Chelsea joined the champions of the other seven top European nations in pot one, with the rules to the draw having been changed for this season.

Manchester United made it through to the draw last night with a 4-0 win against Club Brugge, and joined their City rivals and Arsenal in pot two.

United perhaps got the easiest of the draws from an English point of view, with Dutch champions PSV, a long trip to CSKA Moscow, and German outfit Malmo.

Chelsea also have a good draw but with a long trip, facing Jose Mourinho's old side Porto, who he won the Champions League with in 2004, Dynamo Kiev, with a trip to Israel against Maccabi Tel-Aviv the only real concern for the Premier League champions.

Arsenal will still fancy their chances of going through the group but will have to better German giants Bayern Munich if they want to finish top of the group and avoid a tough knock-out draw. Munich have put Arsenal out of the competition twice in recent seasons, so facing them in the group stages may come as a relief to fans. The Gunners will however be looking to put Greek side Olympiakos and Dinamo Zagreb to the sword to progress.

Manchester City have never had great luck when it comes to the group stage draw, and they certainly got the toughest group out of the four English sides. They will have to overcome last year's beaten finalists Juventus, Europa League champions Sevilla, and German side Borussia Monche­ngladbach if they want to progress past the last sixteen for the first time and make an impact in the competition.