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AC Milan given relatively easy draw for group stage

Defending champion AC Milan was given a relatively easy draw on Thursday for the group stage of the Champions League, while Manchester United and Chelsea will revisit quarter-final rivals.

Milan claimed its seventh European title in May with a 2-1 win over Liverpool. The Italian team was drawn into Group D with Benfica, Celtic and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Manchester United will face AS Roma in Group F, along with Sporting and Dynamo Kiev.

United beat AS Roma 7-1 at Old Trafford in the second leg of last season's quarter-finals. The Red Devils then lost to AC Milan in the semi-finals.

Chelsea and Valencia played in another quarter-final last season, and the Blues won with 90th-minute goal from Michael Essien in the second leg. The Blues lost in the semi-finals to Liverpool on penalty kicks.

Joining them in Group B are Schalke and Rosenborg.

FC Barcelona, the 2006 champion, was drawn in Group E with six-time defending French champion Lyon, Stuttgart and Rangers, while five-time champion Liverpool was drawn in Group A alongside 2004 winner FC Porto, Marseille and Besiktas.

Real Madrid was joined in Group C by Werder Bremen, Lazio and Olympiakos, and Inter Milan, PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce were drawn into Group G.

Arsenal, a finalist last year, has 1986 champion Steaua Bucharest and Slavia Prague in Group H. Slavia Prague beat four-time champion Ajax in qualifying.

They'll be joined by either Sevilla or AEK Athens. The two play the second leg of their series on Monday.

The match had originally been scheduled to be played on Tuesday, but it was postponed because of the death of Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta and the devastating forest fires in Greece.
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