Below are the gropings:
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE DRAW
Group A: Bayern Munich, Villarreal, Manchester City, Napoli
Group B: Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Lille, Trabzonspor
Group C: Manchester United, Benfica, Basel, Otelul Galati
Group D: Real Madrid, Lyon, Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb
Group E: Chelsea, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Genk
Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Olympiakos, Borussia Dortmund
Group G: Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St Petersburg, APOEL
Group H: Barcelona, Milan, BATE Borisov, Viktoria Plzen
What do you think about this grouping?
Managers Pep Guardiola and Vítor Pereira are predicting an exciting game between Barcelona and Porto in the Uefa Super Cup at Stade Louis II on Friday.
Barça have set a Super Cup record by reaching the Monaco showpiece for an eighth time – and Guardiola has promised an enthralling clash between two of Europe’s most prestigious clubs.
“Finals are meaningful when you play against clubs with a great history – it was an honour to play against Manchester United and it’s an honour to play against one of the strongest teams in the world now in Porto,” said Guardiola on Thursday.
“Mathematically their figures are impeccable and when you watch them play you can see they do things very well. I think it will be an excellent final, just like the Champions League was.”
It will be the eighth occasion the two sides have met in European competition, with Barça holding the superior record after having secured victory over their Portuguese opponents on four previous occasions.
Guardiola will be without defender Gerard Piqué, who tore his calf in training last Tuesday, while Carles Puyol is unavailable after undergoing surgery to repair damaged cartilage in his left knee in June.
Meanwhile, Porto are making their fourth appearance in the Super Cup – they triumphed in 1987 before losing both previous trips to Monaco in 2003 and 2004.
As in 1987 and 2004, the Europa League winners approach the final with a different coach from the one that won their qualifying competition – Pereira replaced André Villas-Boas as Porto manager this summer and his first test in Europe will be for his side to contain the newly-crowned Best Player in Europe, Lionel Messi.
“You can’t stop Messi with any special tactic,” said Pereira. “You stop him with a strong team performance, by concentrating defensively, covering each other and anticipating intentions. You will see our own game plan and identity; you don’t adapt to your opponent.”
Although Pereira admits Barça are the best team he had seen in his lifetime, the Porto boss promised his side would put on a show against the Champions League holders.
“We’re here on our own merit following a great season,” Pereira said. “We know Barcelona are a great team, but we’re not here to see them play. We came here to win this game so we have the ingredients for a great spectacle.”
Porto have faced Spanish opposition in the Super Cup before – the Portuguese side suffered a 2-1 defeat by Valencia in 2004 and it is the only occasion in which a Spanish and a Portuguese team have faced each other in Monaco.
http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2011/08/barcelona-v-porto-uefa-super-cup-2011-preview/
The draw for the Champions League Group Stage takes place on Thursday in Monaco from 4.45pm (UK time).
How the draw works
The 32 clubs who feature in the draw are split into four pots of eight based on their UEFA coefficient scores. These are based on performance in European competitions over the last five years.
A total of eight groups of four teams will be drawn with one side from each seeding pot in each group. No side can be drawn against another from the same pot, nor can they play a team from their home country.
Where two sides from the same country have qualified, they will be paired to split their matches between Tuesday and Wednesday, so one club will always play at home on one day and the other will play away on the other day. In the case of countries with three representatives, only two teams have been paired in terms of their fixtures; in the case of countries with four representatives, two pairings have been made.
To ensure sides from the same country play on separate days, the eight groups will be distinguished by colour: Groups A-D will be red and Groups E-H blue. When a paired club is drawn, for example, into one of the red groups, the other paired club - once it has been drawn - will automatically be assigned to one of the four blue groups.
The order of home and away matches will be determined after the draw has taken place.
Pot One:
Barcelona
Manchester United
Chelsea
Bayern Munich
Arsenal
Real Madrid
FC Porto
Internazionale
Pot Two:
AC Milan
Lyon
Shakhtar Donetsk
Valencia
Benfica
Villarreal
CSKA Moscow
Marseille
Pot Three:
Zenit St. Petersburg
Ajax
Bayer Leverkusen
Olympiakos
Manchester City
Lille
FC Basel
BATE Borisov
Pot Four:
Borussia Dortmund
Napoli
Dinamo Zagreb
Apoel FC
Trabzonspor
Genk
Viktoria Plzen
Otelul Galati
So have your say! What do you think the groupings would be like?
