UEFA Champions League 2013-14 group stage draw: First impressions

Scottish former football player Billy McNeill arrives with the Champions League trophy during the UEFA 2013/2014 Champions League group stage draw on August 29, 2013 in Monaco. (VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images)

The UEFA Champions League is here, and we start all the mid-week madness with the Group Stage draw for 32 of the best teams across Europe. The event took place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, with the dignitaries of the proceedings being Billy McNeill and Luis Figo. The Portuguese legend is the ambassador for this years Champions League, with the final being held at the Estadio Da Luz in Portugal on 24th May 2014.

Firstly we take a look at the 4 pots into which the teams were placed based on their UEFA Coefficient, and then we look into each group and assess the possible winners and runners-up, briefly.

The four Pots into which the teams were divided based on their seedings

32 teams were drawn into 8 groups of 4 each starting from pot 1 and continuing through pots 2, 3 and 4. The only rule applicable while the draw took place was that no two teams from the same nation can be drawn into a single group.The final outcome after the likes of Johan Cryuff, Michael Owen, Billy McNeill and Paulo Sousa picked the UEFA balls from the pots was like this.

The final grouping for the group phase of the UEFA Champions League 2013-14

Initial impressions of the draw were that Chelsea were given the easiest of the groups and there was some competitive grouping for teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid. Group F can be considered the ‘Group of Death’ for this edition of the Champions League, with Arsenal getting some stern opposition in Borussia Dortmund and Napoli. There was more ‘deja vu’ for Arsenal and Barcelona as they were given groups similar to the ones over the last two seasons. Now, a brief assessment of the teams that stand a chance to reach the round of 16.