Europe's elite awaits Champions draw
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Shanghai Daily, August 25, 2011
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FC Zurich's Philippe Koch (left) falls next to Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery during their Champions League qualification round second leg match at the Letzigrund stadium in Switzerland on Tuesday. Bayern won 1-0. |
Spanish rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid will join England's elite clubs Manchester United and Chelsea as among the top seeded teams in today's Champions League group stage draw.
Inter Milan, the 2010 winner which lost its title to Barcelona, also heads one of eight four-team groups to be drawn in Monaco.
AC Milan needs Serie A rival Udinese to eliminate high-ranked Arsenal in the playoffs which was to be played late yesterday for the seven-time European champion to avoid dropping into the pot of No. 2 seeded teams.
Big-spending Manchester City seems the most dangerous opponent of the third-seeded clubs. Rankings are based on performance in UEFA's competitions in the past five seasons, and City has played in the second-tier Europa League just twice in that span.
Bundesliga champion Borussia Dortmund, which won the 1997 Champions League, returns after a nine-year absence as a No. 4 seeded side.
With UEFA rules preventing clubs from the same country being placed in the same group, a foursome of Barcelona, Milan, City and Dortmund shapes as a tough and glamorous potential group.
The fourth-seeded pot also includes Napoli, which last played in the old-style European Cup 21 years ago, while Romanian champion Otelul Galati will make its debut.
Turkish champion Fenerbahce takes its place despite being under suspicion in a widespread match-fixing investigation at home.
UEFA has promised that any club found guilty of corrupting matches will be kicked out of its marquee competition and have its results wiped from the record.
"UEFA is working very hard behind the scenes to ride the game of these threats," general secretary Gianni Infantino said at the playoffs draw this month. "We will not hesitate to prosecute any individual, any official or any club."
The Champions League is the world's most watched club competition, and UEFA distributed 754 million euros (US$1.09 billion) in prize money and bonuses among clubs which played in last season's group stage.
The 32 clubs in today's draw are set to share at least the same amount as a three-year cycle of broadcasting and sponsorship deals ends next May after the final in Munich. The draw will be conducted at the beachside Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo in a lavish ceremony.
On Tuesday, Bayern Munich sailed into the stages with a 1-0 win at FC Zurich while two goals from Giuseppe Rossi rescued Villarreal in its playoff against Odense.
Danes Odense was one of three teams which failed in its bid to qualify for the first time, along with Wisla Krakow and Malmo.
Polish side Krakow fell at the final qualifying hurdle for the seventh time, losing 1-3 at APOEL Nicosia which scored the decisive goal in the 87th minute to win 3-2 on aggregate. Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia progressed 4-3 overall despite losing 0-2 to Malmo in Sweden.
Racing Genk, which is without a coach, beat Maccabi Haifa on penalties to become the fifth team in the hat.
UEFA will also announce the inaugural winner of its Best Player in Europe award today.
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