Holders Chelsea to face Juventus
Reuters - Thursday 30 August 2012, 20:03
Chelsea will start the defence of
the Champions League trophy they won so dramatically last season
with a Group E match against former winners Juventus at Stamford
Bridge.
The Italian champions, who have lifted the European Cup
twice, should give Chelsea a stern test on September 19 before
Roberto Di Matteo's side face Danish newcomers FC Nordsjaelland
and Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk.
An intriguing series of games is in prospect in Group D with
nine-times European champions Real Madrid joined by English
champions Manchester City, Dutch league winners Ajax Amsterdam
and German champions Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern Munich, who lost to Chelsea in last season's final on
penalties in their own Allianz Arena stadium, will face
Valencia, Lille and BATE Borisov of Belarus in Group F.
Chelsea's club secretary David Barnard, in Monaco for the
draw told reporters: "It is not going to be easy. Manchester
United thought they had an easy passage last season and went out
early. You cannot afford to make that mistake. We will respect
all our opponents and take nothing for granted."
Real director Emilio Butragueno told Spanish television His
team had not had much luck after being drawn with Manchester
City, Ajax and Dortmund.
"It's a very tough group, every game will be very tight with
a lot of tension," he said. "We need to prepare very well. City
are a very strong team after an enormous investment in recent
years and they will be a rival of the highest level."
Manchester City, regarded as the richest club in the world
following the hundreds of millions invested in it by the club's
Arab owners over the last four years, failed to negotiate the
group stage in their first Champions League campaign last
season.
The English champions have a tough task again, travelling to
Real in their first game on Sept. 18 before hosting Dortmund.
"I think it is the hardest group of them all with the
champions of Spain, the Netherlands and Germany," Manchester
City club ambassador Patrick Vieira said.
"But this is what the Champions League is all about. You
have to play these teams and beat them if you want to win it.
And we want to win it."
Bayern Munich, who also finished runners-up to Dortmund in
the Bundesliga last season, face Valencia, who they beat on
penalties in the 2001 Champions League final, Lille and BATE.
"I see Valencia as our strongest opponents in this group,
but in any case its our duty to reach the quarter-finals,
preferably by winning the group," Bayern captain Philipp Lahm
told reporters.
Barcelona, the strong favourites last year until they lost
to Chelsea in the semi-finals, face their old rivals Benfica,
Spartak Moscow and Celtic.
The rivalry between Barcelona and Benfica goes back to the
early days of European club football and the 1961 final when
Benfica beat Barcelona 3-2 in Berne to win the first of their
two European Cups, a game still remembered as a classic.
Barca midfielder Andres Iniesta, in Monaco and named as
UEFA's Best Player in Europe last season, told guests in the
auditorium: "The Champions League is an incredibly difficult
competition to win, and we will respect every side that we have
to face in it."
LUCK HELPS
Lionel Messi, who scored 73 goals for Barca last season and
was also in Monaco, added: "Sometimes luck helps decides the
Champions League as Chelsea discovered last season. It's a tough
draw but hopefully we can do better this season than last."
Manchester United, the three-times European champions who
failed to get past the group stage last season but are back for
a record 18th appearance in the competition, will face Braga,
Galatasaray and CFR Cluj and should progress comfortably
The draw included 11 former European champions as well as
holders Chelsea, 20 teams who competed last season and three
newcomers including Montpellier, who won the French League for
the first time.
They were drawn in the same group as Arsenal, Schalke 04 and
Olympiakos.
"Arsenal are a European great, Olympiakos's fans are among
the hottest and Schalke represent the German seriousness,"
Montpellier coach Rene Girard said. "Obviously, we will fight as
hard as we can, we did not do all this for nothing."
Paris Saint-Germain, who finished as runners-up to Montpellier
and are back in the competition for the first time since
2004/05, will play Porto, Dynamo Kiev and Dinamo Zagreb.
"The group is quite open, it could have been much more
complicated," PSG captain Christophe Jallet said. "We escaped
from the big fishes. We have our chances to move through, so we
hope we'll qualify. We should beware of Porto, they are the
favourites. But there is an opportunity to take."
The competition starts on September 18/19 with the group stage
ending in the first week of December.
The final is being staged at Wembley for the second time in
three seasons on May 25 as part of the celebrations marking the
150th anniversary of the founding of the English FA, the world's
oldest, in 1863.
Draw for the 2012/13 Champions League
group stage, held in Monaco on Thursday:
Group A:
Porto,
Dynamo Kiev,
Paris Saint-Germain,
Dinamo Zagreb
Group B:
Arsenal,
Schalke 04,
Olympiakos Piraeus,
Montpellier HSC
Group C:
AC Milan,
Zenit St Petersburg,
Anderlecht,
Malaga
Group D:
Real Madrid,
Manchester City,
Ajax Amsterdam,
Borussia Dortmund
Group E:
Chelsea,
Shakhtar Donetsk,
Juventus,
Nordsjaelland
Group F:
Bayern Munich,
Valencia,
Lille,
BATE Borisov
Group G:
Barcelona,
Benfica,
Spartak Moscow,
Celtic
Group H:
Manchester United,
Braga,
Galatasaray,
CFR Cluj
First matches to be played September 18 and 19.