Cup holders Bayern Munich will face Manchester City in the group stages of the Champions League while Arsenal comes up against last season’s runners up Borussia Dortmund.
Chelsea can be happy with the draw and look almost a certainty to progress to the knockout stage drawing Basel and Steaua Bucharest.
Arsenal however has a much tougher challenge with both Dortmund and Napoli in their group prompting the bookies to lengthen the odds to 40/1.
Manchester United should be safe in group A with their two biggest opponents Shakhtar Donetsk and Bayer Leverkusen.
Manchester City are also expected to progress for the first time in two years despite having Bayern Munich in their group as the other two teams CSKA Moscow and Czech side Viktoria Plzen.
Champions League draw:
Group A: Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Sociedad
Group B: Real Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray, FC Copenhagen
Group C: Benfica, Paris St Germain, Olympiakos, Anderlecht
Group D: Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City, Viktoria Plzen
Group E: Chelsea, Schalke, Basel, Steaua Bucharest
Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli
Group G: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg, Austria Vienna
Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax, Celtic
