Source: Telegraph
Champions League: A groupbygroup guide for the British challenge
GROUP B:
Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Besiktas, VfL Wolfsburg
Manchester United must overcome the draining effects of long trips to Moscow and Istanbul, plus a testing encounter with German champions Wolfsburg, if they are to progress to the knock-out stages.
Wolfsburg lowly Uefa ranking saw them positioned as fourth seeds, but the Volkswagen-owned club edged out Bayern Munich and Stuttgart on the back of 10-game winning streak in the Bundesliga.
Prolific strike-force of Brazilian forward Grafite and Bosnian Edin Dezeko are likely to pose the greatest threat to United.
United will return to the Luzhniki Stadium, scene of their 2008 Champions League final victory over Chelsea, when they tackle CSKA Moscow and face a difficult night in Besiktas's intimidating Inonu Stadium.
GROUP D: Chelsea, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Apoel
Carlo AncelottiI will expect Chelsea to progress to the second round, but Atletico Madrid are could rival the Londoners for top spot.
Former Manchester United forward Diego Forlan and Argentine striker Sergio Aguero, a long-term Chelsea target, will test Chelsea's defensive abilities, while highly-rated goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo has earned a reputation as one of Europe's brightest prospects.
FC Porto are a familiar opponent for Chelsea, but the Portuguese champions highlighted their quality with a 2-2 quarter-final draw at Manchester United last season.
Cypriot minnows Apoel will do well to register points away from Nicosia, but Chelsea can expect a noisy reception at their 22,000 capacity stadium.
GROUP E: Liverpool, Lyon, Fiorentina, Debreceni
The five-times European champions have avoided potentially-explosive encounters with dangerous second seeds such as Real Madrid and Inter Milan and will expect qualify as group winners.
Having lost French forward Karim Benzema to Real Madrid in the summer, Lyon have recruited the Argentina forward Lisandro Lopez from Porto, but they are likely to face a battle with Fiorentina for second spot.
The Italians qualified for the Champions League with a fourth-placed finish in Serie A, with former Chelsea forward Adrian Mutu their key man.
Hungarian outfit Debreceni, the only reigning champions in the group, lost a Champions League qualifier to Manchester United in 2005-06.
GROUP G: Sevilla, Rangers, Stuttgart, Unirea Urziceni
Rangers were handed a last-minute elevation into the second seeds following FC Copenhagen's elimination on Wednesday and the Scottish champions enjoyed another slice of good fortune by avoiding the big guns from the top seeds.
Sevilla, who finished third in La Liga last season, have genuine European pedigree as double Uefa Cup winners in recent seasons, but Rangers will expect the intimidating Ibrox atmosphere to drive them to three home victories in Glasgow.
Romanian champions Unirea Urziceni will be an unknown quantity, but Stuttgart could pose problems with former Arsenal duo Jens Lehmann and Aleksandr Hleb key figures.
GROUP H: Arsenal, AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos, Standard Liege
With Arsene Wenger still pursuing his first Champions League title, the Arsenal manager would have struggled to hand-pick a more appealing group.
A trip to Greece to face Olympiakos is as tough as it gets, with short hops to the Netherlands and Belgium for encounters with Alkmaar and Liege.
Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen, a summer signing from Ajax, will offer an expert insight into the qualities of Alkmaar and Liege, who took Liverpool the brink in the qualifying rounds last season.
Former Blackburn forward Matt Derbyshire will relish a trip to the Emirates after helping the Greeks to a league and cup double last season.
