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Group A
FC Porto will play Dinamo Kiev, Dinamo Zagreb and Paris Saint-Germain. The Portuguese giants will be hopeful of qualifying into the knockout stages.
Group B
Montpellier will offer Arsene Wenger a trip back to France. Arsenal will be keen to overcome the threat of the reigning French Ligue 1 champions. The Gunners will also face Schalke from Germany and Olympiakos from Greece.
Group C
AC Milan’s biggest threat could be Malaga. The Spaniards are determined to create a spectacular impression in their first ever UEFA Champions League campaign. Also in Group C are Anderlecht of Belgium and Zenit of Russia.
Group D
It is the “Group of Death”. For the second time in a row, Manchester City find themselves in the hardest section. Last season, the Citizens had a tough task as they were drawn with Bayern Munich and Villarreal. It will not get easier for Manchester City to get out of the group stages this season.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid will be under pressure to avoid an early exit. Los Blancos will need to kick off their UEFA Champions League campaign vigorously as Ajax, Manchester City and in-form German Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund are no joke.
Group E
Group E presents an interesting adventure for Juventus and Chelsea. In their first Champions League campaign since a few years, Serie A champions Juve will be keen to entertain the competition’s titleholders. Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine and new-face Nordsjaelland complete this section.
Group F
2011 Champions League beaten finalists Bayern Munich will face Valencia, Lille and Bate Borisov. The Germans seemingly have a decent chance of winning the group.
Group G
Barcelona will have to travel to Portugal to face Benfica at some point in the group stages. Spartak Moscow and Celtic will try to bring down the Catalans.
Group H
Manchester United suffered a shocking exit from the UEFA Champions League group stages last year. Alex Ferguson will be hoping that the Red Devils bounce back from that humiliation this season. Manchester United will play potentially dangerous underdogs Sporting Braga, Turkey’s Galatasaray and Romania’s FC Cluj.
In other news related to Europe, Andres Iniesta won the 2012 UEFA Best Player award. The Spaniard overcame competition from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
