The road to Wembley Stadium will be a difficult one for the defending champions of Spain, England and Germany.
Real Madrid, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund were drawn together in a stacked Group D to highlight the 2012-13 UEFA Champions League draw, which was conducted in Monaco. Ajax, which is coming off another Dutch championship, was drawn with Madrid for the third straight year and rounds out the difficult group as the teams begin their quests to reach the final at Wembley.
Defending champion Chelsea was drawn with Italian champion Juventus, while big-spending Paris St. Germain, which came out of Pot 3, lucked into a favorable draw with Porto, Dynamo Kyiv and Dinamo Zagreb.
Americans Jermaine Jones, Sacha Kljestan and Michael Parkhurst also learned their fates. Jones' Schalke will take on Arsenal, Olympiakos and Montpellier; Kljestan's Anderlecht were drawn with AC Milan, Zenit-St. Petersburg and Malaga; and Parkhurst's FC Nordsjaelland will be tested by Chelsea, Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Here are the eight groups in this season's UEFA Champions League:
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUPS
GROUP A
Porto, Dynamo Kyiv, 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 1907 Cluj
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What do you think of the groups? Which teams do you see getting out of Group D? Which teams do you see getting to the knockout stage? How do you see the teams with Americans faring?
Share your thoughts below.
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Clint should go to 1 of those CL teams in France or Germany
2yearz ago I think thy were. them and Twente I think
What?
Understatement of the year. The worst team in your group is Ajax? Good luck. Were all four of these teams their domestic league champions? If not they were second. Wow.
No, because the French league isn’t as good as the leagues that I mentioned.
Right, because usually they do so bad in the group stages. I’m sure Ferguson will murder the entire team if they choke again…
If that was true, why would Real Madrid be in such a tough group? Chelsea’s group ain’t too shabby either. There will always be easy groups, and hard groups…
Well, it’s not based on one year’s results. By your logic, shouldn’t Montpelier be up there as well? City is there for only the 2nd time in its history…
Were they in the Champions League three years ago, I don’t think they were…
Can anyone tell me when the match day schedule is released. When will the home/away matches be filled in here: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2013/matches/round=2000347/index.html ? Thanks!
As an Arsenal fan, WOOHOO!
I find it hilarious that the teams who finished second, third (89 points behind) and 6th in the “best league in the world” get into the first pot, while Man City gets Pot 2. Not a Man City fan at all, but that strikes me as weird.
Pot 1 should have been Barcelona, Real, MC, MU, Dortmund, Munich, Porto, and Milan. The second place finishers in Groups A, C, and H will really dilute the quality of the knockout rounds, no matter who they are.
Group D, a serious group of Champions.
Good lord, who did AC Milan sleep with to get that draw?
I’ve got a bridge to sell you if you believe these aren’t rigged.
fan boy
they always do. :/
Maybe this time they’ll make it out…
Third year in a row. They had Madrid and Milan the year before.
Seriously, did Ajax’s coach dump one of the Uefa execs daughters? Second year in a row stuck in the group of death.
+1
That’s assuming he’d actually play…of course.
Ha, not a bad idea.
I really feel bad for Ajax, whom I love watching.
Lille, Valencia, Porto or Arsenal
same ol same ol
if Gooch joins michael parkhurst and his club will be creamed. amazing how Ukraine and Russia always have like 2 teams in the group stage yet Holland gets 1
if Gooch joins michael parkhurst and his club will be creamed. amazing how Ukraine and Russia always have like 2 teams in the group stage yet Holland gets 1
if Gooch joins Galatarsaay he gets to play Man United
They should just play all matches for this group in the Original Coliseum. Who in the Hell needs Tigers, Lions and Elephants fighting one another when you have Group D.
Definitely. 24hrs to go
THANK YOU Football Gods for PSG’s draw in Group A.
No complaining here and grateful to not be in the group with the dude walking around with a giant scythe (AKA Group D).
Clint Dempsey take notice! Send your resume’ to one of these teams fast! Lol!
Think they might need to rethink how they do the these draws.
Its a shame I like watching Ajax but they have a HUGE uphill battle
Real tough group Man United got…what a joke
Group D for Death, apparently.
That’s going to be a great group to watch. Too bad they’re all bunched together. Especially when you look at Group A (which, on the surface, is a joke).