Official: Bayern Munich draw FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League group stage

It’s official! After an excruciatingly long draw process, we know who Bayern Munich will face in the group stages of the Champions League this season. FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Viktoria Plzen will face us in Group C.

After last year’s disappointingly early exit to Villarreal, Julian Nagelsmann will be out to prove that his team can still hack it in the CL. A strong start in the Bundesliga is one thing, but reproducing those domestic performances against Europe’s elite is the end-goal. The group stage is key to that, since it lets you hone your tactics without the stakes being quite as high as a knockout.

Facing Barca means a repeat of the group stages from last season, with an interesting twist — Robert Lewandowski will now be playing for the other FCB. In Germany, he made quite a habit of scoring on his former sides. Let’s hope he doesn’t continue that tradition going forward, or these games could become very painful.

Inter are an interesting team to draw, since they’re certainly no pushovers. Simone Inzaghi’s men could give Nagelsmann some headaches, especially with Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martínez leading the line. With Viktoria Plzen rounding out the group, it’s going to be a solid challenge for Julian Nagelsmann and his boys.

As for the rest of the teams in the Bundesliga, it’s not looking good. RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund got relatively tough groups, they could be dumped out into the Europa League. With Leverkusen’s sorry start, they will probably end up last in a relatively simple group. Eintracht Frankfurt are also unlikely to qualify unless they pick up their performances, so hopefully they start figuring something out.

Here is the full draw:

What do you think about the groups?

Interested in more discussion about the group stage draw? Here is our podcast reacting to Bayern’s group, listen to it below or at this link.