Manchester United and Chelsea declared themselves pleased last night after dodging a series of bullets during the draw for the Champions League group stage. Liverpool and Arsenal were also given cause for relief, and the Premier League clubs must privately expect to fashion routes to next year's knockout rounds.
United were unlucky to pull the German champions, Wolfsburg, out of pot four, while Chelsea were given Atlético Madrid from pot three, but it could have been so much worse for England's representatives. The real dangers lurked in the shape of Real Madrid, Internazionale and Juventus, but the trio all passed into different groups.
Real were drawn with Milan in Group C – so Kaká, one of Real's star summer signings, will play against his old team – and Inter were paired with Barcelona in Group F. José Mourinho, the Inter manager, has history with his Catalan former employers, from his time at Chelsea.
"Pot four was the interesting one and I think most teams would have preferred not to get the German champions, but overall we have got to be happy," said United's chief executive David Gill, whose club also face CSKA Moscow and Besiktas. "We look forward to going back to Moscow, where we enjoyed such great scenes in 2008," he added, referring to the European Cup final win over Chelsea.
"We are looking to go one step further [and win the Champions League]," said Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, whose club also face Porto and Apoel Nicosia of Cyprus, "so we have to get through this stage. Overall, there is not too much travel and we managed to avoid one of the big ones. We will all be reasonably pleased with the draw.
"We have been one of the most consistent sides in Europe, but winning it would take us to another level. It's getting to the stage where we deserve it, after having five semi-finals."
Arsenal drew AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos and Standard Liege. "We are playing the champions from the Dutch, Greek and Belgian leagues, three good leagues," said the club's chief executive Ivan Gazidis, "and there is a reason why they are in this competition. Some people will look at it and think this is an automatic pass for Arsenal, but we don't see it that way at all."
Liverpool, at one stage, had a one-in-three chance of drawing Real but they ended up with Lyon from pot two. Fiorentina and the Hungarian champions Debreceni complete their group.
The draw in full
Group A: Bayern Munich, Juventus, Bordeaux , Maccabi Haifa
Group B: Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Besiktas, Wolfsburg
Group C: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Marseille, FC Zurich
Group D: Chelsea, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Apoel FC
Group E: Liverpool, Lyon, Fiorentina, Debreceni
Group F: Barcelona, Internazionale, Dynamo Kiev, FC Rubin Kazan
Group G: Sevilla, Rangers, VfB Stuttgart, Unirea Uriziceni
Group H: Arsenal, AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos, Standard Liege
Source: The Guardian