Hello and welcome to
Sports Mole's live text coverage of the
Champions League group-stage draw in Monaco. With the qualifying now done and dusted, we're down to the nitty gritty.
Pretty much all of the big guns from across Europe are in the hat, but here's a reminder as to who exactly will be involved this afternoon...
As is the case with these ceremonies, the great and the good are (mostly) in attendance. Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are among the footballing royalty who have made the arduous trip to Monaco, while legends such as Javier Zanetti are also here.
The qualifying playoffs were concluded last night, with five teams cementing their places in the group-stage draw. Manchester United progressed in emphatic fashion thanks to a 7-1 aggregate triumph over Club Brugge, while Astana, Bayer Leverkusen, BATE and CSKA Moscow also advanced.
That familiar Champions League music has just been piped through the PA system, which means we're almost ready to go.
Peter Schmeichel is among the hosts for the draw ceremony, and he's actually pretty good at reading off an autocue.
Andres Iniesta is currently answering a few questions on stage following a brief segment showing how Barcelona won their fifth Champions League title last season. My Spanish is non-existent, but he sounds polite enough.
It looks like the draw itself is imminent as Andoni Zubizarreta, Javier Zanetti and Paolo Maldini make their way to the stage to assist in picking the balls out of the pots. Not a bad trio, that. It's also worth noting that Maldini and Zanetti seem incapable of aging. The pair look immaculate.
Hold onto your hats, we're about to get this show on the road! Promise!
GROUP E: Barcelona
GROUP C: Benfica
GROUP F: Bayern Munich
GROUP G: Chelsea
GROUP D: Juventus
GROUP H: Zenit
GROUP B: PSV Eindhoven
GROUP A: Paris Saint-Germain
GROUP C: Benfica, Atletico Madrid
GROUP F: Bayern Munich, Arsenal
GROUP B: PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United
GROUP G: Chelsea, Porto
GROUP A: Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid
GROUP H: Zenit, Valencia
GROUP D: Juventus, Manchester City
GROUP E: Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen
GROUP F: Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Olympiacos
GROUP B: PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, CSKA Moscow
GROUP D: Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla
GROUP G: Chelsea, Porto, Dinamo Kyiv
GROUP A: Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk
GROUP C: Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Galatasary
GROUP H: Zenit, Valencia, Lyon
GROUP E: Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Roma
GROUP C: Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, Astana
GROUP A: Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Malmo
GROUP E: Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, BATE
GROUP G: Chelsea, Porto, Dinamo Kyiv, Maccabi Tel Aviv
GROUP H: Zenit, Valencia, Lyon, Gent
GROUP F: Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Olympiacos, Dinamo Zagreb
GROUP B: PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Wolfsburg
GROUP D: Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach
And there we have it. There are some pretty tasty groups in among that lot. The main talking points are that Arsenal will have to face Bayern Munich, Chelsea boss
Jose Mourinho will be coming up against former club Porto, Manchester City have been pitted alongside last year's finalists Juventus, and Manchester United have tricky ties against PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow and Wolfsburg.
Here's the draw in full for those who like silky Champions League graphics...
That's all from our live coverage of today's Champions League group-stage draw. Thanks for your company, we hope to see you again soon. Goodbye!
