Draw could pit United with old hero Ronaldo

MANCHESTER UNITED could find themselves facing Cristiano Ronaldo and his fellow Real Madrid galacticos when the draw for the Champions League group stage takes place in Monaco today.

All the English sides are guaranteed positions among the eight top seeds, meaning they will avoid holders Barcelona, but could face Real Madrid, who are one of the eight second-ranked clubs.

There is also another intriguing possibility of Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea coming face to face with Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan in a group – Inter will also be among the second seeds.

The draw will see 32 teams split into eight groups, each containing a top seed, a second seed, a third seed and a fourth seed.

Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Sevilla are other top seeds, and there are plenty of tough opponents in the other pots. Lyon, CSKA Moscow and Juventus are among the second seeds, while Atletico Madrid, Bordeaux and Stuttgart are in the third pot.

Rangers among the second seeds.

The team to avoid among the eight clubs in the fourth pot appear to be Wolfsburg, who were champions of Germany last season.

Such is the strength in depth of Europe’s elite club tournament, that there is a possibility of any of the four English clubs being drawn in a group containing Real Madrid, Bordeaux and Wolfsburg.

Big-spending Real Madrid are the bookies’ favourites and will view this year’s tournament as almost a must-win – apart from the arrival of Ronaldo, Kaka and Xavi Alonso, the final in May will be at their home ground the Bernabeu.

Top seeds: Barcelona (Spa) UEFA co-efficient 121.9, Chelsea (Eng) 118.9, Liverpool (Eng) 118.9, Man Utd (Eng) 111.9, AC Milan (Ita) 110.6, Arsenal (Eng) 106.9, Sevilla (Spa) 100.9, Bayern Munich (Ger) 98.3.

Second seeds: Lyon (Fra) 91.0, Inter Milan (Ita) 87.6, Real Madrid (Spa) 78.9, CSKA Moscow (Rus) 71.5, Porto (Por) 68.3, AZ Alkmaar (Hol) 64.8, Juventus (Ita) 63.5, Rangers (Sco) 56.6.

Third seeds: Olympiakos (Gre) 52.6, Marseille (Fra) 48.0, Dinamo Kiev (Ukr) 46.4, Stuttgart (Ger) 45.3, Fiorentina (Ita) 42.6, Atletico Madrid (Spa) 41.9, Bordeaux (Fra) 40.0, Besiktas (Tur) 32.4.

Fourth seeds:, Wolfsburg (Ger) 21.3, Standard Liege (Bel) 21.1, Maccabi Haifa (Isr) 17.1, FC Zurich (Swi) 14.1, Rubin Kazan (Rus) 9.5, Unirea Urziceni (Rom) 8.8, Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus) 4.0, Debreceni (Hun) 1.633.