Real Madrid, AC Milan drawn together as Champions League draw takes place
The group stage of the 2010-11 UEFA Champions League has been announced after the draw took place on Thursday in Monaco.
Draw
In Group A, Inter Milan, last year's winner, was grouped with Werder Bremen of Germany, Tottenham Hotspur of England, and Twente of Holland.
France's Olympique Lyonnais heads Group B along with Benfica of Portugal, Shalke 04 of Germany, and Hapoel Tel-Aviv of Israel.
Manchester United of England and Valencia of Spain were grouped together in Group C along with Scotland's Rangers and Turkey's Bursaspor.
Barcelona, one of the favorites, was grouped with Greece's Panathinaikos, Copenhagen of Denmark, and Rubin Kazan of Russia in Group D.
Bayern Munich of Germany, Roma of Italy, Basel of Switzerland, and CFR Cluj of Romania make up Group E.
High-scoring Chelsea of England and Marseille of France make up the top half of Group F. Along with them will be Spartak Moscow of Russia, and MSK Zilina of Slovakia.
This year's “Group of Death” is Group G. It contains AC Milan of Italy, Real Madrid of Spain, Ajax of Holland, and Auxerre of France.
Lastly, Arsenal of England, Shakhtar Donestk of Ukraine, Sporting Braga of Portugal and Partizan Belgrade of Serbia form Group H.
Analysis
Inter have been handed a tough draw against powerful Werder Bremen and a solid Tottenham Hotspur. Twente are not to be overlooked as they were crowned champions of Holland last season. Tottenham Hotspur, who barely got by Young Boys, will need to take care of Twente to have any chance at going through.
In Group B, Olmpique Lyonnais has received a mediocre draw. Benfica lost Angel di Maria in the off season but always reload with South American talent. Shalke 04 could pose a threat to both clubs as Spain legend Raul heads to Germany to joins Jefferson Farfan up top.
Manchester United received a fair draw as they pulled a new-look Valencia side, a down Rangers side and an unknown Bursaspor. Manchester United should have no trouble getting at least 10 points from the Rangers and Bursaspor fixtures.
Barcelona could put out a half-strength squad and get through to the final sixteen as they were handed the softest draw. Panathinaikos is the only real threat to Barcelona, but it is safe to say that Panathinaikos has very little chance at beating the Catalan giants.
Bayern Munich received a safe draw along with Arsenal. Both teams should win their groups easily.
Group G may be the most complicated. AC Milan, Real Madrid and Ajax have all been crowned European champions. There has never been a group with as much history and success in Champions League history. Even though Ajax has fallen off a bit since their dominance in the 1990's, they still could make noise if they can sneak out a victory against Real Madrid or AC Milan.
Each team will have six games to prove they have what it takes to make it to the elimination round. Inter and Barcelona are the favorites, but anything can happen in football. Who will surprise? Who will fail to live up to expectations? It starts in September. The world will be watching.
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