The groups for the upcoming Champions League season were drawn today, setting up what will be a much-anticipated meeting of AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah, with Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna.
The seven teams featuring Americans on their first-team roster were relatively evenly spread out over five groups this time around, however the selection still set up what could be the most attractive all-Yank matchup that fans would have hoped for.
While the earlier or loaning teams of several of the Americans competing in this year’s edition are also qualified for the group stage, the luck of the draw did not any grudge-match or homecoming meetings, apart from Pulisic’s two matches against Dortmund.
This was helped by the fact that both Chelsea and Rangers failed to make the cut, however there is still the possibility for Sergiño Dest (on-loan from Barcelona and previously on-loan at AC Milan), Malik Tillman (on-loan from Bayern) or Brenden Aaronson (with Salzburg from 21-22) to face off against their old colors in the later stages.
Headlining the draw will be what could be a pair of games between Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan in Group F, which also includes French heavyweights PSG and English over-achievers Newcastle United.
Pending health and form, this could see Pulisic, who is already starring for the Rossoneri, and his new club teammate Musah play against the enigmatic Reyna for the Black & Yellow. That said, Reyna is still recovering from an injury suffered on national team duty over the summer, so an all-Yank affair is far from guaranteed in either leg.
In Group B, the trio of Americans at PSV Eindhoven – Dest, Ricardo Pepi and Tillman – will need to navigate a tricky collection of teams including Sevilla, Arsenal and Lens, in order to reach the final knockout phase.
Sevilla qualified by way of their Europa League win last season, although despite their disappointing 12th-place finish in La Liga, are still likely betting favorites to finish second behind the Gunners.
Aaronson’s loan from relegated Leeds to Union Berlin puts him back into the Champions League, where he shined with Salzburg in earlier seasons. He and his temporary teammates will face Italian champions Napoli, Spanish giants Real Madrid, and Portuguese team Braga in Group C.
Securing a top-two spot will be a tough ask for Die Eisernen, who are making their debut in the competition, however Madrid have been known to drop the ball against heavy underdogs, notably Sheriff Tiraspol two seasons ago. Jordan Pefok has been loaned from Union to Borussia Mönchengladbach for the season.
Group E is one of the more balanced and surely unpredictable of the competition, which will be welcome news to Cameron Carter-Vickers and his Celtic FC teammates. While the USMNT defender will likely miss the first group game with an ongoing injury, he will still get to face off against Dutch champions Feyenoord, Spaniards Atlético Madrid, and Italian team Lazio.
Finally, Sam Vines and Royal Antwerp qualified by way of their 3-1 aggregate win over AEK Athens in the final playoff round, and as their reward will have to deal with Spanish champions FC Barcelona in Group H.
Despite having built up enough debt in recent years to be as financially precarious as a morbidly obese elephant balanced on a marble, Barcelona are still a force, and one of the favorites of the competition. United States U17 player Diego Kochen does appear to be acting as Barcelona’s third keeper this season. While this puts his chance to actually take the field at close to zero, he still stands a decent likelihood to be in uniform for their six games.
Rounding out Group H are Portuguese runners-up Porto and Ukrainian champs Shakhtar Donetsk, who will play their European home games this season in Hamburg.
The full schedule of games will be released in the coming days, and the first round of games will be during the midweek on September 19-20.
Champions League Group-Stage Draw
Group B: Sevilla, Arsenal, PSV (Sergiño Dest, Ricardo Pepi, Malik Tillman), Lens
Group C: Napoli, Real Madrid, Braga, Union Berlin (Brenden Aaronson)
Group E: Feyenoord, Atlético Madrid, Lazio, Celtic (Cameron Carter-Vickers)
Group F: PSG, Borussia Dortmund (Gio Reyna), AC Milan (Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah), Newcastle United
Group H: Barcelona (Diego Kochen), Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Antwerp (Sam Vines)
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