Uefa Champions League, Draws Options

[umerz]

The draw for the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage has been made at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

Twelve former champions
Twelve former European Champion Clubs' Cup winners and one newcomer, Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC, were among the 32 teams divided into four pots in accordance with seedings and drawn into eight four-team groups.

Mourinho return
Holders FC Porto, the top seeds, will come up against the man who guided them to success in Gelsenkirchen, José Mourinho, when they play Chelsea FC. Also placed in a testing Group H are Paris Saint-Germain FC and PFC CSKA Moskva, the Russian champions who are appearing in the group stage for the first time since the inaugural Champions League in 1992/93.

Zidane genius
Another man returning to his old club is Real Madrid CF recruit Walter Samuel, the former AS Roma central defender. Group B will also see a repeat of one of the great recent finals, Madrid against Bayer 04 Leverkusen - a match settled by the genius of Zinedine Zidane - while FC Dynamo Kyiv are regulars in the competition.

Attractive section
Group C is one of the most attractive sections with two four-time winners, FC Bayern München and AFC Ajax, pitted against Juventus FC, champions of Europe in 1984/85 and 1995/96, and Maccabi Tel-Aviv - a daunting introduction for the Israeli side. On a curious note, it will be the first meeting in official competition of Juve and Bayern.

English record
Three former winners, FC Barcelona, AC Milan and Celtic FC, will take on FC Shakhtar Donetsk in Group F. This means a return to Glasgow for Barcelona forward Henrik Larsson. Meanwhile Arsenal FC, who last night set an English record of 43 successive league games without defeat, tackle Panathinaikos FC, PSV Eindhoven and Rosenborg BK in Group E.

UEFA Cup holders
In Group G, UEFA Cup holders and Spanish champions Valencia CF will play FC Internazionale, a repeat of the quarter-final tie won by the Italian team two seasons ago, as well as RSC Anderlecht, conquerors of two-time winners SL Benfica in the third qualifying round, and Werder Bremen, the German champions.

Monaco draw
Manchester United FC, Olympique Lyonnais, AC Sparta Praha and Fenerbahçe SK will contest Group D. Last season's runners-up AS Monaco FC meet two clubs who negotiated the third qualifying round, RC Deportivo La Coruña and Liverpool FC, and Greek runners-up Olympiacos CFP in Group A.

Match dates
During the group stage, each team will play three matches on a Tuesday and three on a Wednesday, starting with the first of six matchdays on 14/15 September. The remaining dates are: 28/29 September, 19/20 October, 2/3 November, 23/24 November and 7/8 December.

Istanbul final
The group winners and runners-up advance to the knockout stage, with the third-placed side moving into the third round of the UEFA Cup. The final will take place at the Atatürk Olympic stadium in Istanbul, Turkey on 25 May 2005. It will be the first UEFA club competition final to be staged at the 80,000-seater venue.

Group A
RC Deportivo La Coruña (ESP)
Liverpool FC (ENG)
AS Monaco FC (FRA)
Olympiacos CFP (GRE)



Group B
Real Madrid CF (ESP)
AS Roma (ITA)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER)
FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)



Group C
FC Bayern München (GER)
Juventus FC (ITA)
AFC Ajax (NED)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (ISR)



Group D
Manchester United FC (ENG)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
AC Sparta Praha (CZE)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)



Group E
Arsenal FC (ENG)
Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Rosenborg BK (NOR)



Group F
FC Barcelona (ESP)
AC Milan (ITA)
Celtic FC (SCO)
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)



Group G
Valencia CF (ESP)
FC Internazionale (ITA)
RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
Werder Bremen (GER)



Group H
FC Porto (POR)
Chelsea FC (ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA)
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS)

[FC BAYERN]

arsenal face panathinaikos psv and rosenborg relatively easy grp

bayern face for the first time in competitive football face juve tricky ajax and newcomers maccabi tel aviv very tricky grp again for bayern

[umerz]

Liverpool might also face some problems in their grp
grp F is also a tough one
Arsenal Manu and Chelsea shud reach next phase with ease
Grp G also has 3 teams of almost same fire power

[Truemen]

Group H
FC Porto (POR)
Chelsea FC (ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA)
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS)

Marinho v Porto............

Celtic get another chance to prove scotish league is euro champions quality and class.....!!

[umerz]

also larsson vs celtic

[Truemen]

Mourinho to face former club Porto


European champions Porto will face their former manager Jose Mourinho in the group stages of this season's Champions League after being drawn against his new club Chelsea on Thursday.

Real Madrid, bidding to win a record 10th European Cup title will face AS Roma, Bayer Leverkusen, the club they beat in the 2002 final, and Dynamo Kiev in Group B. Manchester United, looking for their third European Cup, will play Olympique Lyon, Sparta Prague and Fenerbahce in Group D.

Arsenal, rampant in England but unimpressive in Europe in recent years, will play Panathinaikos, PSV Eindhoven and Rosenborg Trondheim in Group E.

