Champions League draw: Man City and Barcelona face toughest groups

UEFA's new seeding rules began to have an effect at Thursday's Champions League draw. Guaranteeing the champions of the top seven associations (Spain, England, Germany, Italy, Portugal, France and Russia), plus the reigning winner of the competition a place in Pot 1 -- rather than awarding the top seeds to the top eight qualified teams according to UEFA rankings -- didn't amount to the seismic shift it might have been.

Still, it benefited the likes of PSV Eindhoven and Zenit. At the same time, the teams who lost their Pot 1 status as a result of the new procedure -- Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Arsenal -- got away with more than reasonable draws.

The toughest groups? Probably D, with Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla and Borussia Moenchengladbach, followed by Group E, where Barcelona will be pitted against Bayer Leverkusen, Roma and BATE Borisov.


Man City, in particular, will be annoyed that even as they move up the UEFA rankings, they once again take a hit in the draw. Last season, it was Bayern, CSKA Moscow and Roma. Juventus, of course, were the losing Champions League finalists, Borussia Moenchengladbach finished third in the Bundesliga, and Sevilla, the Europa League champions, had a summer of wheeling and dealing, and despite losing Aleix Vidal and Carlos Bacca, look stronger than a year ago.

Barcelona, the defending champions, won't want to take their draw too lightly. Roger Schmidt's Bayer Leverkusen came within a whisker of reaching the quarterfinals last season, and Roma, the Serie A runner-up, have added Edin Dzeko to the front line. BATE Borisov -- the perennial champion in Belarus, where they're on track for their 10th straight title -- have beaten the likes of Athletic Bilbao, Bayern Munich and Lille the past three seasons. It's the classic group where even if you're the favorite, one bad outing can hurt you.

Manchester United's return to the Champions League after a season's absence will see new arrival Memphis Depay take on his old teammates at PSV Eindhoven, with trips to Wolfsburg and CSKA Moscow also on the agenda. Not a straightforward landing at all, though crosstown rivals City could end up doing United a favor -- at least in Europe -- if they weaken Wolfsburg by signing Kevin De Bruyne before the transfer window closes Tuesday.

Real Madrid's loss of Pot 1 status meant they got drawn with Paris Saint-Germain in Group A, though that was offset by two rather more manageable clubs to round out the group: Shakhtar Donetsk, who lost Luiz Adriano and Douglas Costa over the summer, and Malmo, who make only their second-ever Champions League appearance.

It was a similar story for Arsenal, also downgraded from top-seed status. Yes, they'll have to deal with Bayern -- an increasingly familiar opponent of late -- but the rest of the group looks fairly straightforward. Perennial Greek champions Olympiakos have been on the downturn in recent seasons, and Dinamo Zagreb have never made it out of the group stage of the Champions League.
Jose Mourinho will again get to face his old club Porto in Group G. On paper, it looks as if Chelsea will lead the way, with Porto and Dynamo Kiev battling it out for the second spot. Porto have lost some key cogs in their machine -- Alex Sandro, Jackson Martinez and Danilo -- but remain a tough out for anyone. Rounding out the group is Maccabi Tel-Aviv, making their first Champions League appearance in a decade.

Zenit St Petersburg's newfound top seeding will see them take on Valencia, Lyon and Gent. It could have been better, but easily could have been worse, too, and Zenit manager Andre Villas-Boas will like his chances. Valencia were impressive last season, but lost defensive stalwart Nicolas Otamendi to Manchester City just last week. The young guns at Lyon have had a rocky start to their domestic campaign. As for Gent, who won their first-ever Belgian title last season, it's their first time on the big European stage.

Finally, Group C offers perhaps the most exotic newcomer, FC Astana. Born in 2009 out of a merger of two Almaty-based clubs (Alma-Ata and Megasport), they decamped some 600 miles to the newly built capital of Astana. That no doubt will present a challenge for Benfica, Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray, the three sides drawn to face them. There's the travel time (eight hours by plane for the Iberian clubs), the time difference (four hours), and the fact that games will likely kick off at 9 p.m. local time, when the average low temperature in November is between minus 10 and minus 15 Celsius, or 14 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit. You'd expect Benfica and the new-look Atletico to be favored, but that trip to Kazakhstan is a guaranteed X factor.