Live Commentary: Champions League group draw - as it happened

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Champions League draw - as it happened
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Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live blog of the Champions League group draw in Monaco.

The draw is due to get underway shortly, when the likes of holders Chelsea and Premier League trio Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal will discover their group stage fate.

Barcelona, Real Madrid and Celtic will also be included in the eight groups of four, where teams from the same country will not be eligible to face each other in the group phase.

Note that the first pot will be drawn at 5pm.

17.50Right, I'll leave you to ponder over the outcome but thank you for joining me and fingers crossed some of these juicy fixtures will deliver!
17.48So what do we think?! I think it's safe to say that out of the Premier League sides, Manchester City have the toughest group as they'll have to go up against Real Madrid, Ajax and Borussia Dortmund. It's not the worst case scenario for the English champions but it's not far off!
17.47Group G: Barcelona, Benfica, Spartak Moscow, Celtic.
17.46Group F: Bayern Munich, Valencia, Lille, BATE Borisov.
17.46Group E: Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, FC Nordsjaelland.
17.46Group D: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund.
17.45Group C: AC Milan, Zenit St Petersburg, Anderlecht, Malaga.
17.45Group B: Arsenal, Schalke, Olympiakos, Montpellier.
17.44Group A: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Paris St Germain, Dinamo Zagreb.
17.42Phew, so there we have it, the group phase draw is done! Let's confirm all the eight groups then...
17.40FC Cluj head into Group H with Manchester United, Braga and Galatasaray, while Borussia Dortmund join Real Madrid, Manchester City and Ajax in Group D.
17.38Malaga are up next and they finalise Group C with AC Milan Zenit St Petersburg and Anderlecht.
17.37FC BATE complete Group F, which also includes Valencia, Bayern Munich and Lille.
17.37Danish side Nordsjaelland are drawn into Group E along with Chelsea, Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk.
17.36French champions Montpellier go into Group B and they will go up against Olympiakos, Arsenal and Schalke.
17.35Dinamo Zagreb get placed in Group A alongside Porto, Dynamo Kiev and PSG and that's that one done!
17.34Scottish champions Celtic are drawn first from Pot Four and they go into Group G with Barcelona, Benfica and Spartak Moscow. Oooer!
17.33So, so far we have: Group A: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Paris St Germain Group D: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax Group E: Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus Group G: Barcelona, Benfica, Spartak Moscow
17.31Former Italy international Fabio Cannavaro is the next football great to be shipped out from the back to help with the balls.
17.30Spartak Moscow will head right into Group G with Barcelona and Benfica.
17.29Now Juventus are up and they have been placed in Group E to join Chelsea and Shakhtar Donetsk.
17.28Up next, it's Ajax and they go straight into Group D alongside Real Madrid and Manchester City.
17.27French big spenders PSG are drawn and they will go into Group A with Porto and Dynamo Kiev.
17.26Anderlecht are picked from Pot Three next and they go into Group C with AC Milan and Zenit St Petersburg.
17.26Olympiakos are up next and they will face Arsenal and Schalke 04 in Group B.
17.25Lille head into Group F alongside Bayern Munich and Valencia.
17.23Right, here we go then! First up from Pot Three is Galatasaray, who will join Manchester United and Braga in Group H.
17.22Former Netherlands international Ruud Gullit is on the stage now to help with the next part of the draw.
17.21Well, I think it's safe to say that the Manchester City and Real Madrid match-up got the biggest 'Ooohs' and 'Aaahs' from the crowd.
17.19Zenit St Petersburg are then chucked into Group C with AC Milan.
17.19Yes, it's a juicy one. Real Madrid!
17.19It's Manchester City next and they have drawn....
17.18Dinamo Kiev are drawn from Pot Two and they have been placed in Group A alongside Porto.
17.17Bundesliga side Schalke 04 are up next and they have been entered into Group B with Arsenal.
17.16SC Braga have been drawn next from Mr Weah, who places them in Group H alongside Manchester United.
17.15Benfica are next up and they have been shoved into a Group G with former champions Barcelona.
17.14The second team drawn is Valencia, who will have to go head to head with Bayern Munich in Group F.
17.13Here we go then! Shakhtar Donetsk is the first team drawn from Pot Two and they have been placed Group E with Chelsea.
17.12He's in attendance to help with the draw from Pot Two, which includes Premier League champions Manchester City.
17.10They've just shown a lovely montage of George Weah's career, who is of course former AC Milan and European footballer of the year in 1995.
17.09Pot One is completed. The crowd breaks into an array of applause! Although, I think that was mainly for Denis Law, who helped with proceedings.
17.09Manchester United automatically move into Group H, while Arsenal sit in Group B.
17.08Now time for the Champions! Chelsea will enter Group E with Arsenal and Manchester United left to be drawn.
17.07AC Milan are the next team to be drawn from the pots and they will head Group C.
17.06Now it's Porto's turn and they have been selected for Group A. It's tense...
17.06Former champions Barcelona have been handed the Group G spot.
17.05Group F Bayern Munich
17.03Real Madrid are out first and ex-Liverpool (and Madrid) player Steve McManaman places then in Group D
17.02Let's go then, the host and his glamorous assistant are just confirming the four pots and then the balls will be drawn to make up the eight groups.
17.01Right, we're just minutes away from the draw now. Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is in attendance and he was welcomed with a rapturous applause and screams (from the fans, not UEFA officials...)
16.57In case you've been living under a rock for the last few months, Chelsea became the first London club to win the Champions League following their penalty shootout victory over Bayern Munich in May.
16.55Just to jog your memory - Manchester United were also knocked out of the group stage in their last European campaign, while Arsenal couldn't get further than the last 16 and Chelsea, well, we all know what happened there.
16.53I'm sure City boss Roberto Mancini will be hoping to avoid such a draw considering they failed to progress past the group phase last season.
16.52As you may have noticed, there are some potential juicy match-ups! One of which could result in Premier League champions Manchester City facing Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus.
16.51Pot Four: Celtic, Borussia Dortmund, BATE Borisov, Dinamo Zagreb, CFR Cluj, Malaga, Montpellier, FC Nordsjaelland
16.51Pot Three: Olympiakos, Ajax, Anderlecht, Juventus, Spartak Moscow, Paris St Germain, Lille, Galatasaray
16.49Pot Two: Valencia, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St Petersburg, Schalke, Manchester City, Braga, Dynamo Kiev
16.48Pot One: Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Porto, AC Milan
16.47Got it? Good. Let's have a look at the all the teams who will be drawn this evening.
16.46Each team will be drawn from their respective pots (note that there are four pots) and put in eight groups of four, ensuring that teams from the same country will not meet each other in the group phase.
16.45Want to know how it all works? Of course you do. Well I shall explain...
16.38Hello all! Welcome to our coverage of the Champions League draw, where all the big boys in Europe will learn their fate (so to speak) for the next phase of the competition.
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