Soccer:Defending champions Barcelona will have to tackle seven-time winners AC Milan in the group stages of the Champions League. However, with two teams qualifying for the knockout stages both will be confident of making it through with BATE Borisov and Viktoria Plzen making up Group H.
Beaten finalists Manchester United will have nothing to fear from a group which contains Benfica, Basel and Romanian minnows Otelul but neighbours Manchester City were pitted against Bayern Munich, Villarreal and Napoli.
Arsenal’s reward for knocking out Udinese last night was a difficult pool containing Marseille, Olympiakos and German champions Borussia Dortmund. Chelsea’s task will also be a tricky one as they face Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen and Genk.
City, among the pot of third seeds, could have been drawn against reigning champions Barcelona or Real Madrid but still ended up in the toughest-looking group. Although Bayern and Villarreal both had to come through a play-off to qualify, both clubs have plenty of Champions League experience.
Napoli finished third in Serie A last season but have managed to hang on to the core of their team and provide a threat too — Sergio Aguero should be guaranteed a good welcome given that he is the son-in-law of Naples’ favourite adopted son Diego Maradona.
United’s group appears the easiest on paper, and though Arsenal have to play Dortmund, they should be confident of overcoming both Marseille and Olympiakos.
United chief executive David Gill said he was sure manager Alex Ferguson would be happy with the draw. United beat Benfica to win their first European Cup in 1968 — a match in which former player Bobby Charlton played — and he paired the two together again during this evening’s draw in Monaco.
Gill said: “We have had great matches against them and he (Charlton) was reminiscing before the draw about that great match back in 1968. We had some great games against them in 2000 so we are looking forward to going back to Portugal.”
Gill added: “We’ve had great success in the last few years in the competition and we’re looking forward to it. I’m sure he’s (Ferguson’s) happy with that. We have a new Romanian team, congratulations to them for getting in the competition. We are looking forward to going there.”
Meanwhile, the winner of inaugural UEFA best player in Europe award for 2010/2011 was unveiled as Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. Team-mate Xavi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo were the other nominees.
GROUP A:Bayern Munich, Villareal, Man City, Napoli
GROUP B:Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Lille, Trabzonspor
GROUP C:Man United, Benfica, Basel, Otelul
GROUP D:Real Madrid, Olympique Lyon, Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb
GROUP E:Chelsea, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Genk
GROUP F:Arsenal, Olympique Marseille, Olympiakos, Borussia Dortmund
GROUP G:FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St Petersburg, Apoel FC
GROUP H:Barcelona, AC Milan, BATE Borisov, Viktoria Plzen
