Champions League Group Stage Draw

Starts at 16.45

As a refresher (this is from memory), 8 groups of 4 teams, each team in a group is selected from a pot. No team can be drawn against one from the same country, and only 2 teams from 1 country can be drawn in groups A-D and E-H for scheduling reasons

The Pots:
Pot One: Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Porto, AC Milan.
Pot Two: Valencia, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St Petersburg, Schalke, Manchester City, Braga, Dynamo Kiev.
Pot Three: Olympiakos, Ajax, Anderlecht, Juventus, Spartak Moscow, Paris St Germain, Lille, Galatasaray.
Pot Four: Celtic, Borussia Dortmund, BATE Borisov, Dinamo Zagreb, CFR Cluj, Malaga, Montpellier, FC Nordsjaelland.

Man City being the only PL team to miss out on Pot 1

Best case scenario for the 3 teams in pot 1 probably looks like : PL team, Braga/Kiev, Anderlecht/Olympiakos, Anyone but Dortmund/Malaga/Montpellier
Worst case scenario being::: PL team, Valencia, Juve/PSG, Dortmund

Whereas for Man City, best would prob be Porto while worst one of the Spanish big 2.

Could potentially have a group of:

Barcelona/Real Madrid
Manchester City
Juventus/PSG
Dortmund

That's crazy.

On the other hand, you could have a group:

Porto
Dynamo Kiev
Olympiakos
Celtic

Which would also be crazy.

I [posted in the Man utd thread that I have a gut feeling United will get Juve, Dortmund and then one of the Portuguese teams from pot 2

I’d like to see Real, Man City, PSG and Celtic.

Two of the big spenders in world football up against a true giant they are trying to replicate, plus a good old 'Battle of Britain' chucked in for good measure.

The Champions of the best 4 leagues in the world for me

GSC wrote:The Champions of the best 4 leagues in the world for me

Were you referring to Real, City, PSG and Celtic?

Amusing, but PSG aren't champions

GSC wrote:Amusing, but PSG aren't champions

That's why i was checking!!

Real Madrid
Manchester City
Juventus
Dortmund

real madrid are well overdue an english side. i honestly cant remember the last time they faced english opposition in the group stages.

im following celtic as spurs arent there. i think united and arsenal are gunna struggle no matter who they face.

Celtic are going to get embarassed, however it will be the last ever CL appearance of a Scottish club due to the league coefficient from net year, meaning qualification next year will be a virtual impossibility.

you dont know that. if they get a half decent draw in the group then they can qualify or even get 3rd. the celtic fans will make sure of 3 tough games at celtic park

They could do this draw so much quickly.

Just go from Group A to Group F and draw one each time.

Real Madrid and City drawn together!

f*ck! cant wait for that one

Galatasaray are into Group H with Manchester United.

Memories of 1994........

Arsenal get Olympiakos again

No PSG with Madrid and City, let's hope for Juventus instead.

Boooo.

Cruel Crimey cruel

As a neutral, a group consisting of Real Madrid, Manchester City and PSG looked awesome.

Man City and Real Madrid get Ajax

Italian champions Juventus will be up against Chelsea and Shakhtar.

So who gets Celtic ?

Kenny wrote:Man City and Real Madrid get Ajax

They'll look to clean up there.

Celtic are first out of the hat and go into Group G with Barcelona Benfica and Spartak Moscow !!!

Giroud to go back to Monteplier.

Not bad draw for Arsenal though

Man City get Dortmund

City get an absolute ****ter 2 years running

Real Madrid
Manchester City
Ajax
Dortmund

That is a very tough group, City will do well to get out of it, I think Dortmund will definitely challenge them.

Manchester United get another easy group, let's see if they can mess it up again.

Man Utd given bye into next round

I dunno, Cluj could've given basel a game

Man Utd cant fluff it up 2 years on the trot

Crimey wrote:Real Madrid
Manchester City
Ajax
Dortmund

That is a very tough group, City will do well to get out of it, I think Dortmund will definitely challenge them.

haha gutted Citeh! Shows what happens when you buy instant success rather than building up. Winning the EPL means nothing if it's the first thing your clubs done in 50 years!!

