By Andrew Warshaw in Monaco
August 25 – Barcelona will open the defence of their Champions League title on Sept 13 against AC Milan in a mouth-watering clash between teams who have won the tournament 11 times between them.
The two powerhouses of European football should progress relatively easily given their underdog opponents in Group H after following the draw for the all-important group stage made today.
“We’re definitely playing against the strongest team in the world and it’s a great test for us to see how strong we are as a club,” AC Milan’s operations director Umberto Gandini told insideworldfootball.
“Obviously we have all the possibilities to advance to the next round and we’ll have the opportunity to use the players we bought in January which definitely makes us stronger.”
Last season’s beaten finalists Manchester United could hardly complain about their Group C opponents who include Benfica, against whom United open up in the Stadium of Light in Lisbon.
Both ties against the Portuguese are bound to be emotionally charged affairs given the iconic status of the 1968 final – United’s first triumph in the competition exactly 10 years after the Munich air disaster in which 58 people died.
“We were talking about Benfica in the warm-up,” said Manchester United chief executive David Gill.
“Then we go and draw them.
“Eusébio is still a good friend of Bobby [Charlton] and we look forward to locking swords with them.”
Although there was no group of death as such, Manchester City face a tough and high profile Champions League baptism against Bayern Munich, Villarreal and Napoli.
Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund, who meet in the first series of games, will be slight favourites to get through in Group F but perhaps the best entertainment could come from Group D where Jose Mourinho, in his quest to land the trophy with Real Madrid, will face Lyon, Ajax and Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb.
Chelsea’s new manager André Villas-Boa faces awkward trips Valencia and Bayer Leverkusen as the club tries to win the Champions League for the first time.
New signing Juan Mata, bought from Valencia, gets an early chance to face his old club again and Chelsea spokesman Steve Atkins said: “Every draw those up challenges and this one is no different.
“Hopefully Juan will tell us anything we need to know.”
Group stage draw
Group A: Bayern Munich, Villarreal, Manchester City, Napoli
Group B: Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Lille, Trabzonspor
Group C: Manchester United, Benfica, Basel, Oţelul Galaţi
Group D: Real Madrid, Lyon, Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb
Group E: Chelsea, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Genk
Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Olympiakos, Borussia Dortmund
Group G: Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St Petersburg, APOEL
Group H: Barcelona, Milan, BATE Borisov, Viktoria Plzeň
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