UEFA Champions League 2011-12: Complete Group Analysis and Reaction to Draw

Barcelona triumphed last season for their second trophy in three seasons. However, their reign at the top is about to be tested as today set the groups for the 2011-12 edition of the UEFA Champions League.

The Group Stage start on September 13, with Groups E, F, G and H all starting the first match day. Groups A, B, C and D start their round robin mini-tournaments the 14th.

After last season's scintillating action from start to finish, once again we start the analysis and speculation of the events to come.

Manchester United and Real Madrid hope to have another chance to knock Barcelona off their throne, but returning giants Borussia Dortmund to the competition will also have high hopes.

This season's draw was much anticipated for several clubs such as Manchester City—making their first appearance in the competition—and also for Napoli, who return after many seasons absent.

Without further delay lets get to the results of today's event.

Group A: Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Napoli and Villareal

Group A will be a tough test for all involved and Manchester City be strongly contested against Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal. The Citizens will be focused on the UEFA Champions League—I am betting slightly more than their domestic league—which could make them more dangerous.

Bayern have the strongest European background of the four, followed by Napoli. City will be hoping to make a splash in their debut season and could do just that if Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero continue to play like they have started out this season.

Giuseppe Rossi will hope to lead the Yellow Submarine to the first knockout stage, as will Marek Hamsik for Napoli. Both clubs are hoping to build upon solid seasons last year.

Bayern had to qualify on the final day when they defeated FC Zürich 3-0 on aggregate to advance. They have started their Bundesliga season off strong with six points from their first three matches, and are looking to make their way back to the top.

Predicted Final Group Standings: Bayern Munich, Napoli, Manchester City, Villareal

Group B: Internazional Milan, Trabzonspor, CSKA Moscow and Lille

Internazional Milan will have a more difficult campaign on both fronts now that Samuel Eto'o has left, but they will most likely sign or loan a stop gap before next Thursday August 31st, 2011 and the close window.

Trabzonspor are most likely to go out in the group as they were alternated into the draw.

CSKA Moscow is a proven contender in the group stages and they are always a tough team to beat at home.

Lille may be the defending French Champions, but having lost both Gervinho and Yohan Cabaye to the English Premier League, they are not the same team as last season.

Predicted Final Group Standings: Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Lille and Trabzonspor.

Group C: Benfica, FC Basel, Otelul Galati and Manchester United

Romanian club Otelul Galati make their first UEFA Champions League appearance after winning Liga 1 last season.  The Iron Workers will hope to at least make a strong showing for themselves; they could be a shock team that moves to the first knockout stage.

Benfica will be fighting for second in most cases as Manchester United look sure to cruise through their first six matches and into the Knockout rounds. The Portuguese club has lost some strength this season but should still be a strong favorite to make it to the next round.

FC Basel are more suited to the level of competition in the Europa League and will most likely find themselves down there after the Group Stage.

Predicted Final Group Standings: Manchester United, Benfica, Otelul Galati and FC Basel.

Group D: Ajax Amsterdam, Dinamo Zagreb, Lyon and Real Madrid

Another strong group has Lyon and Real Madrid the favorites to move on. However, Ajax could be the dark horse in the group.

Real made it to the semi-final round but crashed out to arch rivals FC Barcelona in an El Classico battle for the ages.

Lyon have been up and down in form the last few seasons after what seemed like a never ending run at the top of Frances Ligue 1.

Dinamo Zagreb are another team that looks destined to fall to the Europa League, but the Croatian champions will hope to cause some trouble for both Lyon and Ajax.

Predicted Final Group Standings: Real Madrid, Ajax Amsterdam, Lyon and Dinamo Zagreb.

Group E: Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea, KRC Genk and Valencia

In one of those rare twists of fate that the footballing world constantly seems to have, Chelsea's newest squad member Juan Mata is set for a reunion with his former club Valencia in a Group E showdown.

Andre Villas-Boas was the Europa League winning manager with FC Porto last season, but can he repeat that kind of success at the next level? Chelsea will be hoping for a strong performance this season.

Bayer Leverkusen have been slow out of the goalscoring gates so far in the Bundesliga but should be starting to pick up their form come mid-September.

Valencia look strong enough to make a push for second place in the group while KRC Genk are believed the most likely to go down.

Predicted Final Group Standings: Chelsea, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen and KRC Genk.

Group F: Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Marseille and Olympiakos

Arsenal may have made it in on the last day of qualifying, but they have been entered into one of the strongest groups in the draw.

Bundesliga Champions Borussia Dortmund are hoping to return to former glories as they look favorites to win the group.

The Gunners will face stiff competition from both Marseille and Greek side Olympiakos.

French giants Marseille have started slow domestically but are yet to lose a match.

Olympiakos could make a surprise push to the second place spot and send Arsenal spiraling down early in what is looking to possibly be a very disappointing season for the Londoners.

Predicted Final Group Standings: Borussia Dortmund, Olympiakos, Arsenal and Marseille.

Group G: Apoel Nicosia, FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Zenit St. Petersburg

Apoel Nicosia qualified on the final match day with a 3-2 aggregate victory over Wisla Krakow. However, they are the lowest on the totem pole in their group.

It looks a tough set of four in what could be classified as the lesser pedigree club's group of death.

FC Porto won the UEFA Europa League last season, but they are not the same club this season as their Manager and top scorer have both left.

Zenit St. Petersburg are always a tough opponent while Shakhtar Donetsk made it to the Quarter Finals last season, only to be put to the sword by Barcelona 6-1 on aggregate.

Predicted Final Group Standings: Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St Petersburg, FC Porto and Apoel Nicosia.

Group H: AC Milan, FC Barcelona, BATE Borisov and Viktoria Plzen

Zlatan Ibrahimovic will square off against his most recent former club in the Group stage as AC Milan and FC Barcelona are almost guaranteed to advance to the next round.

Both the Blaugrana and the Rossoneri are two of the most storied clubs in the history of the European Championship and will kick off this seasons opening day at the Nou Camp.

BATE Borisov and Viktoria Plzen are just unlucky to have gotten into a group like this and will most likely both go down by the fourth fixture unless they can pull some rabbits out of their hats.

Predicted Final Group Standings: FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Viktoria Plzen and BATE Borisov.

Conclusion

There you have it folks. It looks to be an exciting group stage this year and as a recap I'll list out my predictions for the group winners, runners-up and those to be dropped below.

Predicted Group Winners A-H: Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Barcelona.

Predicted Group Runners-up A-H: Napoli, CSKA Moscow, Benfica, Ajax Amsterdam, Valencia, Olympiakos, Zenit St. Petersburg, AC Milan.

Destined for the Europa League A-H: Manchester City, Lille, Otelul Galati, Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal, Viktoria Plzen.

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