The trip up to six time zones east to newcomer Astana in Kazakhstan went to Benfica, Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray.

Even those two groups should include some fascinating battles.

Arsenal general secretary David Miles said: “This is our 18th consecutive season in the group stage, that’s a fantastic testamant to what manager Arsene Wenger has done for the club”. “Our opponents could not be more illustrious. This is a huge challenge but we are looking forward to it because we can measure ourselves against the best“, Moenchengladbach sporting director Max Eberl.

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney gestures after scoring a goal during the Champions League play- … The Catalans are hoping to be the first team to win the European Cup in consecutive years since the format changed more than 20 years ago, and their road appears far less rocky than some of the world’s other top clubs.

Arsenal will face German giants Bayern Munich in the group stages of the Champions League.

The Europa League muddles things a bit, but the four English teams still landed favorable Champions League Group Stage draws, save for City. The final will take place at San Siro, Milan, on May 28.

The Red Devils have been drawn in a group with PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow and Wolfsburg, as they bid to plot a course through to the last 16. “We are satisfied with our draw. The group is tough but it could have been worse”, VfL Wolfsburg winger Andre Schuerrle.

With UEFA separating Russian and Ukrainian teams in the draw, top-seeded Zenit St. Petersburg was grouped with Valencia, Lyon and Gent.

BATE Borisov of Belarus are unlikely to qualify but could throw a spanner in the works of Leverkusen and Roma, having beaten Bayern Munich and Athletic Bilbao in recent years.

Chelsea fans might consider themselves lucky – they were drawn against Dynamo Kiev, from Ukraine, and Maccabi Tel Aviv, from Israel in Group G.

UEFA held the 2015-16 Champions League group-stage draw Thursday in Monaco, separating the 32 teams that qualified into eight groups of four. “They don’t just have a good starting XI but a very strong squad, so it will be very hard”, he forecast.