now:....😭😭😭#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/LPwHM5iO1n— Adwoa🥰💙 (@AdwoaClara) August 26, 2021
#UCLdrawNasser Al-Khelaifi's reaction to PSG being in the same group as Man City... 😳#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/ozrzsbSPoe— Adansi Bonna Frederick (@adansi_bonna) August 26, 2021
Chelsea against JuventusNot bad🙈😂#UCLdraw— Sweet Israel (@SweetIsrael_) August 26, 2021
#UCLdraw Group E: Bayern Vs Barcelona 😂💔See demma representatives face 👇 pic.twitter.com/TtgYmzZhIa— FactsOnly 💉(Best Laptop💻plug) (@Rhabbles1) August 26, 2021