Chelsea have discovered the start of their route to reach the Champions League final in Istanbul next June. The Blues have been drawn in Group E alongside AC Milan, FC Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb.
Thomas Tuchel's men were in Pot 2 so could not be drawn against Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and RB Leipzig in addition to Premier League teams Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham in the draw. Nevertheless the prospect of some difficult ties awaited with the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and PSG in Pot 1 and Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Napoli in Pot 3.
Thomas Tuchel's side will quickly find themselves against some familiar faces with Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud both plying their trade at the San Siro. Tiemoue Bakayoko is also currently halfway through his loan with the Italian side.
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The Blues last took on the Italian club in the group stage of the Champions League in 1999, where the sides played out two draws. Dennis Wise netted at the San Siro to cancel out Oliver Bierhoff's opener.
It will be a first competitive meeting between Chelsea and FC Salburg, though the teams have faced off in a dramatic friendly that ended 5-2 to the Blues with goals from Christian Pulisic, Ross Barkley, Pedro and Michy Batshuayi. The Austrian side made it to the last 16 of last season's competition and won their domestic league.
Dinamo Zagreb also offer the Blues new opponents. The Croatian team earned their way into the competition by defeating Bodo/Glimt 4-1 in the second leg of their play-off match having trailed 1-0 from the first leg. They won the Croatian Prva HNL last term but could only make it as far as the Europea League knockout round play-offs.
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