UEFA Champions League 2009-2010 – Group Stage Draw LIVEBLOG
The 'Cup with the Big Ears' is back...
The draw for the 2009-2010 UEFA Champions League group stages took place today in Monaco. While we wait for Europe’s top-club competition to finally set sail, this a 30 minutes of drama every fan must go through every year, as they silently (or extremelly vocally, it’s a matter of taste) conjure karma in order for their team to get an easy group. Only in never quite works out in the end, does it?
Soccerlens covered the event LIVE, giving you the groups as they unfolded. We also got to see the winners of the 2009 UEFA Player of the Year awards.
Full results of the Draw & Awards after the jump.
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UEFA Champions League 2009-10 Group Stage
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| . Group A . |
. Group B . |
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Bayern |  |
Man Utd | |
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Juventus |  |
CSKA Moskow | |
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Bordeaux |  |
Besiktas | |
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Maccabi Haifa |  |
Wolfsburg | |
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| . Group C . |
. Group D . |
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AC Milan |  |
Chelsea | |
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Real Madrid |  |
Porto | |
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Marseille |  |
Atletico Madrid | |
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FC Zürich |  |
APOEL | |
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| . Group E . |
. Group F . |
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Liverpool |  |
Barcelona | |
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Lyon |  |
Inter Milan | |
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Fiorentina |  |
Dynamo Kiev | |
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Debrecen |  |
Rubin Kazan | |
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| . Group G . |
. Group H . |
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Sevilla |  |
Arsenal | |
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Rangers |  |
AZ Alkmaar | |
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Stuttgart |  |
Olympiakos | |
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Unirea Urziceni |  |
Standard | |
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UEFA Player of the Year Awards
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Best Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar (Man Utd)
Best Defender: John Terry (Chelsea)
Best Midfielder: Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)
Best Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Best Club Footballer of the Year: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
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19:00: This completes the SOCCERLENS LIVEBLOG coverage of the UEFA Champions League 09-10 Group Stage Draw. Many apologies for the slight delay, and thanks for watching! There’s only a few weeks left till it all begins, so be sure to tune back to Soccerlens for all the UCL action! 
18:58: …and the winner is (drumroll)… LIONEL MESSI. Fully deserved for la Pulga atomica. He succeeds to Cristiano Ronaldo last year.
18:57: And finally, the award for the UEFA 2009 Club Player of the Year. The winners in the individual categories: Goalkeeper = Edwin van der Sar, Defender = John Terry, Midfielder = Xavi Hernandez, Forward = Lionel Messi.
18:55: At a glance, there isn’t exactly a “super-group” that stands out. Moderately difficult are groups A, C, and E. As for Arsenal and Man Utd, they have it relatively easy I’d say.
18:53: And lastly, MACCABI HAIFA in group A, with Bayern, Juventus, and Bordeaux.
18:52: RUBIN KAZAN in group F, with Barcelona, Inter Milan, Dynamo Kiev. “Eastern European” flavor in this one as they said.
18:50: APOEL with Chelsea, Porto, Atletico Madrid. In group D.
FC Zurich with Milan, Real Madrid, Marseille. In group C.
18:49: WOLFSBURG in Group B! With Man Utd, CSKA Moscow, Besiktas. Not a bad group for Sir Alex’s boys either!
18:48: DEBRECENI in Group E with Liverpool, Lyon, and Fiorentina.
18:47: UNIREA URZICENI in Group G with Sevilla, Rangers, and Stuttgart.
18:46: STANDARD in Group H with Arsenal, AZ Alkmaar, and Olympiakos. Could the Gunners really have it *any* easier?
18:45: Last Pot to draw. Here we go.
18:43: Best Forward award being handed out by Denis Law. And the winners is… LIONEL MESSI (how surprising! 
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18:41: DYNAMO KIEV with Barcelona & Inter Milan.
OLYMPIAKOS with Arsenal and AZ Alkmaar.
18:39: MARSEILLE with Milan & Real Madrid. Another seemingly good group.
ATLETICO MADRID with Chelsea & Porto.
18:37: BESIKTAS with CSKA Moskow and Man Utd
FIORENTINA with Liverpool and Lyon! This one is promising to be quite a group!
18:35: STUTTGART were drawn in Group G with Sevilla and Rangers.
BORDEAUX in Group A with Bayern & Juventus.
