How will the English Champions League teams do in the group stages?

The balls came out ok for most English sides

Liverpool are returning to the top table this autumn but how will Liverpool do in the Champions League?

Liverpool are back in the Champions League after five years but last week's draw was laced with familiarity.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City will lock horns with old friends, while Barcelona and Ajax also meet again.

As always, the group phase has delivered some potential crackers when the action gets under way in less than two weeks.

Real await Reds

Brendan Rodgers will sample life amongst the elite of Europe for the first time and it doesn't come much tougher than the defending champions.

Real Madrid will provide the glamour Liverpool fans have longed for during recent years looking in from the wilderness.

Opening with a home tie against newcomers Ludogorets and a trip to Swiss side Basle, Rodgers will know his side must hit the ground running before an explosive double header with the European champions.

The devil could be in the detail for Liverpool.

The Madrid clashes are the very reason the club longed to return to this grand stage, but it will be their ability to rack up points in the other four games that determines their success.

Basle qualified at the Reds expense the last time they met in this competition, despite throwing away a three-goal lead when they met in Switzerland in 2002.

Bulgarian champions Ludogorets are the outsiders in their debut Champions League campaign but could prove to be dangerous dark horses.

They won five of six group games in the Europe League a year ago - including home and away against PSV Eindhoven - before knocking out Lazio in the last 32.

The Reds will need to be on their guard at Anfield on September 16 to avoid a nightmare return.

Friends Reunited

Manchester City must really love the draw for the Champions' League group phase.

It seems City are condemned to a daunting task year on year in this company.

Last year's opponents Bayern Munich and CSKA Moscow are now joined by Italian giants Roma.

City are learning at this level - as last year's progression to the knockout phase showed.

Even with the talent in their ranks however, their Group E mission is by no means straightforward as they seek to avoid failing to progress to the knockouts for the third time in four years.

For Arsenal and Chelsea, there are also familiar foes in store.

The Blues enjoyed comfortable successes over Schalke a year ago and will firmly expect to have the Germans' measure once more.

The presence of Sporting Lisbon and Maribor in Group G ought to ensure Mourinho's troops ease into the knockouts yet again.

The Gunners will meet Borussia Dortmund at this stage for the third time in four seasons.

The sides exchanged away wins a year ago in an incredibly tough group that saw Napoli eliminated despite four wins from six games.

Dortmund may feel the loss of Robert Lewandowski at this level and Arsene Wenger will hope for a more assured passage at the expense of Galatasaray and Anderlecht this time around.

Groups of Death

Group F won the right to be dubbed the 'group of death', however in all likelihood Barcelona and Paris St Germain will be too good for Ajax and Apoel Nicosia.

There are two groups that possess a much more wide open appearance and promise to deliver some thrilling encounters.

Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen, Zenit St Petersburg and Benfica should be scrapping right until the end for the qualifying spots in Group C.

Athletic Bilbao's reward for taking the scalp of Napoli in qualifying is a group containing seasoned campaigners Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and BATE Borisov.

Back in the competition for the first time in 15 years, the Spanish side could have the measure of their more illustrious opponents.