Monaco, Aug 30 (IANS) English club Arsenal face a tough challenge after being drawn alongside last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund as well as Rafael Benitez’s Napoli and French club Marseille in the Champions League group stages.
Defending champions Bayern Munich face resistance from England’s Manchester City in a Group D encounter, reports Xinhua.
The other two English teams in the fray, Chelsea and Manchester United, have easier draws.
Chelsea will face two familiar foes, FC Basel and Steaua Bucharest, who they beat en route to the historic Europa League triumph last season. Schalke 04 of Germany completes Group E.
David Moyes’ first taste of Champions League football with Manchester United will come against Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Sociedad in Group A.
Barcelona will once again face Scottish club Celtic, who they lost to last season along with two other former winners in Group H in AC Milan and Ajax.
Following are the groups:
Group A: Manchester United (England), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Real Sociedad (Spain)
Group B: Real Madrid (Spain), Juventus (Italy), Galatasaray (Turkey), FC Copenhagen (Denmark)
Group C: Benfica (Portugal), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Olympiakos (Greece), Anderlecht (Belgium)
Group D: Bayern Munich (Germany), CSKA Moscow (Russia), Manchester City (England), Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
Group E: Chelsea (England), Schalke 04 (Germany), FC Basel (Switzerland), Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Group F: Arsenal (England), Marseille (France), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Napoli (Italy)
Group G: FC Porto (Portugal), Atletico Madrid (Spain), Zenit St Petersburg (Russia), Austria Vienna (Austria)
Group H: Barcelona (Spain), AC Milan (Italy), Ajax (Netherlands), Celtic (Scotland)
