Friday 31 August 2012

Champions League Draws 2012

Defending champions-Chelsea will begin their title defense at home to Serie A Juventus, while Real Madrid will face Manchester City in the tournament's toughest group. 

Madrid has been handed the toughest draw - with three league champions in Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax in Group D. The Spanish champion beat Ajax 3-0 both home and away in last season's competition. 

It begins its bid for a record 10th title at home to Premier League champion City. 

"We didn't have much luck but I'm sure our rivals will think the same," Real Madrid director and former playing great Emilio Butragueno said. 
"It's a very tough group, all of the games are going to be very close, very competitive, very tense. 

"We have to prepare. We're Real Madrid and we aspire to reach the end of this competition." 

With all four teams winning their respective leagues last year, it is no surprise Group D has been pinpointed as the toughest group. 

"This group is a fantastic story. It gives you goose bumps, cramps your nerves," Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said. "Of course Real and City deal in (financial) sums that we cannot match. But this is not going to inhibit us. 

"We want to be an uncomfortable opponent. We don't want to compete in the sense who is prettier, who is bigger, who is more expensive." 

Juventus should qualify for the knockout stage, along with Chelsea, which knocked the Serie A side out of the competition in 2009. 

"We're happy to be back on this stage," Juventus general director Giuseppe Marotta said. "All in all we're satisfied with this group, although we're full of humility and we've got total respect for our opponents." 

Bayern Munich, last season's runner-up, is in Group F with Valencia - which it beat on penalties in the 2011 final - as well as Lille and BATE Borisov. 

"We were in the final last season, we have to advance from the group stage," Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said. "I see Valencia as our toughest rival but our duty is to advance and to be first in the group." 

Four-time winner Barcelona faces Benfica, Spartak Moscow and Celtic. 

"It looks like a footballing group, with historic teams and teams with different styles," Barcelona sport director Andoni Zubizarreta said. "It might not have the big names like the other groups but it's still interesting." 

Manchester United, which failed to clear the group stage last season, also has a relatively weak group with Braga, Galatasaray and Cluj. 

"We have the experience of playing against Galatasaray in the past and we will always remember the 'Welcome to Hell' banners," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "So it's always a difficult type of match. 

"Obviously, we've never played Cluj before but, after the experience of last year, we don't want to make any stupid errors this time. We will play our strongest team to make sure we get through." 

Group A 

FC Porto (Portugal), Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) 

Group B 

Arsenal (England), Schalke (Germany), Olympiakos (Greece), Montpellier (France) 

Group C 

AC Milan (Italy), Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia), Anderlecht (Belgium), Malaga (Spain) 

Group D 

Real Madrid (Spain), Manchester City (England), Ajax (Netherlands), Borussia Dortmund (Germany) 


Group E 

Chelsea (England), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Juventus (Italy), Nordsjaelland (Denmark) 

Group F 

Bayern Munich (Germany), Valencia (Spain), Lille (France), BATE Borisov (Belarus) 

Group G 

Barcelona (Spain), Benfica (Portugal), Spartak Moscow (Russia), Glasgow Celtic (Scotland) 

Group H 

Manchester United (England), Braga (Portugal), Galatasaray (Turkey), Cluj (Romania) 

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