Champions League group stage draw winners and losers as Lewandowski and Haaland face old friends while Premier League clubs dodge a bullet

Of the last eight Champions League finalists, five have come from the Premier League, and this year's cohort are once again overwhelming favourites to make it to the knockout stages.

Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham have all avoided the European giants that they could have been paired with, and none can be unhappy with their draw.

Jurgen Klopp's side perhaps have the toughest group, but Liverpool fans can look forward to some amazing atmospheres against Ajax, Napoli and Rangers, the latter returning to the competition for the first time in more than a decade.

Pep Guardiola will expect to make the last-16 for a seventh straight season with City, despite the danger posed by Borussia Dortmund, while Chelsea should be the favourites for Group E despite being second seeds.

If you're searching for a big club that could fall at the first fence, then look no further than Juventus, who have been handed a fearsome draw.

Champions League success remains a priority for their main Group H rivals Paris Saint-Germain, so they will throw everything at ensuring they finish top.

And while Benfica may no longer have Darwin Nunez's goals, they remain a real danger after knocking out Barcelona in last season's group stages before progressing to the quarter-finals.

It's 27 years since Juve last succeeded in Europe, and with Massimiliano Allegri under pressure already this season, he would have hoped for an easier task in the first round.

Lewandowski said it was "sad and difficult" to leave Bayern Munich this summer, so he will be delighted to be making a quick return to his old club.

His eight years and 375 appearances for the Bundesliga giants were simply phenomenal, as he scored an incredible 344 goals and won eight league titles.

Lewandowski also helped Bayern to the 2020 Champions League where they humiliated his new team, Barcelona, 8-2 on the way to the final.

At previous club Borussia Dortmund, he lost only once to Bayern in eight attempts in the league although he was beaten 2-1 when the two sides met in the 2013 Champions League final.

He will be out to avoid a repeat in Europe over the next few weeks.

Lewandowski won't be the only big name striker returning to Germany, with Manchester City's Erling Haaland heading back to Dortmund.

The Bundesliga side were powerless to stop him leaving in the summer, with the Premier League champions triggering his £51 million release clause.

Haaland's time in Germany was shorter than Lewandowski's, but he was just as explosive, scoring 86 goals in 89 matches as defences were made to fear the Norwegian hitman.

Now, they will get a dose of their own medicine when they line-up to face City.

Just like the English clubs, both Real and Atletico will be delighted to have avoided their potential worst-case scenarios.

A trip to the notoriously loud Celtic will be difficult for defending champions Real, while their trip to Shakhtar Donetsk promises to be an emotional night, even though the Ukrainians will be playing in Warsaw, 1,000 miles away from their home.

Real should still progress comfortably, as should neighbours Atletico, whose group is hardly likely to get many eyeballs on it from neutral supporters.

Diego Simeone side take on Porto, Bayer Leverkusen and Club Brugge, and won't expect many hiccups on their way to the knockout rounds.

Barca's group-stage exit last season was an embarrassment and they have invested heavily in the summer to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The pressure, then, is on Xavi to re-establish Barca alongside the best sides in Europe, so he could have done without being in the Group of Death.

Bayern Munich humiliated Barca three years ago and continue to demolish Bundesliga sides now they have the added quality of Sadio Mane and Matthijs de Ligt among their ranks.

Meanwhile, Inter could be considered Italy's strongest side, with Romelu Lukaku back leading the line and offering a huge threat.

Of all the top seeds that Tottenham could have faced, mid-table Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt were the one they would have chosen.

Add in Sporting C.P. and Marseille, and the Spurs boss will be more than happy with how the draw panned out.

Conte does not have a great record when it comes to the Champions League, winning just three of his last 15 matches with Chelsea and Inter.

Perhaps this season, though, is where Conte's European luck finally changes.

After narrowly failing to defend their Serie A crown last season, it was perhaps unfortunate that Simone Inzaghi's side dropped into Pot Three in Istanbul.

That brings with it the risk of drawing two heavyweights, and that's exactly what's happened, with Bayern and Barca in the same group as the Nerazzurri.

A tight schedule and a competitive Italian league is going to make it even more difficult to prioritise European progress, and they will need Romelu Lukaku to come up big if they are progress.

Group C looks likes the one to get the popcorn out for!

They may be back in the Champions League group stages for the first time in five years, Celtic's ambitions won't end there.

It's a decade since a Scottish team last made it to the knockout rounds, but the Premiership champions have got a real opportunity to achieve just that.

Real Madrid are unlikely to be stopped, but RB Leipzig have started the season poorly, with no wins from their opening three Bundesliga matches.

Shakhtar Donetsk, meanwhile, will be depleted after losing much of their squad following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.