Monaco - Real Madrid and resurgent Italian giants Juventus are set to meet in what looks like the toughest group of the forthcoming Champions League campaign following Thursday's draw in Monaco.
The two also confront current UEFA Cup champions Zenit St Petersburg - now another high-spending outfit - in a Group H which has Belarus champions Bate Borisov as fourth challenger.
Defending champions Manchester United confront Scottish champions Celtic in what will yield two great clashes between the British clubs, with Spain's Villareal and Danish champions Aalborg the other Group E representatives.
Last season's runners-up Chelsea face AS Roma, Bordeaux and Romanians CFR Cluj in Group A, while Inter Milan and Werder Bremen will do battle in Group B along with Greek champions Panathinaikos and the first ever Cypriot outfit to contest the Champions League, Anorthosis Famagusta.
Liverpool face Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, Marseille and the difficult Atletico Madrid in Group D, while in Group F the other French side in the draw Lyon are up against German giants Bayern Munich, Steua Bucharest and a resurgent Fiorentina.
The fourth English side in the draw, Arsenal, are up against FC Porto, Turkish champions Fenerbahce and Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kiev in an awkward-looking Group G, while Group C pits Barcelona and Sporting Lisbon against Basel and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Match dates are September 16/17, September 30/October 1, October 21/22, November 4/5, November 25/26, December 9/10.
The eight group winners plus the runners-up go through to the knockout stages of the competition. Teams finishing third go into the UEFA Cup.
Rome's Stadio Olimpico will stage the Champions League final next May 27. (dpa)
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