European Champions League draw is set

It seems only yesterday that John Terry’s feet slipped out from under him on the rainy Moscow turf, his potential game-winning penalty kick flew wide and Chelsea lost the European Champions League final to Manchester United.

Yet, here we are again.

On Thursday in Monaco, 32 teams from 17 nations were divided into eight groups of four, setting the stage for the 54th and latest edition of Europe’s most captivating soccer tournament. The group-stage clashes that the draw produced were intriguing.

* Nine-time champion Real Madrid versus two-time champion and seven-time runner-up Juventus.

* Five-time champion Liverpool versus former champion PSV Eindhoven.

* Four-time champion Bayern Munich against Olympique Lyon, winner of the last seven French titles in a row.

European nights do not get much better than that, and it all starts with the first round of matches Sept. 16 and 17 and proceeds until only two teams remain to contest the final in Rome on May 27.

After round-robin play between now and December, the top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage next spring.

And, yes, Manchester United and Chelsea will again be along for the ride. Players from both teams were honored at the draw ceremony Thursday for their performance last season.

Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo was named UEFA’s club player of the year and forward of the year, while Chelsea’s Terry, Petr Cech and Frank Lampard were selected as defender, goalkeeper and midfielder of the year, respectively.

Defending champion Manchester United was not handed the easiest of tasks. Its group also features Scottish champion Celtic, Villareal (which finished second in the Spanish league, behind Real Madrid but ahead of Barcelona) and Denmark’s Aalborg.

“They will be two huge games,” Manchester United chief executive David Gill said of the series against Celtic, which knocked United out of the competition two years ago.

Chelsea, in contrast, has a relatively smooth passage ahead of it. Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari’s introduction to the tournament will see his Blues play home and home against Italian runner-up AS Roma, Bordeaux and CFR 1907 Cluj of Romania.

Cluj, incidentally, is one of four teams that will be making their Champions League debuts, the others being Russia’s Zenit St Petersburg, winner of last season’s UEFA Cup; FC Bate Borisov of Belarus, and Anorthosis Famagusta of Cyprus.

“We have always been the bridesmaids,” said David Barnard, Chelsea’s club secretary. “We’ve been to four semifinals and a final. We want to go one better this year.”

Scolari is one of a handful of high-profile coaches now with new clubs who will be expected to guide their teams to at least the quarterfinals, if not beyond. Those big names include Inter Milan’s Jose Mourinho, Bayern Munich’s Juergen Klinsmann and Barcelona’s Josep “Pep” Guardiola.

Mourinho said his team, winner of the last three Italian titles, was “motivated and confident.” Inter Milan is a two-time European champion but has not reached the final since 1972.

Inter’s only real test will come against Germany’s Werder Bremen, which was equally confident of advancing.

“I would be a liar if I said we could not solve this task,” said Klaus Allofs, Werder Bremen’s director of football and a former German international.

Klinsmann, meanwhile, seemed quite content with the draw obtained by reigning German champion Bayern Munich.

“This group has plenty in it,” he said. “Lyon will be a hurdle to overcome. Fiorentina has its attraction because of [now Bayern but formerly Fiorentina striker] Luca Toni. It will no doubt be a very exciting affair.”

Every tournament has its “group of death,” and in this one it’s Group D, which will see no quarter given between Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Olympique Marseille and Atletico Madrid.

Atletico Madrid, coached by former Mexico national team coach Javier Aguirre and featuring Beijing Olympics gold medal winner Sergio Aguero of Argentina, will be a huge test for Liverpool, whose main striker is former Atletico legend Fernando Torres.

Similarly, Group G presents a challenge for Arsenal, FC Porto, Fenerbahce and Dynamo Kiev, and there is no clear favorite among the four. The Arsenal-Fenerbahce series offers the chance of seeing Arsenal’s Spanish international Cesc Fabregas, who helped Spain win Euro 2008, going up against former Spain coach Luis Aragones, now coaching the Turkish club.

grahame.jones@latimes.com