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The draw for the group stages of the richest club competition in World football took place in Monaco on Thursday with the final groupings throwing up some mouthwatering clashes as a number of heavyweights get set to battle it out against each other in the early stages of the competition.

The way the draw for the group stages of the Champions League works is that the 32 teams are divided into 4 pots of eight teams each. The 1st pot contains the top seeded teams, based on their performance in all European competitions in the last 5 years, the second pot contains the next best 8 teams in Europe and so on. There are 8 groups in all, each with a team seeded either 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th, and in such a way that no two teams from t he same country can be paired up against each other.

With teams like Real Madrid, Juventus and Inter Milan seeded second, they were bound to be paired up with another team having a high European pedigree, and that is exactly what transpired. Real have been drawn in the same group as AC Milan, Juventus are accompanied by Bayern Munich in Group A and Barcelona vs Inter Milan will also be another titanic clash to look forward to during the initial stage. This means that it is a relatively easy passage for the 4 English sides, who have avoided the tough competition for now.

There are also a number of newcomers to the Champions League this year with the likes of APOEL, Debreceni, Rubin Kazan, Unirea Urziceni, etc adding a touch of unpredictability to the tournament.

A look at how all the groups stack up -

GROUP A:

Bayern Munich (Germany) 
Juventus (Italy)
Bordeaux (France)
Maccabi Haifa (Israel)

This group includes 2 of the most successful teams in European history - Bayern Munich and Juventus. The fact that Juventus are not top seeds in the group shows their relative decline in the competition over the last few years but the Italian giants will be hoping to turn things around this year. The same holds true for Bayern, who have struggled in the Champions League ever since Oilver Kahn lifted the trophy way back in 2002. There is a possibility that matches between the two aren't as exciting as anticipated because both teams might play it safe knowing that they will qualify for the knockout stages because of the huge gulf in class with the other 2 teams in the group.

The presence of two quality sides like Juve and Bayern means that Bordeaux and Maccabi Haifa are almost out of the reckoning even before the matches have begun. Unless anything goes drastically wrong, both of them will be aiming for 3rd spot and qualification for the UEFA Europa League.

GROUP B:
Manchester United (England)
CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Besiktas (Turkey)
Wolfsburg (Germany)

Manchester United should have an easy ride in group B despite the 3 other teams in their group being league champions of their respective countries, United would be disappointed if they haven't confirmed their passage into the round of 16 by the fourth game of the group stage. How quickly United can qualify will depend on how they perform in their away games where they can expect hostile receptions from the opposition fans.

Wolfsburg would be early favourites to secure 2nd place, but it woudn't be too much of a surprise if any of the other two sides pip them for that spot on Matchday 6.

GROUP C:
AC Milan (Italy)
Real Madrid (Spain)
Marseille (France)
FC Zurich (Switzerland)

Historically, Real Madrid against AC Milan is one of the most legendary rivalries of European football. This time around, it assumes added significance because of the Brazilian superstar, Kaka, who moved from Milan to Madrid just a few months ago. The day that Kaka travels back to the San Siro with Real is a fixture not to be missed at any cost.

Marseille will try their best to spoil the Spanish-Italian party but it looks highly unlikely that they will have a shot at qualification for the knockout stages. Zurich will just try to soak in the Champions League atmosphere and try to carry out a giant killing act somewhere in between.

GROUP D:
Chelsea (England)
Porto (Portugal)
Atletico Madrid (Spain)
APOEL (Cyprus)

On paper group D appears to be a stroll for Chelsea but Ancelotti's men should not make the mistake of underestimating Porto and Atletico. Porto always do well on the European stage, a fact proven by how close they ran Man United last season in the quarter finals. Atletico Madrid can also be an amazing team to watch when they are on form. Players like Kun Aguero and Diego Forlan can be a handful for any defence.

APOEL will become the 1st team from Cyprus to take part in Champions League proper and it will be fascinating to see how they fare against the big boys of Europe.

GROUP E:
Liverpool (England)
Lyon (France)
Fiorentina (Italy)
Debreceni VSC (Hungary)

Liverpool will expect to tackle this group without much difficulty. With Rafa Benitez's experience and record in Europe, it is hard to see them not topping this group. On paper, Lyon should be the 2nd team to qualify, but Fiorentina is a decent side capable of catching teams off guard.

Hungarian newcomers Debreceni will treat these 6 games as a learning curve and will be overjoyed if they can pick up a few points in the process.

GROUP F:
Barcelona (Spain)
Inter Milan (Italy)
Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)
Rubin Kazan (Russia)

Apart from the fans of Dynamo Kiev and Rubin Kazan, football lovers the world over will be relishing the prospect of Group F. Although, Barca and Inter should qualify irrespective of the results when they play against each other, it will be fascinating to see how the tactical acumen of Jose Mourinho matches up against the raw talent of Pep Guardiola's Barcelona. And that's not all, Samuel Eto'o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic playing against their former employers will take the interest in this fixture to greater heights.

Though Rubin Kazan will find it hard to qualify for the knockout stage, this will be a once in a lifetime oppurtunity for their players to test themselves against the likes of Messi, Iniesta, Henry, Eto'o, etc.

GROUP G:
Sevilla (Spain)
Rangers (Scotland)
Stuttgart (Germany)
Unirea Urziceni (Romania)

The fact that Sevilla are one of the 8 top seeded teams for this year's edition shows the level of success they have enjoyed over the last few seasons. They are one of the few teams where the system of the Director of Football signing players and the manager coaching the players has actually worked.

Rangers and Stuttgart will fight it out for 2nd place with Romanian champions Unirea Urziceni making up the numbers.

GROUP H:
Arsenal (England)
AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands)
Olympiacos (Greece)
Standard Liege (Belgium)

The fact that Arsenal will be up against the Dutch, Greek and Belgian champions and are still the favourites for topping the group portrays the strength of the English Premier League. Arsene Wenger will be hoping that his side can go one better this year after they were beaten in the semi-final by Man United last year.

Unlike most of the other groups, the 2nd position is wide open in this one. Although Alkmaar seem to have a slight advantage, all the teams are capable of beating each other on their day.

15th/16th September are the days when the 32 teams will begin their journey, which they hope will end in Champions League glory at the Santiago Bernabeu on the 22nd of May 2010.

File Photograph copyright: Ryu Voelkel