[DRAW] One group stands out as the toughest -- by a wide margin -- following Thursday's draw for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League that begins Sept. 18-19. Group D consists of four league champions: Real Madrid (Spain), Manchester City (England), Ajax (Netherlands) and Borussia Dortmund (Germany).

Real Madrid will be the heavy favorite in the group. It has played and beaten Ajax on four occasions (by a margin of 12-0) in the last two seasons. Neither Manchester City nor Borussia Dortmund advanced out of the group stage in 2011. Indeed, Borussia Dortmund's poor record in the Champions League meant that it was placed in the fourth pot with the eight weakest teams, making the Group D draw possible.

The only tougher draw would have been if Juventus -- the Italian champion -- was drawn in place of Ajax out of the third pot. That would have meant the champions of Europe's four biggest league would have been drawn together.

DRAW:
Group A
Porto (Portugal)
Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)
Paris SG (France)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

Group B
Arsenal (England)
Schalke 04 (Germany)
Olympiakos (Greece)
Montpellier (France)

Group C
AC Milan (Italy)
Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia)
Anderlecht (Belgium)
Malaga (Spain)

Group D
Real Madrid (Spain)
Man. City (England)
Ajax (Netherlands)
Bor. Dortmund (Germany)

Group E
Chelsea (England)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Juventus (Italy)
FC Nordsjaelland (Denmark)

Group F
Bayern Munich (Germany)
Valencia (Spain)
Lille (France)
BATE Borisov (Belarus)

Group G
Barcelona (Spain)
Benfica (Portugal)
Spartak Moscow (Russia)
Celtic (Scotland)

Group H
Man. United (England)
Braga (Portugal)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
Cluj (Romania)