The Champions League returns

The Champions League returns

Real Madrid will learn who their first opponents will be on Thursday at 18:00 CET

Carlos Cristobal / Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell

Monaco's Grimaldi Forum will host the Champions League draw on Thursday at 18:00 CET. Real Madrid will be one of the team's in the second drum.

The Whites and their supporters are particularly excited about this year's edition of the tournament because ots final will be held at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in May.

The 32 participant sides will be divided into eight groups of which the two group leaders will make it to the Last 16 after the first round. The 2009/10 Champions League will kick-off on 15 September. The first leg of the Last 16 will take place on 16 and 17 February 2010. The final will be held at the Bernabeu on 22 May.

DRUM 1	DRUM 2
FC Barcelona	Olympique Lyonnais
Liverpool	Inter Milan
Chelsea	REAL MADRID
Manchester United	CSKA Moscow
Milan	AZ Alkmaar
Arsenal	Juventus
Sevilla	Glasgow Rangers
Bayern Munich	Porto
DRUM 3	DRUM 4
Olympiacos	FC Copenaghe
Olympique Marseille	VfL Wolfsburgo
Dynamo Kiev	Standard Liege
VfB Stuttgart	Maccabi Haifa
Fiorentina	FC Zurich
Atletico Madrid	Rubin Kazan
Girondins Bordeaux	Unirea Urcicenin
Besiktas	DVSC Debreceni

by:alex ahsley