Manchester
City, cursed with bad luck in the Champions League, suffered another
horror draw in Monaco but there was better news for Manchester United,
who have a relatively easy passage to the knock-out stages.
City
have to face last season's runners-up Juventus as well as Spanish club
Sevilla, who won the Europa League in May, and tough German competitors
Borussia Monchengladbach in Group D.
In
contrast United, who came through the qualifying stage by beating Club
Bruges, face PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow and Wolfsburg in Group B.
Manchester City, who face Juventus in the group stage, have a history of tough Champions League draws
Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba will return to Manchester to take on Manuel Pellegrini's side this season
Former Barcelona and Chelsea defender Juliano Beletti took part in Thursday's group stage draw in Monaco
Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick as Manchester United beat Club Bruges in their Champions League play-off
Beletti picked out Manchester United as the Premier League club make their return to the Champions League
Louis
van Gaal's men overcame the Belgian side 7-1 on aggregate in their
play-off and have been rewarded with trips to Holland, Russia and
Germany.
United,
who are making their return to the Champions League after a season out
of the competition, are undefeated in two games against CSKA and beat
Wolfsburg twice when they met in the 2009-10 group stage.
City,
meanwhile, have never scored more than once in their three meetings
with Juventus, and will come up against transfer target Paul Pogba,
providing he remains in Turin.
Arsenal
also have a problematic group, facing Bayern Munich who have knocked
them out twice in the last three seasons of European football.
They
are in the same Group F as Olympiacos, the Greek club who are mired in
serious match-fixing allegations which UEFA have ignored as far as their
participation in Europe’s elite club competition is concerned.
The Gunners, who were knocked out at the last 16 stage by Monaco last season, will also face Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb.
Arsenal and Alexis Sanchez endured heartbreak against Monaco in last season's Champions League
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain tussles with Bayern Munich's Thiago Alcantara (left) and Franck Ribery in 2014
Former Barcelona goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta plucked out Bayern Munich during Thursday's draw
Chelsea
will also be confident of progressing through a group stage containing
Porto, whom manager Jose Mourinho led to an unlikely Champions League
triumph in 2004, along with Dynamo Kiev and Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
The
Premier League champions have never failed to scored in six previous
meetings with Porto, although Mourinho has won neither of his two trips
to his old club.
Like every team in the group stage, the Blues' first game will be on either September 15 or 16.
Diego Costa (centre) and his Chelsea team-mates will be hoping to get beyond the last 16 stage this season
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will come up against his old club Porto in the Champions League group stage
Holders
Barcelona face trips to Germany, Italy and Ukraine to face Bayer
Leverkusen, Roma and BATE Borisov in Group E, while their La Liga rivals
Real Madrid take on Paris Saint-Germain, Shakhtar Donestk and Malmo in
Group A.
Group C is made up of Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray and Astana, while Zenit, Valencia, Lyon, Gent make up Group H.
More to follow.
Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta gets his hands on the Champions League trophy during Thursday's draw
Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar (L-R) helped Barcelona win last season's Champions League final
Real Madrid are looking to regain the Champions League after winning their 10th European Cup in 2014
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