MONACO: Pep Guardiola will return to the Nou Camp in the Champions League group stage after his new club Manchester City were drawn against his former team Barcelona in Thursday’s group stage draw in Monaco.

The two sides were drawn in Group ‘C’ alongside Borussia Moenchengladbach and former European champions Celtic.

Guardiola, who also spent most of his playing career at the Catalan club and was a European Cup winner with Barca as a player in 1992, steered Barcelona to two Champions League titles in 2009 and 2011 as well as a number of other trophies during his time as coach from 2008-12.

The Spanish coach faced the Catalans when he was in charge of Bayern Munich two seasons ago and suffered a 5-3 defeat in the semi-finals.

Five-time winners Bayern will have a quick chance to avenge last season’s semi-final defeat by Atletico Madrid after they were paired together in Group ‘D’ along with PSV Eindhoven and Russian group stage debutants Rostov.

Cristiano Ronaldo also returns to his first club as defending champions Real Madrid, who won a record 11th European Cup last season, have been drawn against Sporting Lisbon.

Real will have a tough pair of matches against Borussia Dortmund in Group ‘F’ although both teams should progress from a section that also contains Legia Warsaw.

Paris St Germain and Arsenal are the two clear favourites to progress from Group ‘A’ ahead of Basel and Bulgarian outfit Ludogorets, while Premier League champions Leicester City, the only other newcomers among the 32 teams, were handed a favourable draw in Group ‘G’ which includes Porto, Club Bruges and FC Copenhagen.

Juventus will take on three-time reigning European League champions Sevilla as well as Lyon and Dinamo Zagreb in Group ‘H’.

The eight four-team groups begin play on September 13-14.

Champions League group-stage draw:

Group ‘A’: Paris St Germain, Arsenal, Basel, Ludogorets Razgrad.

Group ‘B’: Benfica, Napoli, Dynamo Kiev, Besiktas.

Group ‘C’: Barcelona, Manchester City, Borussia Moenchengladbach, Celtic.

Group ‘D’: Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven, Rostov.

Group ‘E’: CSKA Moscow, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco.

Group ‘F’: Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon, Legia Warsaw.

Group ‘G’: Leicester City, FC Porto, Club Bruges, FC Copenhagen.

Group ‘H’: Juventus, Sevilla, Olympique Lyonnais, Dinamo Zagreb.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2016