“That is Champions League!”

“For me, that is Champions League,” said sporting director Sebastian Kehl following the draw, before promising: “We will do everything in our power to go through and have the capabilities required to do so. I think that all the other teams also did not want Borussia Dortmund as an opponent.”

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Paris St. Germain have been involved every year since 2012 when the draw for the UEFA Champions League group stage has taken place. France’s No. 1 club, who became the record champions of the Grande Nation by winning their 11th title this summer, will once again head the group this year. PSG reached the final for the first time in 2020, losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich, but they have bowed out in the round of 16 in both of the last two seasons. Luis Enrique, who led Barcelona to two Spanish titles, victory in the UEFA Champions League and the Club World Cup (both in 2015), has now been charged with ensuring that the Parisians, who won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996, soon claim the most important trophy in club football. For BVB, there will be a reunion with former players Achraf Hakimi and Ousmane Dembélé. The head-to-head record between the clubs is not bad at all: the previous four meetings with PSG have produced one win (round of 16 first leg in 2019/20 season), two draws and one defeat.

AC Milan were only two victories short of qualifying for the current edition of the Champions League as the reigning champions, rather than as the fourth-placed club in Serie A. Last season’s semi-finalists are participating for the 20th time, having previously won the competition three times (1994, 2003, 2007), the European Cup a total of seven times, the Club World Cup four times and the Cup Winners’ Cup two times. With only one exception, the Rossoneri have reached the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club competition every season in which they have competed since 2002. There will be a reunion with Christian Pulisic. And good memories of previous clashes: BVB have claimed victory in two of the previous six meetings (plus one draw and three defeats). Borussia won the UEFA Cup semi-final in 2001/2002 following a 4-0 win and a 3-1 loss; the Black & Yellows then lost 1-0 at the Strobelallee and ran out 1-0 away victors at the San Siro in the second group phase of the UEFA Champions League in 2002/2003.

Newcastle United qualified for the UEFA Champions League – for the first time since 2002 and the third time in total – by finishing in fourth place in the world’s strongest league, behind Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United. Even though the Magpies’ four league titles came in a different era – 1905, 1907, 1909, 1927 – the club have undergone a remarkable development. When coach Eddie Howe took over the reins at the club in November 2021, they were battling against relegation, but England’s northernmost city is now hosting Europe’s footballing elite for the first time in a decade (they made it to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League in 2012/13). There will be a reunion with Alexander Isak, who played for the Black & Yellows from January 2017 to January 2019 and has scored 12 goals in 30 appearances since joining Newcastle in 2022. Three signings have recently been made for almost €150 million: Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento. There have been no previous competitive meetings.

Hans-Joachim Watzke stated: “Our group is definitely the most difficult, a hammer group. But we’ll embrace it.”

The fixtures have not yet been scheduled. But in any case, the advance sale for the first home game will start on 5 September.
Boris Rupert