Reds face Juve, Ajax and Maccabi
The seeding mechanism and the luck of the draw combined to keep Bayern and the big guns from Spain and England apart in Thursday's Champions League group stage draw, but the 2001 winners from Munich have been handed a tough enough task after former France great Michel Platini assigned the Reds to Group C with Turin giants Juventus, Ajax Amsterdam and Israeli cracks Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
Ex-Juventus playmaker Platini grouped the record-holding champions from Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Israel under the watchful gaze of Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, board director Karl Hopfner and head of marketing Andreas Jung at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
"It was clear from the outset there'd be no such thing as an easy group with this starting field," Rummenigge said in an initial reaction to the draw, describing Bayern's section as "interesting." The Bavarian giants would have to be "totally focused and on good form" to reach their initial target of the last 16, Rummenigge continued.
The Reds open this term's European campaign with the trip to the eastern Mediterranean to face Tel-Aviv on Wednesday 15 September. Bayern's first home game takes place just under two weeks later on 28 September against Ajax, before the double header with Juventus, in the italian motor metropolis on 19 October and back at the Olympic stadium on 3 November.
Bayern round off the group stage with the home meeting against Maccabi on 23 November before finsihing their programme with a potentially explosive trip to Amsterdam on Wednesday 8 December. The 2004-5 Champions League Final takes place on 25 May next year at the Ali Sami Yen stadium in Istanbul.
German champions Werder Bremen were handed a tricky but potentially negotiable Group G including Valencia, Internazionale and Anderlecht, while 2002 finalists Bayer Leverkusen have landed in a classic Group of Death including Real Madrid, AS Rome and Dynamo Kiev.
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Bayern's 2004-5 Champions League Group C fixtures:
Wed 15 September: Maccabi Tel-Aviv v Bayern
Tue 28 September: Bayern v Ajax
Tue 19 October: Juventus v Bayern
Wed 3 November: Bayern v Juventus
Tue 23 November: Bayern v Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Wed 8 December: Ajax v Bayern