18:30: Two teams have been connected in each Group so far:
Bayern & Juventus
Man Utd & CSKA Moskow
Milan & Real Madrid!!!
Chelsea & Porto
Liverpool & Lyon!
Barcelona & Inter!!!
Sevilla & Rangers
Arsenal & AZ Alkmaar
18:26 Had a bit of a problem connecting to the website, many apologies. And so with a little delay, off we go.
This week’s 10 play-off winners join the 22 automatic entrants in Thursday’s group-stage draw. The 32 sides are split into 4 seeding pots, with one from each to be drawn into the 8 groups, though no team can meet another from the same association.
Here are the 4 Pots:
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| Pot 1 | Club | Coefficent |
| 1 | Barcelona (ESP, holders) | 121.85 |
| 2 | Chelsea (ENG) | 118.90 |
| 3 | Liverpool (ENG) | 118.90 |
| 4 | Manchester United (ENG) | 111.90 |
| 5 | AC Milan (ITA) | 111.00 |
| 6 | Arsenal (ENG) | 106.90 |
| 7 | Sevilla (ESP) | 100.85 |
| 8 | Bayern Munich (GER) | 98.34 |
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| Pot 2 | Club | Coefficent |
| 9 | Lyon (FRA) | 91.03 |
| 10 | Inter Milan (ITA) | 87.58 |
| 11 | Real Madrid (ESP) | 78.85 |
| 12 | CSKA Moskow (RUS) | 71.53 |
| 13 | Porto (POR) | 68.29 |
| 14 | AZ Alkmaar (NED) | 64.83 |
| 15 | Juventus (ITA) | 63.58 |
| 16 | Rangers (SCO) | 56.58 |
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| Pot 3 | Club | Coefficent |
| 17 | Olympiacos (GRE) | 52.63 |
| 18 | Marseille (FRA) | 48.03 |
| 19 | Dynamo Kiev (UKR) | 46.37 |
| 20 | Stuttgart (GER) | 45.34 |
| 21 | Fiorentina (ITA) | 42.58 |
| 22 | Atlético Madrid (ESP) | 41.85 |
| 23 | Bordeaux (FRA) | 40.03 |
| 24 | Beşiktaş (TUR) | 32.45 |
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| Pot 4 | Club | Coefficent |
| 25 | Wolfsburg (GER) | 21.34 |
| 26 | Standard de Liège (BEL) | 21.07 |
| 27 | Maccabi Haifa (ISR) | 17.05 |
| 28 | FC Zürich (SUI) | 14.05 |
| 29 | Rubin Kazan (RUS) | 9.53 |
| 30 | AFC Unirea Urziceni (ROU) | 8.78 |
| 31 | APOEL (CYP) | 4.02 |
| 32 | Debreceni (HUN) | 1.63 |
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Seeds are based on UEFA’s coefficient system with holders Barcelona the top seeds and seven other leading clubs in Pot 1. The competition’s most successful side, Real Madrid (a dark horse in the online betting stakes for the CL title), are in the second pot along with Italian teams Inter Milan and Juventus while, after extended absences, Atlético Madrid and Fiorentina will compete in back-to-back editions having returned to Europe’s élite last season (Pot 3). Wolfsburg, Rubin Kazan, AZ Alkmaar, Standard de Liège, AFC Unirea Urziceni, Debreceni, APOEL and FC Zürich will all be making their debuts in a competition which sees 18 nations represented in the group stage this year.
See also: UCL 2009/10 Draw and Match calendar (UEFA website)
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Group Stage schedule
Group matches will be played on the following dates:
| Group stage, Matchday 1 | 15/16.09.2009 |
| Group stage, Matchday 2 | 29/30.09.2009 |
| Group stage, Matchday 3 | 20/21.10.2009 |
| Group stage, Matchday 4 | 03/04.11.2009 |
| Group stage, Matchday 5 | 24/25.11.2009 |
| Group stage, Matchday 6 | 08/09.12.2009 |
The final will be played at Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid on 22.05.2010.
Will have updates for you once the team of the year and the draw is complete. Till then, speculate away…
Not sure how thse co-efficients work…any idea Marco? With a semi and 2 finals (1 win) in the last 3 years I don’t know how Utd only manage 4th.
This is just made for Utd drawing Real in their group though! Has to be!
