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Dublin: 7 °C Thursday 23 May, 2013

As it happened: The UEFA Champions League group stages draw

We went minute-by-minute as the British clubs discovered who they’ll face in the competition.

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17.18 – Latest draws…

Group E: Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk.

Group F: Bayern Munich, Valencia.

Group G: Barcelona, Benfica.

Group H, Man United, FC Braga.

17.21 – And finally…

Group B: Arsenal, Schalke.

Group A: Porto, Dynamo Kiev.

Group D: Real Madrid, Man City.

Group C: AC Milan, Zenit St Petersburg.

17.24 – Ruud Gullit is next out to draw teams from Pot Three.

He describes playing in the European Cup Final, in which he scored two goals, as “the best feeling ever”.

17.28 – Here are is the latest from Pot Three…

Group H: Man United, FC Braga, Galatasaray.

Group F: Bayern Munich, Valencia, Lille.

Group B: Arsenal, Schalke, Olympiakos.

Group C: AC Milan, Zenit St Petersburg, Anderlecht.

17.33 – And the remainder from Pot Three:

Group G: Barcelona, Benfica, Spartak Moscow

Group D: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax

Group E: Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus.

Group A: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Paris St Germain

17.38 – Fabio Cannavaro is drawing the teams from Pot Four. Here are the first four draws:

Group G: Barcelona, Benfica, Spartak Moscow, Celtic.

Group A: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Paris St Germain, Dynamo Zagreb.

Group B: Arsenal, Schalke, Olympiakos, Montpellier.

Group E: Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, FC Nordsjælland.

17.42 – And the last four…

Group F: Bayern Munich, Valencia, Lille, FC BATE Borisov.

Group C: AC Milan, Zenit St Petersburg, Anderlecht, Malaga.

Group H: Man United, FC Braga, Galatasaray, CFR Cluj.

Group D: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax, Dortmund.

17.48 – So Group D is the obvious group of death. City must be cursing their luck, having also received a tough draw last year.

Meanwhile, Group E, which includes Chelsea, doesn’t look easy either.

In addition, Man United surely won’t slip up for the second year running, having received what most people will consider to be a favourable draw.

Arsenal will also likely fancy their chances of qualifying, while Celtic appear to have a difficult but not impossible task ahead of them.

18.09 – Here is a handy shot of all the groups (h/t adamjld).

18.15 – Ronaldo isn’t exactly thrilled at losing out in the ‘Best Player in Europe’ award (h/t @Paul_Ring).

18.20 – Right, that’s it from me. Thanks for reading and commenting.

It’s sure to be another fascinating year in the Champions League, with the prospect of a repeat of last year – when several high-profile teams exited the competition early on – very much appearing to be a significant possibility again this time, with a number of big teams being drawn together.

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