Champions League: Real Madrid and Juventus in Group B, AC Milan and Barcelona in Group H

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The Champions League group stage draw yesterday (Aug 29) threw up two heavyweight clashes and plenty of intriguing ones, yet there was a general air of predictability about who would eventually qualify.

The meetings of Real Madrid and Juventus in Group B and AC Milan and Barcelona in Group H may be mouth-watering at first glance but are less dramatic in the overall context of their respective groups.

The group stage, as drawn out as yesterday’s hour-long draw ceremony, has promised more than it has delivered recently with teams from smaller leagues often being embarrassingly outclassed by the big fish.

Milan, knocked out by Barca in the previous two seasons, will face their bogey team again, yet both sides should progress from a group which also includes Celtic and Ajax.

The Dutch champions won the last of their four European titles in 1995 and have more recently become producers and sellers of young talent rather than a great team in their own right.

Real Madrid and Juventus will be expected to go through from Group B where Galatasaray, who pose a mildly dangerous threat at home, and rank outsiders FC Copenhagen are the other teams.

Group G is likely to be fairly plain sailing for Porto and Atletico Madrid unless Zenit St Petersburg can improve dramatically on a dismal outing last season or debutants Austria Vienna produce a stunning upset.

Chelsea and Schalke 04 are the obvious candidates to qualify from Group E although Swiss champions FC Basel pulled off one of the competition’s few real upsets by eliminating Manchester United two seasons ago and will be hoping for another shock.

Defending champions Bayern Munich landed CSKA Moscow, Manchester City and Czech champions Viktoria Plzen in Group D, giving them a seemingly straightforward passage to the knockout stage.

Big-spending Paris St Germain drew Benfica, Olympiakos, from austerity-hit Greece, and Anderlecht in Group C in what should be another fairly easy stroll with the Portuguese side most likely to accompany them through.

Manchester United meet Ukraine’s Brazilian-inspired champions Shakhtar Donetsk along with Bayer Leverkusen and Real Sociedad in Group A.

Group F is arguably the toughest, pitting Arsenal against Olympique Marseille, last year’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund and Napoli, spearheaded by Gonzalo Higuain.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

Group A
Manchester United (England)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
Real Sociedad (Spain)

Group B
Real Madrid (Spain)
Juventus (Italy)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
FC Copenhagen (Denmark)

Group C
Benfica (Portugal)
Paris St Germain (France)
Olympiakos Piraeus (Greece)
Anderlecht (Belgium)

Group D
Bayern Munich (Germany)
CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Manchester City (England)
Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)

Group E
Chelsea (England)
Schalke 04 (Germany)
Basel (Switzerland)
Steaua Bucharest (Romania)

Group F
Arsenal (England)
Olympique Marseille (France)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Napoli (Italy)

Group G
Porto (Portugal)
Atletico Madrid (Spain)
Zenit St Petersburg (Russia)
Austria Vienna (Austria)

Group H
Barcelona (Spain)
AC Milan (Italy)
Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Celtic (Scotland)