A familiar foe for Arsenal in recent history, Borussia Dortmund join the Gunners in Group D. Group mates in three of the past four seasons, Arsenal and Dortmund won their respective away games against each other last year. Even with the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze to Bayern Munich, Dortmund are still an extremely dangerous team in this competition.
However, the bottom half of the group is much easier for Arsenal than the likes of Napoli and Marseille were last season. Anderlecht, having won the Belgian championship three years running, will likely be the whipping boys of the group; they have only progressed past the group stage twice in their history. Galatasaray, under new manager Cesare Prandelli, will look to play spoiler here, but it’s difficult to imagine them upsetting either Arsenal or Dortmund.
Brendan Rodgers will be happy with Liverpool’s favorable draw in Group B. Sure, they’ll have Ronaldo and the boys to deal with twice against Real Madrid, but advancing past the likes of Basel and Ludogorets should be a formality. Expect Liverpool to finish second in this group, with an outside chance of ruining Los Blancos’ expected finish atop the group.
Bulgarian side Ludogorets will be happy taking any points from this group, but Basel have adequately played the spoiler role in the Champions League in recent years. However, I see Brendan Rodgers having a lot of success in European competition in years to come. Rodgers is such an excellent tactician, partnered with his shrewd business in the summer. Many of the players he has signed have Champions League or Europa League experience and are comfortable in the European game.
The Citizens finally progressed past the group stages in last years competition, but were disposed of rather easily by Barcelona. This year, the draw isn’t much easier, but Manuel Pellegrini will expect his team to go through and perhaps even challenge Bayern for the top spot in the group (assuming his math is correct this time ‘round).
CSKA Moscow and Roma round out the bottom half of the group, both of which are respectable Champions League opponents. Traveling to Moscow is never easy, while Rudi Garcia continues to build an impressive foundation at Roma. Pellegrini has added more depth to his team in the summer, showing he is ambitious to make some noise in the Champions League this season. However, this is probably the hardest group in the entire competition, so don't count on chalk here.
By far the easiest draw of any premier league side, Chelsea should have no problem not only advancing but winning this group easily. Jose Mourinho has depth at every position, and could feasibly change all 11 starters from a premier league game and be fine against these teams.
Sporting Lisbon look a dangerous side with Nani in the fold, but last year was truly a revelation in the Portuguese league and I don’t expect them to hit the same form again this season, especially if William Carvalho leaves before Monday. Maribor impressively eliminated Celtic, but will be the bottom-feeders in this group. Schalke have a good record in European competition, but with the emergence of Bayer Leverkusen will be happy to just be back in the Champions League next year and likely focus on the Bundesliga.
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