Welcome back to the Big Time! Braga handed menacing group in Champions League return

The Champions League group stage draw has seen SC Braga pitted against giants Real Madrid and Napoli alongside Bundesliga outfit Union Berlin, who eliminated them from the Europa League group stage last season.

Braga, going into the draw as a pot 3 outfit, were always likely to face a challenging group as they make their return to Europe’s top table for the first time since 2012, but the draw did no favours for the Arsenalistas, pitting them against outfits from Spain, Italy and Germany, all of which are considered to be part of the Top 4 leagues in European football.

Though facing a monumental task to progress from the group, there no doubt also has to be some excitement from a Braga perspective, handed the chance to take on some of the games genuine heavyweights, something we haven’t seen Braga attempt to do for many years.

Benfica and Porto were also in the draw, in pot 1 and 2 respectively, with Benfica set to face Inter Milan - their Champions League opponents in last season’s quarter final - as well as RB Salzburg and Real Sociedad, while Porto will take on Barcelona, Shakhtar Donetsk and Antwerp.