Tough Champions League Draw Sees Man City Paired With Real Madrid, Dortmund And Ajax

Alan Duffy

31st, August 2012

7 Comments

By Alan Duffy

Ah yes, a good old fashioned group of death(tm)! Thursday’s Champions League draw didn’t do Premier League champions Man City any favours, with the Citizens paired with Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax, all champions of their respective leagues.  It sure won’t be easy for Roberto Mancini’s men, who’ll be looking to improve on last season’s Euro adventure. Although, they still should get through.

As for the other English sides, holders Chelsea have to make a tricky trip to Shakhtar Donetsk while Serie A champs Juventus along with Danish side FC Nordsjaelland also stand in their way. Not an easy draw either.

Man Utd look to have quite a handy draw, with Braga, Galatasaray and CFR Cluj while Arsenal will be relatively happy with Schalke, Olympiakos and Olivier Giroud’s old side, Montpellier.

Scottish giants Celtic face the mighty Barcelona as well as Benfica and Spartak Moscow, which won’t be easy for the Bhoys.

Here’s the draw in full…

Group A: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Paris St Germain, Dinamo Zagreb

Group B: Arsenal, Schalke, Olympiakos, Montpellier

Group C: AC Milan, Zenit St Petersburg, Anderlecht, Malaga

Group D: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund

Group E: Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, FC Nordsjaelland

Group F: Bayern Munich, Valencia, Lille, BATE Borisov

Group G: Barcelona, Benfica, Spartak Moscow, Celtic

Group H: Manchester United, Braga, Galatasaray, CFR Cluj

Posted in Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd

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7 Comments

  1. Frost says:

    My predictions:

    A) Porto, PSG
    B) Arsenal, Schalke
    C) AC Milan, Zenit
    D) Real Madrid,Manchester City
    E) Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk
    F) Bayern Munich, Valencia
    G) Barcelona, Benfica
    H) Manchester United, Galatasaray

    Groups D and E are hard to call. Dortmund and Juve have a shot. However, I’m thinking Juve be edged out, assuming that Shakhtar doesn’t sell its Brazilian talent, and the Citizens will be better prepared this time around to edge out Dortmund.

  2. Frost says:

    Regardless, we’ve got some mouth-watering matches ahead.

  3. adwew says:

    @Frost lol you are underestimating juventus they finished the season without losing a game and the bought some very good players like kwadwo asamoah, isla (they helped udinese reach the CL qualifiers), giovinco who rescued parma from relegation and lucio a very expirienced player……and you place milan as favourites when they sold ibrahimovic, thiago silva and cassano 3 of their top players and i tell it will be very dificult for them to pass, while for the others i agree with you

  4. Joe says:

    This is bogus, why do Ajax always get either a group of death or some bribed Croatians to stop us from making it through? Why can’t we be paired with dross like Celtic or BATE for once? And how can United ALWAYS get a ridiculously easy draw (I mean, come on)?

  5. Louis says:

    @Joe The short answer is seeding, Ajax are in pot 3 so they’re always going to get two stronger teams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%E2%80%9313_UEFA_Champions_League_group_stage#Seeding has the pots if you’re interested)
    As for ManUtd, they’ve just been really lucky the last few years I guess, although it didn’t really help them last year

  6. Dave says:

    Wow group D is ridiculous, I know it’s all done through seeding and rankings but surely having the champions of England, Spain and Germany the 3 strongest leagues in the world in one group is a little unfair, the fact that the champions of the Netherlands are also in the group is even more weird.

  7. WildScotsman6 says:

    C’mon the hoops, we can edge out Second!! Got to beat the best to be the best, no matter what bracket you draw!

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