IMO Man City have a very tough group but they will squeeze out of it just!

Kenny wrote:Man Utd cant fluff it up 2 years on the trot

Have a nagging memory last time United fluffed up an easy group they went on to win the tourny the following year......funnily enough I can't picture it happening this time round!

TopHat24/7 wrote:

Crimey wrote:Real Madrid
Manchester City
Ajax
Dortmund

That is a very tough group, City will do well to get out of it, I think Dortmund will definitely challenge them.

haha gutted Citeh! Shows what happens when you buy instant success rather than building up. Winning the EPL means nothing if it's the first thing your clubs done in 50 years!!

....what?

Did anything in this post make sense to anyone? Buying success puts you in a hard group and winning the EPL for the first time means nothing?

If they'd built up over a number of years, say finishing 2nd/3rd a few times, getting a few European runs under their belt, they'd have a higher ranking/co-efficient which would mean they'd have better chance at a seeding, thus avoiding the big boys, in the Champs League.

As they went from nothing to everything in 2 seasons, winning the EPL, their one achievement in 50 years, hasn't helped them in Europe and they've been stuffed with the group of death.

United on the other hand came second but have a doddle of a group.

And United could've ended up with Juve, Malaga, PSG etc. Whereas City get Porto and some croat team or something.

Yes a high ranking helps somewhat but ultimately its luck of the draw, literally.

You just sound bitter City have surpassed United.

GSC wrote:And United could've ended up with Juve, Malaga, PSG etc. Whereas City get Porto and some croat team or something.

Yes a high ranking helps somewhat but ultimately its luck of the draw, literally.

You just sound bitter City have surpassed United.

At the risk of sounding like a Liverpool fan in the early 90s, come back when you've got 20 League titles, then we'll talk about who's surpassed who.

3 Champions Leagues and a Treble wouldn't go a miss either....

As a neutral, City are the better team. Cling to history if you like though.

GSC wrote:As a neutral, City are the better team. Cling to history if you like though.

Yes, they are indeed the better team, winning the EPL last season was a pretty good indicator, well done for catching on.

Not a better or greater club though.

I've already said my prediction this season is 1.City 2.Chelsea 3. United. I'm a United fan but not incapable of objectivity. Am also a fan of football, which is why I dislike Citeh and Chelski so much.

Predictions:

Group A: Porto and Dynamo Kiev
Group B: Arsenal and Schalke
Group C: AC Milan and Zenit St Petersburg
Group D: Real Madrid and Ajax
Group E: Chelsea and Juventus
Group F: Bayern Munich and Valencia
Group G: Barcelona and Spartak Moscow
Group H: Manchester United and Galatasaray

Predictions:

Group A: PSG and Porto
Group B: Arsenal and Schalke
Group C: AC Milan and Zenit St Petersburg
Group D: Real Madrid and Dortmund
Group E: Chelsea and Juventus
Group F: Bayern Munich and Valencia
Group G: Barcelona and Benfica
Group H: Manchester United and Galatasaray

Predictions:

Group A:
Group B: 1st: Schalke, 2nd: Arsenal
Group C: 1st: Zenit, 2nd: AC Milan
Group D: 1st: Real Madrid, 2nd: Manchester City
Group E: 1st: Juventus, 2nd: Chelsea
Group F: 1st: Bayern Munich, 2nd: Lille
Group G: 1st: Barcelona, 2nd: Spartak Moscow
Group H: 1st: Braga, 2nd: Manchester United

as a Chelsea fan, not too unhappy with the draw, think Juventus will be our biggest challengers, and Donesk no pushover but we should have enough to get through comfortably and I expect us to top the group.

Man u get an absolute cakewalk for the second year in a row, then again we all remember what happened last year. Still expect less complacency this year and them to top the group comfortably.

Arsenal have a pretty decent draw, should go through, and should really top the group.

City have another tough draw, in fact tougher than last year. Dortmund and Real Ajax no pushovers either. Some cracking matches to look forward to but don't think City will get out of that one unfortunately.

JamesLincs wrote:you dont know that. if they get a half decent draw in the group then they can qualify or even get 3rd. the celtic fans will make sure of 3 tough games at celtic park

They'll be like Ireland at the euro's.