Champions League draw: Spurs set to face Bale and Ronaldo

Tottenham drew the short straw when the Champions League group stage draw was made on Thursday evening, finding themselves pooled with holders Real Madrid, German powerhouse Borussia Dortmund and Apoel of Cyprus.

They'll have little trouble overcoming the Cypriots but Madrid and Dortmund are two European heavyweights that the club would have hoped to avoid. In private, at least.

In public Harry Kane responded positively to the news. "It's a great draw," said the striker. "You expect to play the best in Europe in the Champions League and it's exciting for us. We look forward to these games. You want to test yourself against the best and Real Madrid are the best at the moment."

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The last time the two clubs met in the Champions League was the 2011 quarter-final when Real Madrid triumphed 5-0 over the two legs, including a 4-0 thrashing at the Bernabeu, a game in which Gareth Bale played for Tottenham.

He's now a Real Madrid veteran and his presence is another reason why the home leg at Wembley will be a mouth-watering contest.

"I’m sure Wembley will be packed for the matches and we can't wait to get started," said Kane. "Our aim is to win every game and this will be a good test to see where we're at and how far we've come."

The other British club who received a bad hand was Celtic with the Scottish champions unlikely to make much headway against Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Anderlecht.

"It's a hard draw but we knew we were going to get that in the Champions League," admitted Celtic defender Kieran Tierney. "A few people had asked me: 'who do you want?' but I had no preferences. You know that you're going to get a tough group so you're just looking to do well."

English champions Chelsea are drawn in Pool C with Roma, Qarabag of Azerbaijan, and Atletico Madrid, an intriguing prospect given the ongoing contract stand-off with Diego Costa who is desperate to rejoin his former club in Spain but can't because of a transfer embargo.

Europa League winners Manchester United won't be too upset with their draw, and should qualify for the Last 16 from a pool that contains CSKA Moscow, Benfica and Basel.

Manchester City are pitted against Shakhtar Donetsk, Napoli and Feyenoord in Group F, and Liverpool, who beat Hoffenheim in the play-off this week to book their place in the draw are alongside Spartak Moscow, Maribor of Slovenia and Sevilla (who beat the Reds in the final of the Europa League in 2016).

"We don't think about the opponent, we just think about the competition," said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, in response to the draw.

"It's the Champions League, so that means they all earn our 100 per cent respect… we all know how good [Sevilla] are in European competition. Moscow is a long trip and Maribor, in this moment, you don't know a lot about them. A lot of people would underestimate them - we will not."

Champions League group stage draw in full

Group A: Benfica, Manchester United, Basel, CSKA MoscowGroup B: Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Anderlecht, CelticGroup C: Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Roma, QarabagGroup D: Juventus, Barcelona, Olympiakos, SportingGroup E: Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Liverpool, MariborGroup F: Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City, Napoli, FeyenoordGroup G: Monaco, Porto, Besiktas, RB LeipzigGroup H: Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham, Apoel

Match day one: September 12-13