Petr Cech has claimed ‘everybody can beat everybody’ in Chelsea’s Champions League Group H which also includes Ajax, Valencia and Lille.
Europe’s elite clubs eagerly awaited their fate at Thursday’s draw in Monaco and English giants Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Manchester City have some interesting ties to look forward to in the coming months.
Last year’s winners Liverpool join Napoli, Salzburg and Genk in Group E, while runners-up Tottenham have been drawn against Bayern Munich, Olympiacos and Red Star Belgrade in Group B.
Premier League champions City, meanwhile, will take on Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb and Atalanta in Group C.
Cech – now Chelsea’s technical and performance advisor – took part in Thursday’s draw in Monaco and believes the club will experience a step up in quality from their triumphant Europa League campaign last term.
Asked for his reaction to being grouped with Ajax, Valencia and Lille, Cech told BT Sport: ‘It’s not an easy group because it’s a very even group.
‘All the teams have a lot of quality. It’s one of those groups where everybody can beat everybody and this makes it very interesting.
‘But we can be satisfied with the draw. We avoided long travels so that’s one of the positives.’
Cech believes Chelsea supporters will enjoy ‘new and interesting encounters’ this season, with the club facing both Ajax and Lille for the first time in Europe.
‘They are new teams for Chelsea fans and for the club so it’s going to be new and interesting encounters,’ the former goalkeeper added.
‘Ajax had a fantastic season last season so they’ll want to repeat that but we are looking forward to challenge and I hope we go through, obviously.
‘We would like to do as best as possible, compete in every game, try to win and go through the group stage.
‘Once you’re in the knockout stages anything can happen but our first target is to qualify for the next round.’
The Champions League group stage draw in full…
Group A
Group A
PSG
Real Madrid
Club Brugge
Galatasaray
Group B
Bayern Munich
Tottenham
Olympiacos
Red Star Belgrade
Group C
Manchester City
Shakhtar Donetsk
Dinamo Zagreb
Atalanta
Group D
Juventus
Atletico Madrid
Bayer Leverkusen
Lokomotiv Moscow
Group E
Liverpool
Napoli
Salzburg
Genk
Group F
Barcelona
Borussia Dortmund
Inter Milan
Slavia Prague
Group G
Zenit
Benfica
Lyon
Leipzig
Group H
Chelsea
Ajax
Valencia
Lille
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