Real Madrid to face Manchester City, Dortmund and Ajax in Champions League group stage

Real Madrid to face Man City, Dortmund & Ajax in Champions League group stage

Aug 30, 2012 4:30:00 PM

The Spanish, English, German and Dutch champions will play one another in this season's group of death, while Barcelona have been drawn alongside Benfica

Real Madrid have been drawn against Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax in the group stage of the 2012-13 Champions League.

The four teams are all champions of their respective countries, but were eligible to face one another due to their differing seeds, and make up this year's 'Group of Death'.

Jose Mourinho's side's fierce rivals Barcelona will face a daunting trip to Russia to play against Spartak Moscow, and have also been drawn against Benfica and Celtic.

Elsewhere, current holders Chelsea take on Scudetto winners Juventus, and also face a tough trip to Ukraine to face Shakhtar. The trio have been drawn alongside Danish minnows Nordsjaelland.

Beaten finalists from last season, Bayern Munich, face a re-match of their victorious 2001 Champions League final against Valencia, and will also have to contend with Lille and BATE.

Just as they were last year, Arsenal have been drawn alongside Olympiakos, and German opposition, Schalke, while the Gunners' summer signing Olivier Giroud will have a swift homecoming to Montpellier.

Big spenders Paris Saint-Germain have been handed a favourable draw alonside Porto, Dynamo Kiev and Dinamo Zagreb in Group A, while Manchester United will look to avoid a reapeat of last season's humiliating early exit when they take on Braga, Galatasaray and Cluj.

Finally, AC Milan, who were eliminated by Barcelona in the quarter-final last season, will face Zenit St Petersburg, Anderlecht and Malaga.

GROUP A	GROUP B	GROUP C	GROUP D
Porto	Arsenal	AC Milan	Real Madrid
Dynamo Kiev	Schalke	Zenit	Manchester City
PSG	Olympiakos	Anderlecht	Ajax
Dinamo Zagreb	Montpellier	Malaga	Borussia Dortmund

GROUP E	GROUP F	GROUP G	GROUP H
Chelsea	Bayern Munich	Barcelona	Manchester United
Shakhtar Donetsk	Valencia	Benfica	Braga
Juventus	Lille	Spartak Moscow	Galatasaray
Nordsjaelland	BATE Borisov	Celtic	Cluj