Istanbul - Revisited

Liverpool will have to battle it out with PSV Eindhoven, Bordeaux and Galatasaray to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League after the UEFA draw was made in Monaco on Thursday afternoon.

While the Reds were joined by Manchester United and Arsenal as top seeds in pot one, Chelsea and Celtic had to be content with a place in pot 2 for the draw at the Grimaldi Forum. The knock-on effect was that while Liverpool avoided the likes of Real Madrid and AC Milan, Chelsea ended up sharing a group with top seeds and current Champions League holders Barcelona while Celtic were paired with the Old Trafford club. Though Liverpool's Group C will see the Reds travelling to Holland, France and Istanbul - the scene of the amazing Champions League final triumph in 2005 - manager Rafael Benitez will be relieved to have avoided winter trips to the Ukraine and Russia.

The match against Bordeaux - a side Liverpool have never played in European competition - will present Istanbul hero Vladimir Smicer with the chance to once again play at Anfield and for the Kop to thank him for his crucial goals in the final. The game against PSV, the current Dutch champions and another team the Reds have yet to face in a competitive match, will see Benitez once again go head-to-head with Ronald Koeman, the man who masterminded Benfica's knock-out victory over Liverpool in the competition last season.

The final team out of the pot was Galatasaray and although 40,000 Reds fans made Istanbul their second home in May 2005, the last time the Reds actually played the Turkish title holders was in February 2002 when the two sides drew 1-1 in the second group stage of the Champions League.

The Champions League Group draw in full

Group A BARCELONA Chelsea Werder Bremen Levski Sofia

Group B INTER MILAN Bayern Munich Sporting Lisbon Spartak Moscow

Group C LIVERPOOL PSV Eindhoven Bordeaux Galatasaray

Group D VALENCIA Roma Olympiakos Shakhtar Donetsk

Group E REAL MADRID Lyon Steaua Bucharest Dynamo Kiev

Group F MANCHESTER UNITED Celtic Benfica FC Copenhagen

Group G ARSENAL Porto CSKA Moscow Hamburg

Group H AC MILAN Lille AEK Athens Anderlecht