Champions League draw kind to Spurs and Leicester, Guardiola paired with old club

THE UCL CUP

Thursday’s Champions League draw was very kind to Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs were seeded third but avoided a Group of Death scenario.

Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern Munich and Juventus were possible opponents from Pot 1, but Spurs were instead paired with Russian champions CSKA Moscow.

Although a trip to Moscow is not ideal in terms of logistics, Mauricio Pochettino’s men will fancy their chances of coming out on top against CSKA.

Spurs were drawn in Group E alongside Bayer Leverkusen from Pot 2, missing the likes of Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Europa League monopolisers Sevilla.

Tottenham’s final opponents are AS Monaco from Pot 4.

Spurs and Monaco met in last season’s Europa League, with the Londoners drawing away and winning 4-1 at White Hart Lane.

Meanwhile, the Champions League draw has also been soft on Leicester City, who will fancy their chances of reaching the last 16 after being handed games against Porto, Club Brugge and FC Copenhagen.

Arsenal face French champions PSG, Switzerland’s Basel and Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria.

Manchester City have arguably got the toughest draw of all the English sides, having got Barcelona, Borussia Monchengladbach and Celtic in their group.

New Man City boss Pep Guardiola won the Champions League twice as Barca manager. He also helped the Catalan giants lift the European Cup as a player in 1992.

Group A: PSG, Arsenal, Basel, Ludogorets Razgrad

Group B: Benfica, Napoli, Dynamo Kiev, Besiktas

Group C: Barcelona, Manchester City, Borussia Monchengladbach, Celtic

Group D: Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven, FC Rostov

Group E: CSKA Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen, Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco

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

Group G: Leicester City, Porto, Club Brugge, FC Copenhagen

Group H: Juventus, Sevilla, Lyon, Dinamo Zagreb