Hello again, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted here. Life had taken me in some different directions and I had settled into an early retirement from football punditry. However, as the cliche goes, old habits are hard to break so I am back again for another Champions League and Europa League season. It’s going to be an exciting one with a lot of new faces in the group stages of both competitions.

I plan to review each group in more detail before the Champions League group stages kick off on September 14 but for now, here are the groupings. On initial glance, Groups A, B and G could be tight battles between three or all four teams to see who progresses.

2010/11 UEFA Champions League group stage
Group A Group B
FC Internazionale Milano Olympique Lyonnais
SV Werder Bremen SL Benfica
Tottenham Hotspur FC FC Schalke 04
FC Twente Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC
Group C Group D
Manchester United FC FC Barcelona
Valencia CF Panathinaikos FC
Rangers FC FC København
Bursaspor FC Rubin Kazan
Group E Group F
FC Bayern München Chelsea FC
AS Roma Olympique de Marseille
FC Basel 1893 FC Spartak Moskva
CFR 1907 Cluj MŠK Žilina
Group G Group H
AC Milan Arsenal FC
Real Madrid CF FC Shakhtar Donetsk
AFC Ajax SC Braga
AJ Auxerre FK Partizan