Torres back at Atletico as 'big four' look forward in easy draw

For Fernando Torres it promises to be emotional. For Celtic it is a chance, once again, to tweak the tail of Manchester United, the champions of Europe. For the rest of us the Champions League group stages draw looks set nicely for the English contingent as the "big four" were once again given the kind of group games that should see them all safely through to the business end of the competition.

All the Premier League sides avoided the group of death, Group H, where Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg and – with rather less of a reputation – Bate Borislov of Belarus were drawn against each other. Instead, English interest will be focused on Torres, who returns on 22 October to Atletico Madrid, the club who developed him from the age of 11, for the first time since he joined Liverpool for £20.5m last summer.

The other tie that stands out is Manchester United against Celtic, especially when the Champions League winners from last season travel to Celtic Park on 5 November for a reprise of that famous encounter two years earlier when Shinsuke Nakamura's free-kick won a compelling game for the Scottish team. Otherwise it was the same names and, quite probably, the same annual victims served up for the big beasts of English football to devour.

As well as Atletico, Liverpool found themselves in the same group as PSV Eindhoven and Marseilles, who are not unfamiliar opponents. Liverpool beat PSV three out of the four times they played them in the 2006-07 season. The French side were dispatched 4-0 when Liverpool reached the knockout stages last season. The opposition in European football is becoming increasingly familiar every year and these ties do not have the same sense of the unknown that they possessed even five years ago in this competition. Atletico have the Anfield old boys Luis Garcia and Florent Sinama-Pongolle among their number, while Jan Kromkamp (PSV) and Bolo Zenden (Marseilles) are also former Liverpool players.

Chelsea can claim to be taking the boldest step into the unknown, although it is not one that they expect to give them much cause for trepidation unless, that is, any of their players still believe in vampires. The city of Cluj in Transylvania is famous for being the hometown of that pop duo of debatable merit, the Cheeky Girls, and the club CFR, who have had a meteoric rise from the lower reaches of Romanian football. Chelsea will play them away on 1 October.

Like Chelsea, Cluj have had their rise up the hierarchy of Romanian football funded by a rich patron, in their case Arpad Paszkany, and they won the league for the first time last season. Paszkany's investment in players has resulted in a squad in which there are only seven Romanians. Luiz Felipe Scolari's first Champions League campaign will also involve a trip to Roma, whose recent history has been scarred by clashes with Manchester United fans, and Bordeaux, the French team managed by Laurent Blanc.

As well as Celtic, United will also face Villarreal, who have the Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi, signed from Old Trafford last summer for £6.7m. The player was regarded as a serious prospect by Sir Alex Ferguson and the United manager was reluctant to let him go. United faced Villarreal in the group stages in 2005, when Wayne Rooney was dismissed in the away game for sarcastically applauding the referee Kim Milton Nielsen.

United also have a trip to Aalborg – known as AaB – who are managed by the former Arsenal and Bolton manager Bruce Rioch. The 60-year-old was sacked by Arsenal in 1996 and went on to manager Queen's Park Rangers, Norwich City and Wigan before moving abroad. His team won the Danish league last season and beat Kaunas of Lithuania in the Champions League qualifiers to reach the group stage for the first time.

Cristiano Ronaldo was yesterday selected as the overall Champions League player of the season for Manchester United's victory in the competition last spring but it was the Chelsea players Petr Cech, John Terry and Frank Lampard, who won three out of the four individual awards

Having received the award that he hopes will be the first of three – the European Footballer of the Year and Fifa World Player of the Year are yet to be decided – Ronaldo spoke publicly for the first time since agreeing to stay at United and thanked his team-mates. "It's a pleasure to be compared with such magnificent players," he said. "To win this award is great because Champions League football is the highest level."

Arsenal have furthest to travel with trips to Fenerbahce in Turkey and Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine, as well as Porto in Portugal. They played Porto twice in the 2006-07 Champions League group stages, winning 2-0 at home and then drawing 0-0 in Portugal to finish top of the group. Those long trips will not sit easily with Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger, who has often cited late midweek returns from Europe as a factor in poor domestic form at the weekend.

