Sweeter than bitter draw, overall, for the Italian teams in the Champions League: it didn't go particularly well for Atalanta and Milan, who have two difficult groups (especially Milan) but started from the third and fourth pots, while they certainly cannot complain Inter and Juventus, who started from the first two bands. The Italian champions repeat for three quarters the same group of last year, with Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk (coached by Roberto De Zerbi), while this time the fourth team is Sheriff Tiraspol, a Moldovan team making its absolute debut in the competition. Discreet draw for Juventus, the most accredited Italian team to move forward: it is true that Chelsea draw reigning champions, but the other two are Zenit and Malmoe. Atalanta finds the two finalists of the last Europa League, Villarreal and Manchester United, and the Young Boys: not simple but not impossible either, on paper. Milan couldn't expect much given the fourth tier: find Atletico Madrid, Liverpool and Porto.
Then note the "derby of the sheikhs" in group A, where PSG and Manchester City collide: the "guinea pigs" are Leipzig and Bruges. Barcelona draws Bayern Munich and Benfica with Dinamo Kiev, the grouping with Sporting Lisbon, Borussia Dortmund and Besiktas is also quite balanced, while as every year the "mattress" group has come out, the one in which incredibly all teams have found themselves of not particularly high level, apart from one: this time it is group G with Lille, Seville (which at this point is the favorite to go through), Salzburg and Wolfsburg.
The Italian teams each started in a different bracket: Inter first as Italian champions, Juventus second, Atalanta third and Milan, who had not been in this competition since the 2013-2014 season, fourth. It starts on Tuesday 14 September, it ends Saturday 28 May 2022 with the final in St. Petersburg, in Russia. The groups will be played on 14-15 and 28-29 September, 19-20 October, 2-3 and 23-24 November, and 7-8 December. Round of 15 first leg 16/22/23/8 February, second leg 9/15/16/3 March. In April the quarter-finals and the first leg of the semi-finals, while the two finalists will decide on May 4 and XNUMX, with the return matches.
