Champions league draw: Thursday 17:00 GMT

Manchester United could find themselves facing Cristiano Ronaldo and his fellow Real Madrid 'galacticos 'when the draw for the Champions League group stage takes place in Monaco tomorrow.

United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal are all guaranteed positions among the eight top seeds, meaning they will avoid current European champions Barcelona, but could face Real Madrid, who are one of the eight second-ranked clubs.

There is also another intriguing possibility of Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea coming face to face with Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan in a group - Inter will also be among the second seeds.

The draw will see 32 teams split into eight groups, each containing a top seed, a second seed, a third seed and a fourth seed.

Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Sevilla are other top seeds, and there are plenty of tough opponents in the other pots. Lyon, CSKA Moscow and Juventus are among the second seeds, while Atletico Madrid, Bordeaux and Stuttgart are in the third pot.

Rangers are also among the second seeds thanks to Fiorentina's away-goals triumph over Sporting Lisbon tonight. If the result had been reversed, the Scottish champions would be third seeds.

The team to avoid among the eight clubs in the fourth pot are Wolfsburg, who were champions of Germany last season.

Such is the strength in depth of Europe's elite club tournament that there is a possibility of any of the English clubs being drawn in a group with Real Madrid, Bordeaux and Wolfsburg.

This season’s Champions League will also be notable for some names that are new to the competition.
That was Michel Platini’s hope when the Uefa president changed the rules to allow more national champions to qualify directly into the group stage — to the benefit of clubs such as Unirea Urziceni, of Romania — but Wolfsburg or Rubin Kazan, the surprise champions of Germany and Russia respectively last season, are not in there to make up the numbers.

Contenders
Matchday 1 takes place on 15/16 September, with fixtures continuing on 29/30 September, 20/21 October, 3/4 November, 24/25 November and 8/9 December. The top two sides from each section will progress to the first knockout round draw on 18 December, which will be held at 12.00CET in Nyon, while those finishing third will enter the UEFA Europa League Round of 32.

Pot one: Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, AC Milan, Arsenal, Seville, Bayern Munich.

Pot two: Lyons, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow, FC Porto, AZ Alkmaar, Juventus, Rangers.

Pot three: Olympiakos, Marseilles, Dynamo Kiev, Stuttgart, Fiorentina, Atlético Madrid, Bordeaux, Besiktas.

Pot four: Wolfsburg, Standard Liège, Maccabi Haifa, FC Zurich, Rubin Kazan, Unirea Urziceni, APOEL, Debrecen.