Champions League fixtures

Tuesday 16 September

GROUP A

Chelsea v Bordeaux

Roma v CFR Cluj

GROUP B

Panathinaikos v Internazionale

Werder Bremen v Famagusta

GROUP C

Basle v Shakhtar Donetsk

Barcelona v Sporting Lisbon

GROUP D

PSV Eindhoven v Atletico Madrid

Marseilles v Liverpool

Wednesday 17 September

GROUP E

Manchester United v Villarreal

Celtic v Aalborg

GROUP F

Steaua Bucharest v Bayern Munich

Lyons v Fiorentina

GROUP G

Porto v Fenerbahce

Dynamo Kiev v Arsenal

GROUP H

Juventus v Zenit St Petersburg

Real Madrid v Bate

Tuesday 30 September

GROUP E

Aalborg v Manchester United

Villarreal v Celtic

GROUP F

Fiorentina v Steaua Bucharest

Bayern Munich v Lyons

GROUP G

Arsenal v Porto

Fenerbahce v Dynamo Kiev

GROUP H

Bate v Juventus

Zenit St Petersburg v Real Madrid

Wednesday 1 October

GROUP A

CFR Cluj v Chelsea

Bordeaux v Roma

GROUP B

Famagusta v Panathinaikos

Internazionale v Werder Bremen

GROUP C

Sporting Lisbon v Basle

Shakhtar Donetsk v Barcelona

GROUP D

Liverpool v PSV Eindhoven

Atletico Madrid v Marseilles

Tuesday 21 October

GROUP E

Villarreal v Aalborg

Manchester United v Celtic

GROUP F

Bayern Munich v Fiorentina

Steaua Bucharest v Lyons

GROUP G

Fenerbahce v Arsenal

Porto v Dynamo Kiev

GROUP H

Zenit St Petersburg v Bate

Juventus v Real Madrid

Wednesday 22 October

GROUP A

Bordeaux v CFR Cluj

Chelsea v Roma

GROUP B

Internazionale v Famagusta

Panathinaikos v Werder Bremen

GROUP C

Shakhtar Donetsk v Sporting Lisbon

Basle v Barcelona

GROUP D

Atletico Madrid v Liverpool

PSV Eindhoven v Marseilles

Tuesday 4 November

GROUP A

CFR Cluj v Bordeaux

Roma v Chelsea

GROUP B

Famagusta v Internazionale

Werder Bremen v Panathinaikos

GROUP C

Sporting Lisbon v Shakhtar Donetsk

Barcelona v Basle

GROUP D

Liverpool v Atletico Madrid

Marseilles v PSV Eindhoven

Wednesday 5 November

GROUP E

Aalborg v Villarreal

Celtic v Manchester United

GROUP F

Fiorentina v Bayern Munich

Lyons v Steaua Bucharest

GROUP G

Arsenal v Fenerbahce

Dynamo Kiev v Porto

GROUP H

Bate v Zenit St Petersburg

Real Madrid v Juventus

Tuesday 25 November

GROUP E

Villarreal v Manchester United

Aalborg v Celtic

GROUP F

Bayern Munich v Steaua Bucharest

Fiorentina v Lyon

GROUP G

Fenerbahce v Porto

Arsenal v Dynamo Kiev

GROUP H

Zenit St Petersburg v Juventus

Bate v Real Madrid

Wednesday 26 November

GROUP A

Bordeaux v Chelsea

CFR Cluj v Roma

GROUP B

Internazionale v Panathinaikos

Famagusta v Werder Bremen

GROUP C

Shakhtar Donetsk v Basle

Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona

GROUP D

Atletico Madrid v PSV Eindhoven

Liverpool v Marseilles

Tuesday 9 December

GROUP A

Chelsea v CFR Cluj

Roma v Bordeaux

GROUP B

Panathinaikos v Famagusta

Werder Bremen v Internazionale

GROUP C

Basle v Sporting Lisbon

Barcelona v Shakhtar Donetsk

GROUP D

PSV Eindhoven v Liverpool

Marseilles v Atletico Madrid

Wednesday 10 December

GROUP E

Manchester United v Aalborg

Celtic v Villarreal

GROUP F

Steaua Bucharest v Fiorentina

Lyons v Bayern Munich

GROUP G

Porto v Arsenal

Dynamo Kiev v Fenerbahce

GROUP H

Juventus v Bate

Real Madrid v Zenit St Petersburg

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