What they said

GROUP A - Celtic FC, Olympique Lyonnais, RSC Anderlecht, FC Bayern München

Karl Hofner, Bayern executive board member:
This is the story of football - we are going to play against Olympique Lyonnais in our group and yesterday we sold them Giovane Elber. It's nice to go once again to Lyon. We also have Belgian champions Anderlecht and Celtic - a very strong and tough team. We hope for a better performance in this season's Champions League. We want to go through to the first knockout round. Our trainer will visit and study the other teams then we will know more.

Paul Le Guen, Lyon coach:
We have teams we don't talk a lot about in France, like Celtic and Anderlecht who play regularly in the Champions League. We know Bayern very well and we'll perhaps have more information on them because Giovane Elber has just joined us from Munich.

GROUP B - Internazionale FC, FC Dynamo Kyiv, FC Lokomotiv Moskva, Arsenal FC

David Dein, Arsenal vice-chairman:
Travelling to Kiev and Moscow will certainly be good for our air miles. Overall it's a tough group and Inter will be a tough assignment. But we have a talented team and as we have never got as far as the semi-finals that will be something we will aspire too.

GROUP C - AS Monaco FC, AEK Athens FC, RC Deportivo La Coruña, PSV Eindhoven

Augusto César Lendoiro, Deportivo president:
We have a bittersweet taste after this draw. In the past, we were really unlucky and this time the draw was a bit better for us but then Monaco landed in our group which makes it a lot more difficult. The best thing for us is that Monaco are a team who play openly and that allows you to play your game too so we can't complain about the other teams in the group.

Dusan Bajevic, AEK coach:
We have played against Monaco and PSV in the past. As for Deportivo, we know their game, since the Spanish side have been drawn against Greek teams quite often in recent years. We showed last year that we can play at a very high level in the Champions League and I think we can deliver this year as well. I believe it's a group with no clear favourites.

GROUP D - Olympiacos CFP, Juventus FC, Galatasaray SK, Real Sociedad de Fútbol

Luciano Moggi, Juventus general director:
We're not worried about the draw. We are well prepared for all our rivals. The teams we will meet in the Champions League are all strong but we know our own worth and we're not afraid.

Jose Luis Astiazarán, Real Sociedad president:
We are optimistic about the draw. From the beginning it was the group that seemed most comfortable so we are glad. The other teams base most of their strength in their fans but our supporters are also incredible and we must take advantage of that. We are really excited about playing in Europe and can't do anything else except take it match by match.

Oleh Protasov, Olympiacos coach:
We have been drawn in a very hard group and our task will be extremely difficult. The key will be to respect, not fear our opponents. If we manage to play our best, we can do something good. Our aim will be to erase the mediocre image of the past seasons and be better.

GROUP E - Panathinaikos FC, Rangers FC, VfB Stuttgart, Manchester United FC

David Gill, Manchester United managing director:
We have the added spice of playing our near neighbours from Scotland, Rangers. We're looking forward to that and our games in Greece and Germany. The Rangers draw will clearly attract headlines but I'm sure Sir Alex [Ferguson] will have the team focused for all the matches. We have to make sure we progress through to the last 16. Our record shows we are experienced in this competition and we have to be confident, but not overconfident.

John McClelland, Rangers chairman:
Scottish champions versus English champions - that usually gets people worrying about how many tickets they can get and how they can get from Manchester to Glasgow. I just hope it will be an exciting match and I'm sure it will be a tough contest for us. I'm confident that we will enjoy and put up a good performance in this group. I think to be confident that we would topple Manchester United is probably a bit too strong but nevertheless we will do well, I hope.

GROUP F - FC Porto, Real Madrid CF, Olympique de Marseille, FK Partizan

Emilio Butragueño, Real Madrid team director:
I like this new format of the competition though it's more risky because a bad night can sweep you out of the tournament. What I must underline is the atmosphere in Belgrade when we travel to play against Partizan. I played there against Red Star [FK Crvena Zvezda] and it was incredible how fans supported their club.

Christophe Bouchet, Marseille chairman:
Our group is very open. I think it's better to be in a tough group. We'll do our best to progress so we can have no regrets. We'll have to win in Belgrade, everything could be decided over there.

Nenad Bjekovic, Partizan director:
It is an excellent group and all of the clubs are ranked higher than us. Madrid are the absolute favourites, and we have to try and surprise the other two teams. We have to take advantage of our home games.

GROUP G - S.S. Lazio, AC Sparta Praha, Chelsea FC, Besiktas JK

Ken Bates, Chelsea chairman:
It's a good draw for the club and a very good one for our fans. We did very well last season to qualify under Claudio [Ranieri] and we are glad to be back. I'm sure Roman [Abramovich] will be disappointed that we didn't get Lokomotiv Moscow, though.

Luca Baraldi, