Man United discover Champions League group-stage opponents

Manchester United have been drawn with Villarreal, Atalanta and Young Boys in the group stages of the 2021/22 Champions League.

It means the Red Devils will face their Europa League final opponents from last season, which, of course, was won by Villarreal.

Interestingly, the two clubs have met on five occasions, with all matches ending in a draw after 90 minutes. In fact, four of those clashes have been goalless.

As for Atalanta, the Red Devils have never faced the Italian club, who finished third in Serie A last season. The Bergamo-based outfit made it to the last eight of the Champions League two seasons ago.

United were paired with Young Boys in the group stage of the 2018/19 competition, with the Red Devils winning both home and away and progressing to the last-16.

This year’s games will be played across six separate midweek rounds of fixtures, starting on 14/15th September and concluding on 7/8th December.

This season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men will be hoping to improve on last year’s showing. The Red Devils were drawn alongside Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig and Istanbul Basaksehir, but failed to progress to the next stage and were instead eliminated to the Europa League.

Draw in full

Group A: Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig, Club Brugge

Group B: Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Porto, AC Milan

Group C: Sporting Lisbon, Borussia Dortmund, Ajax, Besiktas

Group D: Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sheriff Tiraspol

Group E: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Benfica, Dynamo Kiev

Group F: Villarreal, Manchester United, Atalanta, Young Boys

Group G: Lille, Sevilla, RB Salzburg, Wolfsburg

Group H: Chelsea, Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg, Malmo