Champions League draw

Ok guys, its that day of the season where the Elite of the European competition learn their fates and who they will be facing en route to the 2012 final in Munich. Potentailly some really exciting groups on the cards depending on the how draw works out. The pots are

POT 1

Barcelona
Manchester United
Chelsea
Bayern Munich
Arsenal
Real Madrid
FC Porto
Inter Milan
POT 2

AC Milan
Lyon
Shakhtar Donetsk
Valencia
Benfica
Villarreal
CSKA Moscow
Marseille
POT 3

Zenit St Petersburg
Ajax
Bayer Leverkusen
Olympiakos
Manchester City
Lille
FC Basel
BATE Borisov
POT 4

Borussia Dortmund
Napoli
Dinamo Zagreb
APOEL
Trabzonspor
Genk
Viktoria Plzen
Otelul Galati


Anybody got any thoughts of who might draw who, potential nightmare scenarios, or simply who would you like to see drawn against each other

nightmare for arsenal would be
arsenal
lyon
zenit or ajax
dortmund or napoli

I'm amazed that Utd are currently seeded 1st in Europe over Barca.

Who ever get Dortmund will get a very strong side, good players and very dangerous going by last season. I think they can make it to the second round and make thier home ground a fortress.

I would love to get Milan in the group stages, make it tasty and get a big name in the group stage.

Aye, slot of hype around this Dortmund side, obviously the team to avoid in pot 4

Looking at it it does have the potential for some mouthwatering ties in the groupstage

Utd are seeded first so they get an easy draw as they always do

seems rather odd to have the german champions in pot 4

Barcelona
AC Milan/Lyon
Man City
Borussia Dortmund

Its done on past performances isnt it? United have 3 finals apperances in the last 4 years to Barca's 2. Would assume thats why they are top...

Strange that Arsenal should be pot1 even though they had to pre-qualify - but I'm not complaining!

I would love that group for city, as long as they didn't come out of it as qualifiers, then we would never hear the end of it

As long as we don't get Villareal I'll be happy, last 4 times we've played them have all been 0-0.

I think we might get

United
Benfica
Lille
Zagreb

Lille will be a tough team I think.

It is a strange year isn't it. French Champions in pot 3 and German champions in pot 4.

predictions for English teams:

Arsenal:

Shakhtar
Ajax
Napoli

Man Utd:

Benfica
Lille
APOEL

Chelsea:

Valencia
Zenit
Dinamo Zagreb

Man City:

Bayern Munich
Marseille
Trabzonspor

Chelsea Valencia could be tasty, especially with Mata just signing for Chelsea

If Arsenal get that group unless they bring in new faces I reckon they could struggle

I reckon arsenal will get cska moscow ,olmypiakos and genk

Pot seedings are based on the co-efficient ranking of the teams.

Barca and Milan drawn together, please let City come out of the next pot in that group, really shown if the money they have spent is worthwhile

What a suprise Man U have an easy draw...

1740: Group F: ARSENAL, Marseille, Olympiakos, Borussia Dortmund

1739: Group B: Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Lille, Trabzonspor

1738: Group E: CHELSEA, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Genk

1737: Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, BATE Borisov, Viktoria Plzen

1736: Group D: Real Madrid, Lyon, Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb

1735: Group C: MAN UTD, Benfica, Basel, Otelul Galati

1734: Group G: FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit, Apoel FC

1734: Group A: Bayern Munich, Villarreal, MAN CITY, Napoli



Only a handful of ties that will wet the appetite. On a seperate note, Real Madrid and Lyon must be sick of the sight of each other

Man Utd
Benfica
Basel
Otelul Galati???

What an easy group!
18 points I would say there but the Benfica match away could be hard thought. How did the Romanian champions get to the Champions League??

Arsenal's group looks hard though.

[quote="gazzyD"]Only a handful of ties that will wet the appetite. On a seperate note, Real Madrid and Lyon must be sick of the sight of each other[/quote]

Talk about being fixed

Chelsea and man c have pretty tough groups.i always wonder how much man u groups cost them every year...

[quote="Smirnoffpriest"]Chelsea and man c have pretty tough groups.i always wonder how much man u groups cost them every year...[/quote]

Group of death?
Group D: Real Madrid, Lyon, Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb

Haha, its brilliant, couldn't have been better for us

City have a tough ask but I can see them coming through it. Chelsea have a tough group as well but should come out as winners

Arsenal is a funny one, on paper I would fancy them to go through with Dortmund, but unless they spend money I can see Dortmund and Marseille coming out of this group. I reckon you could almost pick the later knockout rounds as well looking at the draw

All 4 English sides to qualify from those groups

I like the look of the Citeh group though - some big names to draw attention but they'll still come through

I'm glad I'm not the only one who think Man U always have it easy

I'll never expect Man Utd to get any sort of strong teams in their group ever again, year after year cupcake opposition to the max, tennis aint the only rigged sport

The thing I can't understand is the press either keep saying (in previous years) that Man U have a really tough group coz someone like Rangers or Benfica are tough opposition, or (like this year) saying that their group is only as easy as other teams (Arsenal), but you compare the groups they've had throughout the last 10 years and there's no comparisson.

Looks good for all the EPL boys

First time I've seen these, and I have to say City have a hell of a group. Napoli are no joke, Villareal have good CL experience and won't go down easily and Bayern are a traditional giant. I can see any of those four being capable of getting out of the group, definitely.

United have a stroll, Chelsea aren't going to be unduly ruffled and Arsenal should have enough to get a top 2 spot in their group.