Real Madrid and rivals await Champions League draw in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, AFP: Title holders Real Madrid and the rest of Europe’s elite clubs will be able to start plotting their route to Champions League glory when the draw for this season’s group stage is made in Istanbul on Thursday from 4 p.m. GMT.

All going to plan, the journey will end back in the Turkish city on 10 June next year for the final at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, the same venue where Liverpool defeated AC Milan on penalties in 2005.

Istanbul was supposed to host the final in 2020 and again in 2021, but on each occasion UEFA moved the game to Portugal due to pandemic-related restrictions.

Another late change was required last season, with Saint-Petersburg being stripped of the final after Russia invaded Ukraine, and Paris instead stepping in to host Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Liverpool.

The Spanish giants have now been crowned kings of Europe 14 times, twice as many times as the competition’s next most successful club, AC Milan, and they started this season by defeating Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt in Helsinki to lift the UEFA Super Cup.

As for the draw itself, Real are in Pot One along with the champions of Europe’s other leading leagues in the shape of City, Bayern Munich, Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and Ajax, as well as Europa League winners Frankfurt.

Liverpool will be in Pot Two, meaning there is a possibility that they could get a rematch with Real. Chelsea, winners in 2021, and Tottenham Hotspur are the other English representatives.