Champions League group stage draw RECAP: Tottenham handed tough task as Manchester United have a great chance of progressing

The Premier League season is well underway... on Thursday it was time to turn our attention to the Champions League with the group stage draw in Monaco. 

Tottenham will face Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Apoel as Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all have relatively easy tasks to reach the last 16.

Relive the draw as it happened at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco with Sportsmail's TOM FARMERY.


  • Tom Farmery

    Host commentator

18:08

JOE RIDGE: Tottenham have been handed the toughest draw of the five Premier League sides in the Champions League with holders Real Madrid and former winners Borussia Dortmund alongside them in Group H.

Both Manchester clubs and Liverpool will be licking their lips at favourable draws while Chelsea will also be expecting to progress with relative ease despite having to play Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid.

Celtic, meanwhile, have been handed a nightmare draw as they're tasked to face last season's runners-up Juventus and mega-rich PSG in Group B. 

Read the full report of the draw here.

18:05
Ronaldo refreshingly humble on winning the UEFA men's player of the season...

He adds: 'Every year it is the same challenge to win everything. I'm so glad to be here and win this trophy.'

17:53
The draw is over... awards now for the UEFA men's and women's player of the year

Nominees for UEFA women's player of the year:

Pernille Harder (Wolfsburg)

Dzsenifer Marozsán (Lyon)

Lieke Martens (Barcelona) - winner

Nominees for UEFA men's player of the year:

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - winner

Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)

17:44
The Champions League draw has finished...
British teams in bold

GROUP A: Benfica, Manchester United, FC Basle, CSKA Moscow

GROUP B: Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Anderlecht, Celtic

GROUP C: Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Roma, Qarabag

GROUP D: Juventus, Barcelona, Olympiacos, Sporting Lisbon

GROUP E: Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Liverpool, Maribor

GROUP F: Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City, Napoli, Feyenoord

GROUP G: Monaco, Porto, Besiktas, RB Leipzig

GROUP H: Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham, Apoel

17:42
Pot three over and done with... time for another award

The Champions League forward of last season... of course it goes to Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo. The first man to score in the three Champions League finals

Ronaldo collects his award and says it is all down to 'hard work and decication'.

17:34
Pot two done with... time for another award...

Midfielder of the 2016/17 Champions League season goes to Real Madrid's Luka Modric.

He says it was 'an amazing feeling to defend the Champions League title against Juventus in the final in Cardiff'.

17:25
So that's pot one out of the way... time for another award...

Defender of the 2016/17 Season goes to Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos.

17:11
Champions League goalkeeper for last season...

You really don't need to guess... it is of course Gianluigi Buffon. He did contribute significantly to Juventus reaching the final of the Champions League last season - eight clean sheets in total.

He says he is 'really proud to receive this award at my age'. 

17:09
Totti's partner for this evening Andriy Shevchenko joins the former striker on stage...
17:07
UEFA President's Award goes to Francesco Totti

Aleksander Čeferin, the UEFA president, hands the Roma legend Francesco Totti his special award. Totti buttons up his suit before standing with his award for photographs.

Ceferin adds: 'His dedication for the one club he played for was fantastic... deep respect from UEFA's side.'

17:04
Of course... time for some awards before the group stage draw...



16:59
That famous Champions League soundtrack playing out in the Grimaldi Forum... it's nearly time for the draw
16:55
Ronaldo and Messi arrive in Monaco... guess which one has gone for a more exuberant entrance?
Cristiano Ronaldo signs a shirt before heading into the Grimaldi Forum
Lionel Messi signs a few autographs before heading inside
16:43
Totti and Shevchenko will be in charge of drawing the club's tonight

That's right... the two former strikers who have both left their mark on Europe's premier club competition in the past will be in charge of this evening's group stage draw.

Andriy Shevchenko will help draw the teams for tonight's Champions League group stage draw
16:35
'Real Madrid by far the best team in the competition...'

That's according to former Bayern Munich and Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves. 

They are certainly at a level that no other club seems to be able to match at present - particularly Barcelona.

16:32
What the two finalists will be playing for in Kiev next May...
The European Cup
16:24
Ramos and Modric made it to Monaco in one piece then...
16:21
Gianluigi Buffon arrives in Monaco ahead of the draw and makes on Juve fan's day...
16:19
All 32 teams divided into their respective pots...
Source: UEFA
16:13
How one winner of the Champions League is getting to Monaco...

Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos choosing a more lavish way to get to tonight's draw.

16:11
Good afternoon and welcome to our coverage of the draw for Champions League group stages

It's that time of the year where this time five English teams will find out who they will face in the group stages of the Champions League.

There are 32 team with 17 nations represented.  Each group takes a team from each of the four pots.

Stay with me as I bring you all the build-up ahead of the draw, which is expected to start at 5pm.

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