Arsenal’s sixteenth straight season in the UEFA Champions League could well be one of its toughest starts yet.
The Gunners face the biggest test of all the English teams in Group F against current French leaders Marseille, last season’s finalists Borussia Dortmund, and Italian side Napoli.
Much of this pre-season’s focus has been on the lack of spending at the Emirates and that all came to a head on the opening day of the English Premier League season, with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa.
The Arsenal faithful made their voices heard and the empty seats said it all.
Returning Frenchman Mathieu Flamini is not what many would call inspirational, but it would be uncharacteristic of Arsenal to spend like Chelsea or Manchester City.
If anything is to justify a big name signing and the money that will accompany it, the prospect of a group stage exit from the Champions League for the first time since 2000 would be enough for Arsene Wenger to dip his hands into the transfer market at the last minute.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will be delighted with how the draw worked out for the west London club. Trips to Schalke, FC Basel and Steaua Bucharest should see the 2012 champions make it through the group stage with minimal issues.
In his first stint at Chelsea, Mourinho won all that was available on the domestic scene but the biggest prize in European football eluded him and that will be a key focus for the Portuguese national after leading Porto (2004) and Inter Malian (2010) to success.
New Manchester United boss David Moyes will embark on his first stint in the group stage of Champions League and faces a more testing challenge then Chelsea with Shaktar Donestsk, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Sociedad making up Group A.
Manchester City in its past two Champion League campaigns has been nothing short of horrendous. They have drawn a group that could spell a few tricky away trips, with Group D including Russians CSKA Moscow, Czech club Viktoria Plzen and European champions Bayern Munich.
With the talent at Manchester City, and after finishing fourth in a tough group last season behind Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid and Ajax, the club will be under immense pressure to proceed to the round of 16.
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