On in about 5 minutes!
So, tough group for Liverpool and Chelsea, huh?
I’m excited for Real Madrid vs. AC Milan and Inter Milan vs. Barcelona.
Wow, what a suprise!
I’m agree with alick, can imagine that Milan will play with Madrid, and Internazionale get Barcelona..
It must be a great match!
Group G is the most easy group without any bigger team n_n
Anybody know the name of the beatiful lady that presented the draw?
My understanding Brian, is that UEFA coefficients are computed based on the team’s performance in the last 5 years and also taking that team’s LEAGUE coefficient into account.
To quote the Wikipedia article:
I don’t know about Group B being easy, to be honest. Wolfsburg are an unknown quantity in European competition, but the Bundesliga isn’t a bad league at all and Wolfsburg have had a decent start to their season. Besiktas and CSKA aren’t easy teams either.
It’s an intriguing draw, and not easy to call. Many strong-ish leagues had new champions last season, and no one knows how far Wolfsburg, Besiktas, AZ, and Bordeaux will go this season. And how perverse is it that the La Liga and Serie A champions should meet in the group stages?
This ought to be very, very interesting.
No matter what happens, it will be the same old story in the semi finals. Three teams from England and a Spaniard.
English teams are just superior on others, by far.
OH MY GOD BARCA N INTER STAGE ON SAME GROUPS ITS WILL BE REUNION MATCH LìKE MILAN N MADRID
I like team BESIKTAS. their fans are very passionate. group can come
Barca, will make the first repeat since the new champions league was created like 12 years ago I think.
Please somebody let me know the name of the female presenter at the champions league draw in Monaco.
Groups E and F look more like a Europa League group drawing with the exception of Arsenal (although I’m sure their fans must be pleased). On the other hand how do you have AC Milan and Real Madrid together in the same group? I’m not suggesting conspiracy (after all it was a draw) but how fate dictates matters is always a mystery to me. Inter and Barcelona have the toughest group in terms of traveling because they’re certain to get fixtures in the middle of November in either Kazan or Kyiv…either way it won’t be forgiving in terms of the weather conditions.
I have to say that I like UEFA’s emphasis on allowing real champions to have a way to get to the group stages and I’m looking forward to these fixtures although I know that in practicality the ratings for AZ Alkmaar vs Standard Liege (champions of both Holland and Belgium, respectively) will be much lower than Real Madrid vs. AC Milan.
@ EMRE DEMIR – I hope Kartal makes some surprises in their group. I still won’t forget their win at Chelsea via Sergen and Ilhan Mansiz in 2003-2004. I’ll be following them since Cimbom are in Europa League.
@ HAMBIS – Champions League started in 2002-2003 season.
Manchester united glory glory! Manchester united champion!
I do hope that Barca will be fortunate enough to keep the uefa trophy. No club really can beat their chest as things can change any time, any day. Factors like injury, ban and the like. But sincerely if all those will not hamper their move, Barca is still as strong as last season.
@Daniel – Groups E and F look like Europa League draws? Liverpool/Lyon/Fiorentina and Barca/Inter aren’t exactly pub sides.
please,we the ac millan fans in port harcourt,nigeria.we want you to improve the present squad for this season 2009/2010.this we want to be the european champion and the serial a champion.we donot want to be disappointed this season.
i think the group of liverpool, lyon and fiorentina is the group of death. and the group of sevilla, rangers, stuttgart and Unirea Urziceni i.e group g is not good group. it has no team of my choice class. chelasea ns liverpool have tough group while arsenal and man.utd will make to round of 16 easily.
i will like ac millan to do some window transfer by january 2010.we need some midfilders to build up the squad.this millan is our team and we believe in millan.we also know that millan can deleive we the fans in port harcourt, nigeria say kudos to five times european champion.
i think this season real madrid will do far better than the last 5 seasons, real has now ronaldo, kaka, raul, robiniho, cassials, gogo, higuin, guti, ramos and many great players. now this is the best team of europe and they have to prove this and i am sure they will provw this.
am sure the europe best club has the capacity to win the trophy again that is the great Barca
this season real madrid will prove that they are the eurpeon giants and they are doing brilliant job.
manchester utd and barcellona are also in good form.
ac milan, liverpool, arsenal, chelsea and inter milan will be other great teams.