So the Champions League draw was made today in Monaco, and after the usual preambles, the main draw started. Pot A got drawn first, the teams being put into groups. We got Group H.
Pot 2 got drawn out next, and we were able to avoid the likes of Real Madrid, and got Shaktar Donetsk! It was bound to happen, meaning we’ll be re-united with Eduardo sooner, rather than later. I absolutely love Eduardo,was really gutted he left, and it would be emotional playing against him, instead of with him, so early after he left! I bet he’ll be feeling the same! I wonder what the odds of him scoring against us will be…
On to Pot 3, and we got SC Braga, known as the Arsenalistas! Awesome. Not a bad draw. It’s their first time in the Champions League group stages apparently, so hopefully our experience should count.
Last team to face, from Pot 4, and we got FK Partizan Belgrade from Serbia.
No real banana skins per se, but you never know. Still though, I’d expect us to progress to the knock-out round.
So to round-up our draw:
Group H:
ARSENAL
Shakhtar Donetsk
SC Braga
FK Partizan Belgrade
Other groups:
Group A: Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, TOTTENHAM, FC Twente
Group B: Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Group C: MANCHESTER UNITED, Valencia, RANGERS, Bursaspor
Group D: FC Barcelona, Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen, FC Rubin Kazan
Group E: Bayern Munich, AS Roma, FC Basel, CFR Cluj
Group F:CHELSEA, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, MSK Zilina
Group G: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, AJ Auxerre
Not a bad draw for us, but we still need to do the business. Come on Arsenal!!!
*Interesting stat from Opta. Apparently we’ve never won in Ukraine, with 3 defeats and 1 draw; in Portugal, with 2 defeats and 3 draws; and in Serbia, with 1 defeat. Those ofcourse, will be the 3 countries we’ll be playing our away legs at.
Well, there’s always a first for everything!
