It's that time of the year again when all eyes of European football were fixed on those four transparent bowls, waiting for the fate of their team to be decided as to the other three members of their group.
This year, as with every year, the position of the teams in each pot is down to their UEFA ranking which meant some teams were at a disadvantage given their misfortune in past tournaments or their newness to the event. Take for example Man City, they are widely regarded as one of the top three teams in England however because of their shocking display last year, see themselves stuck in pot three; in other words they are alongside those in Europe that not many people will give a hope in hell of qualifying through to the knockout stages. On the other end of the spectrum we have FC Viktoria Plzen and Real Sociedad who have only qualified for the CL twice in the last 10 years, 2011/12 and 2003/4 respectively.
The common denominator from previous competitions are the six super powers of European football; Manchester United (3 time winners), Real Madrid (9 times), Barcelona (4 times), Chelsea (1 time), Bayern Munich (5 times) and AC Milan (7 times, although they weren't seeded in the top 8).
Now down to business and the state of the groups; Chelsea F.C. and Manchester City were given a dream draw whilst Arsenal and Manchester United were dealt a potential banana skin. Many will see groups B and F as the 'groups of death' but for different reasons; group B contains two of the biggest teams in the world, Real Madrid and Juventus, with Galatasaray and Copenhagen filling the other two spots. I can see this being a tricky group only because Galatasaray, with Didier Drogba leading the attack, could pose a realistic threat to the other strong sides in the group and may just be able to sneak into 2nd, if they keep it together defensively of course.
Group F promises to be an exciting prospect, mainly because all the teams seem so evenly matched. The top seed in the group, Arsenal, look doddery both in defence and attack and unless Arsene Wenger spends money in what's left of this window I don't know whether they can show enough attacking prowess to get very far. The other three teams are respectable in their own right; Napoli, now with Gonzalo Higuain, are perfectly capable of causing upsets and I think they will; Borussia Dortmund got to the final last year and were very unlucky to lose to a last minute goal by Arjen Robben; And finally Marseille, even they caused Man United problems in the 2010/11 group stage.
Lets not forget previous winners Barcelona, who with this years draw may have been given a ticket straight to the knockout stages, with AC Milan, AFC Ajax and Celtic as their opponents in group H. Chelsea have possibly been given the same privilege, with Shalke 04, FC Basel and Steaua Bucurest accompanying them in group E. The story continues with Man City who were drawn with Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen, surely they can progress this time out.
Manchester United have a slightly different look to their group. Their were bestowed a decent Shakhtar Donetsk side, 2002 runners up Bayer Leverkusen (Neverkusen to the media at the time) and long time departed Real Sociedad.
If I were a betting man (which for the record I'm not) I would go with the winner coming from a group of 5; Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Manchester United or Barcelona. If I were pinned to one team I would have to say that Real Madrid (with Bale and Ronaldo) look unstoppable. My picks for early departures; Arsenal, Schalke 04 and Ajax.
Chelsea look incredibly strong this season and I wouldn't be surprised at a Real Madrid vs Chelsea final, Mourinho's return being the main attraction.
The groups in full;
Group A
Manchester United
Shakhtar Donetsk
Bayer Leverkusen
Real Sociedad
Group B
Real Madrid
Juventus
Galatasaray
Copenhagen
Group C
Benfica
PSG
Olympiacos
Anderlecht
Group D
Bayern Munich
CSKA Moscow
Manchester City
Viktoria Plzen
Group E
Chelsea
Schalke O4
Basel 1893
Steaua Bucurest
Group F
Arsenal
Marseille
Borussia Dortmund
Napoli
Group G
FC Porto
Athletico Madrid
Zenit FC
Austria Vienna
Group H
Barcelona
AC Milan
AFC Ajax
Celtic
