Manchester City will play last season's European champions Bayern Munich in a tough Group D after the draw for the group stages of the Champions League was made in Monaco this afternoon. City were left sweating over a potential "Group of Death" for the second season in a row having been pitted against Spanish champions Real Madrid, German champions Borussia Dortmund and Dutch champions Ajax last season. And though he avoided a lot of the big hitters, new City boss Manuel Pellegrini still has a stern task ahead of him after his side were also drawn in the same group as Viktoria Plzen and CSKA Moscow. Meanwhile, Manchester United will take on Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Sociedad in Group A, and last season's Europa League winners Chelsea have Schalke, Basel and Steaua Bucharest joining them in Group E. Arsenal, who qualified via the play-offs after defeating Fenerbahce 5-0 on aggregate, are in for a rough ride as they enter Group F and will face Marseille, Borussia Dortmund and Napoli. Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid meanwhile face AC Milan, Ajax and Celtic and Juventus, Galatasaray and Copenhagen in Group H and B respectively. The first round of Champions League fixtures will take place on 17/18 September with the Group Stages coming to an end on 10/11 December.
The Draw In FullGroup A: Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Sociedad
Group B: Real Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray, Copenhagen
Group C: Benfica, Paris St-Germain, Olympiakos, Anderlecht
Group D: Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City, Viktoria Plzen
Group E: Chelsea, Schalke, Basel, Steaua Bucharest
Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli
Group G: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg, Austria Vienna
Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax, Celtic