12:00am (Fri)
It's the draw that will define
the season. We tried to get excited about the Champions League
qualifying rounds - but here comes the serious stuff: the draw for
the group stage.
At 5pm on Thursday in Monaco,
the 32 teams left in the competition will learn who is standing
between them and a place in next spring's all-important knockout
stages.
Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal
and new boys Tottenham are flying the flag for England, while Rangers
represent Scotland.
As ever, the participants are
seeded and put into four pots to keep the best and worst apart. But
the vagaries of UEFA's coefficient rankings means that there are
dangers lurking in each pot.
Last season, for example,
eventual winners Inter Milan were in Pot Two and were pulled out in
the absolutely stinking Group F alongside Barcelona, Dynamo Kiev and rookie
Russian champions Rubin Kazan.
Rubin won at the Nou Camp a
year ago and are once again the team to avoid from Pot Four.
Tottenham's relatively poor record in recent European competition
puts them alongside Rangers in Pot Three, but teams can't draw
others from their own country, so those lying in wait for Spurs in
the top pot are Inter Milan, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and
Lyon.
One team from each pot will be
drawn to make up the eight groups of four teams.
Sportsmail
looks at who are
the club to draw in each group, and who should be
avoided!...
POT ONE
Inter Milan
Barcelona
Manchester United
Chelsea
Arsenal
Bayern Munich
AC
Milan
Lyon
POT TWO
Werder Bremen
Real Madrid
Roma
Shakhtar Donetsk
Benfica
Valencia
Marseille
Panathinaikos
POT
THREE
Tottenham
Rangers
Ajax
Schalke
Basel
Braga
Copenhagen
Spartak Moscow
POT FOUR
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Twente
Rubin Kazan
Auxerre
Cluj
Partizan Belgrade
Zilina
Bursaspor
