Leicester draws Porto, Brugge and Copenhagen in Group G of Champions League

Champions League newcomers Leicester City will contest Group G alongside Portugal’s FC Porto, Belgian champions Club Brugge and FC Copenhagen of Denmark following Thursday’s group stage draw in Monaco.

Leicester fans and players will feel that luck was on their side on Thursday, avoiding the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid in Pot 2 and Turkish champions Besiktas in Pot 4.

The Foxes were on the board as the first name pulled out of Pot 1 before being placed in Group G when Ian Rush was finally was able to crack the plastic container open. Leicester didn’t have to wait long for their first opponent to be drawn from Pot 2 after FC Porto was the first to be drawn and placed with the champions of England in Group G.

The next team to fall into Group G with the Foxes was Club Brugge after only Basel, Monchengladbach and Brugge were left on the board from Pot 3. Leicester’s “Group of Blue” was rounded out with the addition of FC Copenhagen from Pot 4, which will certainly draw a lot of interest from the likes of Danish international and Copenhangen-born Kasper Schmeichel and Daniel Amartey, who made his move to Leicester from Copenhagen after making 44 appearances for the club.

It’s a fantastic draw for Leicester, and indeed a winnable group that will have even the greatest of skeptics thinking that the Foxes have a very good shot at the Round of 16.

In addition to the fortunate draw, the locations provide the Leicester faithful with some great away days in close places like Copenhagen and Porto while Tottenham and Arsenal are heading east to Russia and Bulgaria. Whatever you were hoping to achieve with Thursday’s draw, it really is the best of both worlds.

Around the Premier League, Arsenal were drawn into Group A with Paris Saint-Germain, Basel and Ludogorets while Pep Guardiola will return to Camp Nou, this time as manager of Manchester City, to face Barcelona in Group C alongside Monchengladbach and Celtic. Spurs will be feeling a lot of the same sentiments as Leicester after avoiding some big names to draw into Group E with CSKA Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco.

Leicester’s first Champions League group stage match is set for September 14 away to Club Brugge in Belgium.

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When are the matches?

14/09/16: Club Brugge vs. Leicester City

27/09/16: Leicester City vs. FC Porto

18/10/16: Leicester City vs. FC Copenhagen

02/11/16: FC Copenhagen vs. Leicester City

22/11/16: Leicester City vs. Club Brugge

07/12/16: FC Porto vs. Leicester City

14–15/02/17 and 21–22/02/17: Round of 16, first leg

07–08/03/17 and 14–15/03/17: Round of 16, second leg

11–12/04/17: Quarter-finals, first leg

18–19/04/17: Quarter-finals, second leg

02–03/05/17: Semi-finals, first leg

09–10/05/17: Semi-finals, second leg

03/06/17: Final (National Stadium of Wales, Cardiff)

When are the draws?

12/12/16: Round of 16

17/03/17: Quarter-finals

21/04/17: Semi-finals