Champions League: Man City get Group of Death once more

The draw has been made for the Group stage of the Champions League

Mike Norman brings us the very latest odds update immediately following this afternoon's Champions League draw in Monaco...

Manchester City will face Bayern Munich in the Group stage of the Champions League for the third season out of four after the giants were drawn together in this afternoon's live draw in Monaco.

The current German and English champions met in the 2011-12 season when City failed to get out of the group, and again last season when Bayern triumphed 1-3 at the Etihad before the Citizens won 2-3 in Germany when Manuel Pellegrini famously appeared to miscalculate what was needed to top the group.

Joining Man City and Bayern in a mouthwatering Group E are Russian champions CSKA Moscow and Italian outfit Roma, now the club of former Arsenal and Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole.

Following the draw City - who were eliminated at the first knockout stage last season - drifted to 16.015/1 to win the Champions League from 13.012/1 earlier in the afternoon, while Munich's odds remained steady at around the 5.24/1 mark.

Chelsea are the big movers in the market amongst the English quartet after being handed an 'easy' looking draw that includes FC Schalke of Germany, Sporting Lisbon of Portugal, and Celtic's conquerors, Slovenian champions Maribor.

After being available to back at 9.417/2 immediately before the draw Jose Mourinho's men are now as short as 7.613/2 to lift the trophy next May.

Arsenal also look to have a relatively straightforward passage to the knockout stages after being drawn against Dortmund, Galatasaray, and Anderlecht in Group D.

The Gunners qualified from a group involving German outfit Dortmund last season, but instead of having to face Napoli and Marseille this time around, Arsene Wenger's men face arguably much easier opponents this time.

Despite the kind draw Arsenal have drifted to 28.027/1 in the Winner market from an earlier quote of around 24.023/1.

Appearing in the Champions League for the first time in five seasons Liverpool fans will undoubtedly be delighted with the way Group B turned out.

Having to face defending champions Real Madrid - although another mouthwatering prospect for the fans - is tough, but that was negated by the much easier looking games against Swiss side Basel and rank outsiders Ludogorets from Bulgaria.

Real's odds were cut marginally following the draw and the Spanish giants now trade as the 4.84/1 favourites; La Liga rivals Barcelona are out to 7.26/1 following a draw that pits them against French champions PSG.

The first group games of this year's Champions League will take place week commencing September 15.

Group A: Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Olympiacos, Malmo
Group B: Real Madrid, Basel, Liverpool, Ludogorets
Group C: Benfica, Zenit St Petersburg, Leverkusen, Monaco
Group D: Arsenal, Dortmund, Galatasaray, Anderlecht
Group E: Bayern Munich, Man City, CSKA Moscow, Roma
Group F: Barcelona, PSG, Ajax, APOEL
Group G: Chelsea, Schalke, Sporting Lisbon, Maribor
Group H: Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Ath Bilbao, BATE Broisov

To Win the Champions League

Real Madrid - 4.8
B. Munich - 5.2
Barcelona - 7.2
Chelsea - 7.6
Man City - 16.0
PSG - 18.0
At. Madrid - 25.0
Arsenal - 28.0
Liverpool - 28.0
Dortmund - 28.0
Juventus - 30.0

*odds correct as of 17:45