Reds discover Champions League opponents

Manchester United have been drawn against Juventus, Valencia and Young Boys in the group stage of this season’s UEFA Champions League.

The Reds, who were in Pot 2, were placed in Group H in Thursday’s draw, which was conducted by former United striker Diego Forlan and Brazil legend Kaka at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

United were kept apart from Premier League rivals Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, as teams from the same country cannot face each other in the group stage.

Jose Mourinho’s side qualified for the last 32 of Europe’s elite competition by virtue of finishing second in the Premier League last season.

Jose Mourinho's men will come up against former United star Cristiano Ronaldo when facing Juventus, after the Portuguese forward joined the Italian giants from Real Madrid during the summer.

Ronaldo scored 118 goals in 292 games for the Reds during six successful years at United, between 2003 and 2009. It will be Cristiano’s second return to Old Trafford since his departure – in 2012/13, he scored the winner for Mourinho’s Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at the Theatre of Dreams to secure a 3-2 aggregate win over United in the last-16 stage.

This season's meetings with Juventus will also pit United midfielder Paul Pogba against his old club, whom he helped to win four consecutive Serie A titles, as well as two Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. Our no.6 netted 34 goals in 178 games during four impressive seasons in Turin, before rejoining the Reds in the summer of 2016.

United have won the last three meetings with Juventus, home (2-1) and away (3-0) in 2002/03 as well as the famous 1999 semi-final second leg in Turin (3-2).

After being pitted against La Liga outfit Valencia, the Reds will take on a Spanish team in Europe for the third successive season – after beating Celta Vigo in the Europa League semi-finals on our way to winning the competition in 2016/17 and facing Sevilla in the last 16 of the Champions League last term.

United have played eight competitive games against Valencia to date, resulting in two wins, five draws and just one defeat. The last clashes came in the group stage in 2010/11, when Sir Alex Ferguson’s Reds prevailed 1-0 at the Mestalla before being held to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. Valencia finished third in La Liga last term and were recently managed by United legend Gary Neville.

The clashes with Marcelino’s team will undoubtedly be special for two United players in particular. Juan Mata spent four years at Valencia, scoring 46 times in 174 games, before coming to England in 2011, when he joined his previous club Chelsea. Fellow midfielder Andreas Pereira also spent last season on loan at the Mestalla, where he scored once and registered five assists in 29 games in all competitions.

The Reds will take on Swiss outfit Young Boys for the first time in our history. However, it's the second successive season we will encounter a team from Switzerland in the Champions League, after being grouped with FC Basel last term.

It will be a maiden experience at this stage of Europe’s elite competition for Gerardo Seoane’s team, who beat Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb 3-2 on aggregate in the play-off round.

The Bern-based outfit faced Tottenham in the Champions League in 2010/11 at the play-off stage, before taking on Liverpool in the group stage of the Europa League in 2012/13 and Everton in the last 32 of that competition in 2014/15.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUPS IN FULL

Group A: Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Monaco
Group B: Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur, PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan
Group C: Paris St-Germain, Napoli, Liverpool, Red Star Belgrade
Group D: Lokomotiv Moscow, FC Porto, FC Schalke 04, Galatasaray
Group E: Bayern Munich, Benfica, Ajax, AEK Athens
Group F: Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon, Hoffenheim
Group G: Real Madrid, AS Roma, CSKA Moscow, Viktoria Plzen
Group H: Juventus, Manchester United, Valencia, Young Boys