Story highlights
European Champions League group stage draw held in Monaco
Holders Bayern Munich drawn in a group with big spending Manchester City
AC Milan to face Spanish giants Barcelona, Ajax and Celtic in Group H
Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery named European Footballer of the Year
European Champions League holders Bayern Munich have been drawn to face Manchester City in the group stages of the continent’s most prestigious club competition.
The German champions are now led by former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, who secured 14 trophies for the Catalan club during his four seasons in charge.
Guardiola has a hard task repeating Bayern’s feats of last season when under Jupp Heynckes they won the Bundesliga, the German Cup and the Champions League crowns.
At the draw in Monaco, Bayern’s Franck Ribery was also named European Footballer of the Year, beating Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Real Madrid.
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“It’s always nice to win this trophy; it’s a special moment for me to be here,” he said.
“It was an extraordinary year for us, we’d wanted that trophy for so long and to play at Wembley was fantastic. I think Bayern deserved to win the cup after such a long time.”
Despite huge investment in their playing squad, and winning the English Premier League title in 2012, Manchester City have failed to make it out of the group stages in the past two Champions League competitions.
Russian club CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen, from the Czech Republic, complete the line-up in Group D.
Spanish champions Barcelona have been drawn in a particularly tough looking group alongside Italian giants AC Milan, Dutch title winners Ajax and Scottish champions Celtic.
Celtic famously beat Barcelona in the group stages of last year’s competition, and booked their place in the group stages with a last-gasp victory over Shakhter Karagandy from Kazakhstan on Wednesday night.
English side Arsenal face a tough test to emerge from Group F alongside last year’s beaten finalists, Borussia Dortmund of Germany, Napoli from Italy and French side Marseille.
Carlo Ancelotti’s first Champions League campaign as manager of Real Madrid sees him face Italian champions Juventus, Galatasaray from Turkey, and Denmark’s FC Copenhagen.
Jose Mourinho has been handed a favorable draw in Group E as Europa League winners Chelsea pulled German side Schalke, FC Basel from Switzerland and Romanian outfit Steaua Bucharest.
English Premier League champions Manchester United will also be content with their draw in Group A as they face Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen and Real Sociedad from Spain.
French champions Paris Saint-Germain have been drawn alongside Benfica, from Portugal, Greek side Olympiakos and Anderlecht, from Belgium, in Group C.
In Group G Portuguese side Porto have been drawn against Atletico Madrid, Russian side Zenit St Petersburg and Austria Vienna.
The first round of group matches will be played on 17-18 September.
Champions League group stage draw in full:
Group A: Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Sociedad.
Group B: Real Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray, FC Copenhagen.
Group C: Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain, Olympiakos, Anderlecht.
Group D: Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City, Viktoria Plzen.
Group E: Chelsea, Schalke 04, FC Basel, Steaua Bucharest.
Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli.
Group G: FC Porto, Atletico Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg, Austria Vienna.
Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax, Celtic.
