Gunners in group of death

MONACO. — Arsenal face a daunting task after being drawn alongside last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund, Rafael Benitez’s Napoli and Marseille in the Champions League group stages.
The Gunners, who qualified after completing a comprehensive play-off win over Fenerbahce this week, were placed in the tough-looking Group F at UEefa’s draw in Monaco.
Celtic, who famously beat Barcelona last season, will face the Catalan giants again along with two other former winners in Group H in AC Milan and Ajax.
Manchester City will again play reigning champions Bayern Munich — who they faced two years ago —CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen in Group D.
Chelsea face two of the sides they conquered en route to last year’s Europa League success in Basle and Steaua Bucharest, as well as Schalke, in Group E.
David Moyes’ Champions League bow with Manchester United will come against Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Sociedad in Group A.
The draws for Arsenal and Celtic were the most eye-catching of those handed to the British sides.
Arsenal, who have reached this stage of the competition for 16 successive seasons, also played Dortmund in their group two years ago.
On that occasion Dortmund finished bottom of the section but the Germans are now a much tougher proposition and impressed throughout their run to the final last year.
Napoli, where Benitez took charge after leaving Chelsea last summer, were the side in pot four most clubs wanted to avoid.
Scottish champions Celtic clinched their place in the draw after a dramatic play-off comeback against Shakhter Karagandy.
Neil Lennon’s side memorably beat Barca at Parkhead in last season’s group stage last November with a dramatic late goal from Tony Watt.
Milan and Ajax add further glamour to the group. The four clubs between them have won 16 European titles.
Cristiano Ronaldo snubbed yesterday’s Champions League draw in Monaco despite being shortlisted for the Uefa Best Player in Europe Award.
The Portuguese was named alongside Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery of Champions League winners Bayern Munich, who was voted the best player, as the three candidates for the prize, but has instead preferred to travel with his Real Madrid teammates for a friendly away to Deportivo la Coruna.
Ronaldo was reportedly unhappy at being overlooked for the award last year as Andres Iniesta edged out he and Messi after guiding Spain to success at Euro 2012.
The friendly in Coruna has been organised to raise money for financially stricken Deportivo who were relegated to the second division last season and were nearly demoted a further division for failing to pay debts owed to their players before the end of July.
Madrid had hoped to have Gareth Bale among their ranks for the match as a means of boosting the television revenue they are set to earn from the game.
However, there was still no confirmation of the Welshman’s protracted move from Tottenham Hotspur to the Spanish champions on Thursday despite Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas saying on Wednesday that he expected the deal to go through “very soon.”
Seven-time champions AC Milan, knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona in the last two seasons, were drawn against the Catalans again in the group stage of this season’s competitiony.
AC Milan were beaten 4-2 on aggregate by Barcelona in the round of 16 last year and 3-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals two seasons ago, when the two sides also met in the group stage.
The teams were drawn in Group H, alongside four-time winners Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic, the Scottish champions having also faced Barcelona in the group stage last season.
Nine-time champions Real Madrid will meet Juventus in two mouth-watering clashes in Group B which also features Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen. Defending champions Bayern Munich will face CSKA Moscow, Manchester City and Viktoria Plzen in Group D.
Group F was arguably the toughest, pitting Arsenal against Olympique Marseille, last year’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund and Napoli.
Austria Vienna, the only debutants in the draw, were placed in Group G along with former champions Porto, Atletico Madrid and Zenit St Petersburg.
THE DRAW
Group A: Manchester United, Shakthar, Leverkusen, Real Sociedad
Group B: Real Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray, FC Copenhagen
Group C: Benfica, PSG, Olympiacos, Anderlecht
Group D: Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Man City, Viktoria Plzen
Group E: Chelsea, Schalke, FC Basel, Steaua Bucuresti
Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Dortmund, Napoli
Group G: FC Porto, Atletico Madrid, Zenit, Austria Vienna
Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax, Celtic — Mailonline/Reuters.