Six-times winners AC Milan face former champions Celtic and Barcelona as well as Shakhtar Donetsk in Group F, while the toughest group features multi-winners Bayern Munich, Juventus, Ajax Amsterdam and outsiders Maccabi Tel Aviv in Group C.

Mourinho guided the Portugese club to Champions League victory last season before quitting the Estadio do Dragao for Stamford Bridge.

'That's the way it works,' Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said of the draw. 'I guess that was always one of the predictable ones.'

'You have to be happy with the group and I think we're in for some interesting football. We're all looking forward to it.

'But we shouldn't forget the other teams. There are no easy games.'

Thursday's Champions League draw in Monte Carlo, Monaco, also pitted Paris Saint Germain and CSKA Moscow - sponsored by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich - against the Blues in Group H.

Manchester United were drawn against Lyon, Sparta Prague and Fenerbahce in Group D and manager Sir Alex Ferguson was pleased his side avoided a long trip.

'It's a very interesting draw. We have drawn two clubs we have never played before; Lyon and Sparta Prague,' Ferguson told United's website.

'We met Fenerbahce in the Champions League in October 1996. And they were the first team to win a European tie at Old Trafford - they beat us 1-0 later that month.

'There is some travel involved, but it could have been a lot worse. There were some long trips in the draw. So I am happy with the way it all turned out.

'There are some great names in there. The draw has a very competitive feel to it. Hopefully my squad will be fit enough to represent Manchester Unitd in the first game.'

Liverpool, who passed their qualifying test against Graz AK, must play Deportivo La Coruna, Monaco and Olympiakos in Group A.

Despite the favourable draw Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry insists his club's priority this season is the Premiership.

Parry said: 'We'd like to do better in the Premier League first and foremost and close that 30-point gap to Arsenal. That's out first objective and everything else is a bonus.

'We're just delighted to be in it - there are no easy teams when you get to this level. We've avoided the lengthy trips which is an advantage.

'Rafa (Benitez) will know all about Deportivo, Monaco didn't do badly last season and Olympiakos we've been to before so we know a bit about the teams and it could have been worse.

'We've avoided the very biggest but that doesn't mean we've avoided the best. We saw last year it was some of the smaller teams that did very well. We treat them all with respect but not with fear,' he told Sky Sports.

Arsenal, rampant in England but unimpressive in Europe in recent years, will play Panathinaikos, PSV Eindhoven and Rosenborg Trondheim in Group E.

Gunners director Danny Fiszman believes his club must win the competition to prove themselves as global football giants.

Fiszman said: 'It's the one big trophy that we've never been able to win. In order to really make our mark in the world of football we have to win the Champions League.

'Everything else is going well with the record last night and our stadium waiting to be completed and we really do need to win the Champions League.

'We're not that unhappy but it's always tough - all 32 teams have their work to get here so there are no easy games.

'Four out of the eight in the pot were Italian so we've managed to stay away from them and we are not unhappy about that.

'Against Eindhoven we had the fastest goal on record in the competition when Gilberto scored after 20 seconds so we'll be looking forward to meeting them.'

Six-times winners AC Milan face former champions Celtic and Barcelona as well as Shakhtar Donetsk in Group F.

There will be another emotional reunion when Henrik Larsson, who left Celtic for Barcelona at the end of last season after scoring more than 250 goals for the Scottish club, returns with his new club to Parkhead.

Group G, meanwhile, features three clubs who won their domestic titles last season: Valencia in Spain, Werder Bremen in Germany, and Anderlecht in Belgium.

Inter Milan, who look as impressive as they have for some years under new coach Roberto Mancini, are the other team in the pool.

Mancini said: 'It is a tough group, but I didn't expect anything different. When you play in the Champions League, you can only meet strong opponents because the level of Europe's most important competition is always high. However I'm optimistic as usual. Inter has the will and potential to be respected on all pitches.'

Real Madrid, bidding to win a record 10th European Cup title will face Serie A runners-up AS Roma, Bayer Leverkusen, the club they beat in the 2002 final, and Dynamo Kiev in Group B.

Real coach Jose Antonio Camacho said: 'We always feel as though we are favourites whoever we play, but we also know there will be no easy games.

'We've faced Bayer Leverkusen in a European Cup final (in 2002) and the other two teams are strong and deserve our respect too.'

And Group C, which features three former champions in Bayern Munich, Juventus and Ajax along with Maccabi Tel Aviv, will also present a stern challenge for the competitors.

[paranoid]

guess its a relatively easy draw for the red devils ...............they shud progress with ease

[aftab]

i dont see any problem with liverpool in this grp. Monaco were runners-up to Porto in the tournament last season but have since lost some of their key players, while Olympiakos are one of the strongest sides in Greece but are yet to make a major impact in the Champions League.

And the two new signings Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia will have a positive effect on the squad this season.