Germany’s record champions will take on their counterparts from England, Denmark and Turkey after Bayern were drawn against Manchester United, Copenhagen and Galatasaray in the group stage of the 2023/24 Champions League.
Ahead of the Champions League’s revamp for 2024/25, the competition will be played in its current format of 32 teams for the 32nd time and final time. fcbayern.com profiles who Bayern will need to beat in Group A to advance to the knockout stages.
Manchester United
A brilliant goal from Arjen Robben saw Bayern get past Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-finals in March 2010.
Manchester United finished third in the English Premier League last season behind Manchester City and Arsenal to end their two-year absence from the Champions League. It’s the Red Devils’ 25th appearance in the competition, which is the most by an English club. United have been champions of Europe three times before after 1968, 2008 and, most infamously, 1999 in Barcelona, which no Bayern fan will enjoy remembering. Apart from that final disappointment, Bayern have only lost one other time against United, although it’s remembered as “perhaps the most beautiful” defeat ever in 2010 as a brilliant Arjen Robben goal earned a 3-2 loss at Old Trafford that was enough to send the Munich club through to the semi-finals. The overall head-to-head is positive from a Bayern perspective with four other wins and five draws. These fixtures will also be a reunion with former Bayern reserves boss Erik ten Hag, who’s been in charge at United since the start of last season.
Copenhagen
Denmark’s most successful club defended their league crown in 2023.
Copenhagen’s road to the group stage has been long, with the Danish champions having to come through qualifiers against Breidablik of Iceland, Czech side Sparta Prague and then Poland’s Rakow Czestochowa to get here. It sees coach Jacob Neestrup’s side in the Champions League group stage for the second year in a row and sixth time overall – a Danish record. Their best finish in the competition was reaching the round of 16 in 2011, before defeat to Chelsea. The capital club have been the leading light in Denmark in recent years, winning the title 15 times since their creation in 1992. The club as it’s known now was formed by a merger between Kjøbenhavns Boldklub and Boldklubben 1903 – the former was first founded in 1876 and is the oldest football club in continental Europe. The latter faced Bayern previously in Europe, claiming a surprise victory in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup second round with a 6-2 win in Copenhagen enough to advance despite a 1-0 second-leg loss in Munich.
Galatasaray
Galatasaray won both legs against Molde in the play-offs to qualify for the Champions League.
Galatasaray are back in the Champions League for the first time in four years, and Bayern can expect a deafening reception in Istanbul, with their home ground regarded as one of the noisiest in the world. The champions of Turkey also had to come through qualifying but saw off Zalgiris of Lithuania, Slovenia’s Olimpija Ljubljana and then Norwegian side Molde to reach the group stage. From their national record 16 appearances in the Champions League, Gala have reached the quarter-finals twice (2001 and 2013) but were knocked out there by Real Madrid on both occasions. The club’s greatest European moment was winning the UEFA Cup in 2000 before then beating Real to lift the UEFA Super Cup. Currently coached by Okan Buruk and boasting some notable signings in Mauro Icardi, Hakim Ziyech and former RB Leipzig man Angelino, Galatasaray have only faced Bayern once before. That was over 50 years ago in the first round of the 1972/73 European Cup, when FCB advanced thanks to a 6-0 win in Munich and 1-1 draw in Istanbul.
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