Israel Saria
There will be an emotional return for Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson to former club Rangers in Group C.
The Govan-born Scot last visited Ibrox seven years ago and led the Red Devils to two victories over Gers that season.
“Walter Smith’s already been on the phone, talking about tickets for Old Trafford,” Ferguson joked to the club’s official website. “Like me, he’s really looking forward to our games against each other.”
Ferguson was pleased with the lack of travelling his side will have to do in the group stage. As well as the Scottish champions, there are also matches against Liga outfit Valencia and Turkish club Bursaspor.
“You can’t complain about that, it’s a good draw for us,” he added. “You always look at the travelling side of it and the only one that’s of any great distance is the trip to Turkey.”
There are security concerns for the match at Old Trafford, as huge numbers of supporters travelled from Glasgow to watch the UEFA Cup final held at the ground in 2008 – and the night ended in rioting.
“I don’t see any reason at all why Rangers fans shouldn’t be allowed to go because of the over-hyped bother in 2008,” said Rangers Supporters Trust chairman Stephen Smith.
“There were around 200,000 Rangers fans in Manchester for the final and only a tiny, tiny amount, a tiny fraction, were involved in trouble.”
Spurs and holders Internazionale, who also won Serie A and the Coppa Italia last season, also face Werder Bremen and Steve McClaren‘s former club Twente, of the Netherlands, in Group A.
Harry Redknapp‘s Tottenham thrashed Young Boys 4-0 in the second leg of a qualification play-off on Wednesday evening to go through 6-3 on aggregate.
English champions Chelsea will face French champions Marseille, Russians Spartak Moscow and Slovakian champions Zilina in Group F.
Arsenal will contest home and away matches against Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine, Braga of Portugal – who knocked out Celtic and Sevilla in qualifying – and Partizan Belgrade in Group H.
Group G includes two European heavyweights, with Milan from Pot 1 joining nine-times winners Real Madrid, seeded in Pot 2. Dutch giants Ajax and Ligue 1’s Auxerre join them.
“Certainly we will be pumped up to face Real,” new Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri told the club’s website.
“The San Siro and Bernabeu will be rocking. A spectacle is assured.
“Ajax and Auxerre have brilliantly got through the play-offs and they are two opponents to really fear.”
The 2009 winners Barcelona have a relatively easy draw. They will play Panathinaikos of Greece, Danish club Copenhagen and Russians Rubin Kazan in Group D.
Bavarian giants Bayern Munich, who lost in last year’s final and did their domestic double, were drawn against Italian outfit Roma, Swiss club Basel and Cluj of Romania.
In Group B French side Lyon come up against Portuguese club Benfica, Germans Schalke and Hapoel Tel-Aviv of Israel.
Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport
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