Luck of draw for European champions Barca

MONACO — Barcelona was handed a favourable start to its title defence at the Champions League group stage draw yesterday (this morning, Singapore time) with the Spanish side to face Bayer Leverkusen, Roma and BATE Borisov in Group E.

Lionel Messi, who was named UEFA’s Best Player in Europe yesterday, will be looking forward to the fixture against Bundesliga’s Leverkusen. The Argentinian scored five of his Champions League record 77 goals against the German club when Barcelona won 7-1 in a last-16 match in 2012.

Real Madrid was placed in a tougher group with Shakhtar Donetsk and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s current and first clubs, Paris Saint-Germain and Malmo.

Europe’s four highest-ranked leagues will meet in the group of Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla and Borussia Moenchengladbach.

English Premier League (EPL) side Manchester United returns to the Champions League after a one-year absence against PSV Eindhoven — the lowest-ranked of the eight top-seeded clubs — CSKA Moscow and Wolfsburg.

Chelsea was grouped with coach Jose Mourinho’s old club Porto, which he guided to the title in 2004 immediately before starting his first spell at Stamford Bridge. Dynamo Kiev and Maccabi Tel Aviv complete the group.

Mourinho is aiming to become the first coach to win Europe’s premier club title with three different clubs, after Porto and Inter Milan (2010).

Germany’s Bayern Munich will again face Arsenal, which it eliminated at the last-16 stage in 2013 and 2014, as well as Olympiakos and Dinamo Zagreb.

Newcomer Astana (Kazakhstan) will play Benfica, Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray.

With UEFA separating Russian and Ukrainian teams in the draw, top-seeded Zenit St. Petersburg was grouped with Valencia, Lyon and Gent. The champion of Belgium is the second club making its debut at the elite level. AP

Group A: Paris Saint-Germain (France), Real Madrid (Spain), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Malmo (Sweden)

Group B: PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Manchester United (England), CSKA Moscow (Russia), Wolfsburg (Germany)

Group C: Benfica (Portugal), Atletico Madrid (Spain), Galatasaray (Turkey), Astana (Kazakhstan)

Group D:Juventus (Italy), Manchester City (England), Sevilla (Spain), Borussia Moenchengladbach (Germany)

Group E: Barcelona (Spain), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Roma (Italy), BATE Borisov (Belarus)

Group F: Bayern Munich (Germany), Arsenal (England), Olympiakos (Greece), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

Group G: Chelsea (England), Porto (Portugal), Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine), Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)

Group H: Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia), Valencia (Spain), Lyon (France), Gent (Belgium)