United face difficult away trips in European Cup

Thursday evening saw Uefa big-wigs making the much drawn-out draw for the Champions League. United face difficult away trips to Russia and Turkey, but avoided some of the continent’s biggest names in the process.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men take on CSKA Moscow, Besiktas and Wolfsburg in Group B.

United avoided some of Europe's biggest names, including Real Madrid, Porto and Juventus. United, however, still face tricky away trips to Russia and Turkey along with two dates against Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have a tricky group as they face Porto, Atletico Madrid and Nicosia; whilst the Scousers must do battle with Lyon, Fiorentina and new-boys Debrecen.

Arsene Wenger will be the happiest of the four Premier League bosses. His North London side will be heavily tipped to brush aside AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos and Standard Liege on their way to the knock-out stages.

Elsewhere, Glasgow Rangers avoided a potential battle of Britain with one of England's four representatives. The Bears d battle with Sevilla, Stuttgart and Unirea Urziceni.

Uefa also took the opportunity to hand out a number of awards. Edwin van der Sar was confirmed as UEFA's official club goalkeeper of the year, with John Terry, Xavi and Lionel Messi also picking up gongs. There was also a special award for Paulo Maldini and his service with AC Milan.

The full draw is as follows:

Group A

Bayern Munich
Juventus
Bordeaux
Maccabi Haifa

Group B

Manchester United
CSKA Moscow
Besiktas
Wolfsburg

Group C

AC Milan
Real Madrid
Marseille
FC Zurich

Group D

Chelsea
Porto
Atletico Madrid
APOEL Nicosia

Group E

Scousers
Lyon
Fiorentina
Debrecen

Group F

Barcelona
Inter Milan
Dinamo Kiev
Rubin Kazan

Group G

Sevilla
Glasgow Rangers
Stuttgart
Unirea Urziceni

Group H

Arsenal
AZ Alkmaar
Olympiakos
Standard Liege