UEFA Champions League draw results: Arsenal, BVB to battle it out for Group D

Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal were part of a fairly impressive three-way duel in the group stages last season which ultimately saw both teams through (by the skins of their teeth) to the knockout round. And now they meet again in similar circumstances. While there’s no Napoli in this group to push them all the way this time, Galatasaray represent strong opposition for both and Anderlecht are a worrying fourth-tier side -- it’s not going to be plain sailing for either.

Still, both will expect to get out of Group D, and the biggest question will be who manages to finish first. It’s a close call ...

Since re-rising to prominence in 2011, Borussia Dortmund have been raided every summer, but never seem to collapse, making extremely intelligent moves to survive the losses of Shinji Kagawa and Mario Götze. But now they’re down Robert Lewandowski, and it’s far from clear how they’re going to deal with that.

But for all of that they still have plenty of firepower. Marco Reus might be the most gifted wide forward in the game who doesn’t already play for Real Madrid, and that alone should be enough to scare every other team in the group. They’ve also got a strong, coherent supporting cast and a manager in Jurgen Klopp who knows how to get everything out of his players. They’re not as good as last year or the year prior, where they made it all the way to the final, but they could still be able to edge Arsenal out for the top spot. That said, this one is going to be a very tight call.

Arsenal limped into the Champions League group stages, just about sneaking past Besiktas via Alexis Sanchez’s goal — despite taking two red cards in their two-legged playoff. They’ll be hoping for much better here, and with talents like Sanchez, Mesut Özil and Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey at their disposal, they have every right to.

Arsenal’s biggest issue has always been depth, but that tends to hit in spring rather than early on, and despite questions in midfield and defence they’ll almost certainly be too much for the non-Dortmund teams in the group. And with BVB looking more than a little bit wobbly so far this season following the sale of talismanic centre forward Robert Lewandowski and injuries to key midfielders, Arsene Wenger will have serious designs on topping the group outright.

Galatasaray have had the misfortune of being drawn in a tough group. Again. But we should know better than to count them out: the Turkish side famously knocked Serie A champions Juventus out in the group stages last season before going out in the Round of 16, and they’re unlikely to be intimidated by either Arsenal or Borussia Dortmund.

And that leaves Anderlecht. A proud team, but alas not a particularly good one. The Belgian champions are a powerhouse in their home country, but their days of being a true European threat have long since passed and they’re currently better known for the players they produce (Everton forward Romelu Lukaku came through their system) than their actual football. They’re here to keep the rest of these teams honest, and a lot will have to go right for them to qualify for the knockout rounds. About the best they can hope for is a Europa League berth, and even that seems like a bit of a stretch.