UEFA Champions League Group Stage Draw: Groups Set, Most Finely Balanced

It’s Porto, Shakhtar, Zenit, and Apoel in Group G. Sometimes, the competition throws together two giants and two minnows, but sometimes you get a mixed bag, and this is one of the more unpredictable groups. Apoel are likely to get severely whipped, but beyond that, it could be anyone’s. With no true giant in the group, and three middling, yet hugely entertaining and formidable sides all looking to make the step up and prove they can compete at Champions League level, this could be a defining year for one (or two) of these teams. But before they get a shot at the giants, they will have to prove themselves against one another.

Having lost their manager and some of their best players, Porto will be unpredictable, but should still have enough quality to get through. Shakhtar have built a fine side, but will be looking to take things to the next level, whilst Zenit manager Luciano Spalletti will be hoping that he can continue to develop his promising team.

Until the fourth pot, Group F was looking like a somewhat normal UEFA Champions League group, with a very good team, Arsenal, good team, Olympique de Marseille and a team that won’t last long, Olympiakos. That was until Borussia Dortmund came out of the 4th pot. Two seasons ago, Wolfsburg were the team in the 4th pot noone wanted, but unlike Dortmund, they were one-hit wonders. Despite selling Nuri Sahin, Borussia Dortmund retained Shinji Kagawa, Mario Götze and their manager, the supremely humble Jürgen Klopp. They make the group way more challenging than Arsene Wenger and Didier Deschamps would’ve wanted.

Olympique de Marseilles also retained their key players: Andre Ayew is still at the club, as is top scorer Loic Remy, playmaker Mathieu Valbuena and striker Andre Pierre-Gignac. After going out to Manchester United last year in the round of 16, they’ll hope to make it to at least quarter-finals this time around, but could be thwarted by Dortmund and Arsenal.

David Silva. In a team full of shiny stars, Silva manages to stand out, and not just because he’s by far the smallest player on the squad. Magician of Manchester City’s midfield, he’s one the opposition should be worried about.

Group A

Bayern Munich

The label “Group of Death” is thrown around a lot. In any tournament, the toughest group is usually given the moniker, but there is rarely a group deserving of it. The group stage of the 2011-2012 UEFA Champions League will almost assuredly have a Group of Death though as some of the continent’s top teams have been put all the way down in Pot 3 or even Pot 4.

There are 32 teams remaining in the competition and they have been split into four pots with eight teams in each pot and one team from each pot will be put in each group. That means a team from Pot 4 will be in the same group as a team from Pot 1. Normally that isn’t a problem because the Pot 4 teams are supposed to be the worst teams in the field, but the UEFA coefficient that ranks the teams aren’t quite accurate. That leaves us with Borussia Dortmund and Napoli all the way down in Pot 4.