Champions League groups confirmed as Benfica and Porto find out their opponents
The draw has finally been conducted, with Portugal's representatives both finding out their group stage opponents for the forthcoming edition of Europe's elite contest as Benfica were drawn alongside European heavyweights Bayern Munich in group D, while Porto were handed a more favourable tie with Lokomotiv Moscow being the pot 1 club in their group.
In addition to Bayern, Benfica have also been pitted against Dutch outfit Ajax, who made the Europa League final two years ago, and Greek outfit AEK Athens, who were the lowest seeded side in the entire competition.
Meanwhile, Porto, in addition to avoiding the big teams from pot 1, also managed to avoid Liverpool in pot 2, instead drawing German outfit Schalke, and were given also Galatasaray.
Last season, it can be recalled, Porto made the round of 16 of the Champions League, finishing second in a group containing Leipzig, Monaco and Besiktas, while Benfica had a dreadful campaign, finishing bottom of a favourable group containing Basel and CSKA Moscow, in addition to English outfit Manchester United, who comfortably topped the group.
This time around, both Benfica and Porto will be generally pleased with the draws they have been given, managing to avoid Liverpool and Inter Milan from pots 3 and 4 respectively, while also avoiding holders Real Madrid in pot 1.
GROUP D: Lokomotiv Moscow, FC Porto, Schalke, Galatasaray.
GROUP E: Bayern Munich, Benfica, Ajax, AEK Athens.
