Last season's runners-up Liverpool, big-spending French league champions Paris St Germain and Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli were thrown together in the pick of the groups while holders Real Madrid must face last season's semi-finalists AS Roma.
The Bavarians, who have won the last seven league titles in Germany, last lifted Europe's top club trophy in 2013.
The Champions League is part of Real Madrid's folklore and it is the nature of the Spanish side to always set their sights on Europe's most prestigious club tournament, having won it more times than any other team, winger Gareth Bale has said.
Kevin Pietersen's achilles injury has ruled him out of the $6million Twenty20 Champions League in October.
Xavi mentioned again on Saturday that the club faced problems. Similar comments had reportedly annoyed Laporta earlier in the season.
Metalist Kharkiv, due to play Schalke 04 in the Champions League play-off round next week, has been kicked out of the competition over a domestic match-fixing case dating back to 2008, the UEFA said on Wednesday. The decision by UEFA's appeals committee came 10 days after Metalist lost an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Mourinho praises Pogba, Shaw, Dalot after United Swiss stroll
Jude Bellingham converted a penalty and Kylian Mbappe added another goal before halftime to spur Real Madrid to a 2-0 victory over Getafe.
Tottenham Hotspur say next week's clash with Monaco will be played in front of the highest attendance for a Champions League game in England, with more than 80,000 tickets sold.
Barcelona suffered a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal and AS Roma's miserable run continued with a 3-2 home loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League last-16 first-round matches on Wednesday.
Luxemburg's FC Dudelange produced a stunning upset in the Champions League qualifiers with a 1-0 home win over Austrian double winners Salzburg on Tuesday.
After the Champions League game, Liverpool host Arsenal in the league on Sunday.
There is never a dearth of drama in European football and here is proof...
An underwhelming Chelsea boosted their chances of a spot in next season's Champions League, overcoming a slow start to beat relegated Norwich City 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. Olivier Giroud scored with virtually the last touch of the first half as Chelsea consolidated third place in the Premier League and moved four points above Leicester City and Manchester United in the battle for a top-four finish.
Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale said on Wednesday he has an extra incentive to reach a third Champions League final in four years because the title game will be played in his hometown of Cardiff. "This is the reason I came to Madrid - to play in the Champions League, to win the Champions League," the 27-year-old Bale said in an interview with UEFA.com. "To have the Champions League final in my home town is an even bigger motivation," he said.
European clubs are anticipating another windfall after changes to the Champions League and say the new system will be fairer as well as making them richer. The European Clubs Association (ECA) said it expected revenue from the Champions League and Europa League to jump from 2.35 billion euros ($2.62 billion) per season to around 3 billion euros from 2018-19, when the changes, announced by UEFA last month, come into force. ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge also ruled out talk of a breakaway Super League in the foreseeable future, saying the clubs wanted to remain united.
Manuel Neuer announced his retirement from internationals on Wednesday after playing 124 times for his country since 2009.
The players celebrated with their families and loved ones in the stadium as each player lifted and kissed the trophy that had Real Madrid etched on it.
As Chelsea and Bayern Munich prepare to battle for honours in the final, here's a look at some memorable moments in this year's Champions League.
Atletico Madrid secured a place in the Champions League qualifiers on Sunday after a goal from Diego Forlan earned them a 1-0 win over Deportivo Coruna and ensured they could finish no lower than fourth in the table. Atletico are now level on 64 points with Barca, but are in fourth because the Catalans have a better record in head-to-heads.
Schalke 04 overpowered local rivals VfL Bochum 3-0 to strengthen their bid for a return to the Champions League.
Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has eased Real Madrid's injury concerns and could be fit to play in their Champions League match at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, coach Zinedine Zidane said.
Liverpool eased into the Champions League quarter-finals after a superb strike by Fernando Torres gave last season's runners-up a 1-0 win at Inter Milan and a 3-0 aggregate victory. They join the other three English entrants, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, with AS Roma the only Italian side through.
Says Real Madrid weaker without the Portuguese
The hosts could have snatched victory in the last action of the game but Michael Gregoritsch's point-blank header was saved by Lukas Hradecky.
Manchester United and AS Roma will meet in the Champions League group stages.
A summary of Wednesday's group matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Last-minute starter Adrian Ramos scored a first-half header to give Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 victory over Sporting on Wednesday and earn a spot in the knockout stage of the Champions League with two Group F matches to spare.
United are unbeaten in all competitions since Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho in December and their improvement is down to the Norwegian's insistence on an attacking style of play, as opposed to the defensive fare served up by his predecessor.
Arsene Wenger's team look likely to return to Europe's most prestigious competition next season.
'I would have liked to have scored against another team but that's life'
Paris St Germain reached the Champions League semi-finals despite a 1-0 home defeat by holders Bayern Munich as they progressed on away goals
Barcelona and AC Milan can effectively seal their expected places in the Champions League knockout stage with three games remaining when they play rank outsiders Viktoria Plzen and BATE Borisov respectively in their Group H matches on Wednesday.
Red Star Belgrade, who won Europe's premier club competition in 1991, engineered a 2-0 home victory against HJK Helsinki thanks to a Richmond Boakye header and substitute Milan Pavkov's sweeping 90th-minute finish.
Champions League holders Real Madrid will have to work around a string of injuries to key players in a tough match against CSKA Moscow, manager Julen Lopetegui said on Monday.
Juventus did the bare minimum as they scraped into the Champions League knockout stage on Tuesday with a 0-0 draw at home to Atletico Madrid, a result which also suited the Spaniards who topped the group.
Uncapped Ian Maatsen was holidaying on a yacht off Mykonos when he got a call up on Monday night for the European Championship
Facts and figures ahead of Saturday's Champions League final between holders Real Madrid and Liverpool in Kiev:
Paris St. Germain's unbeaten start to their Ligue 1 season continued on Friday with a comfortable 3-1 win over Rennes at the Parc des Princes that saw Bradley Barcola score twice to keep them top of the standings.
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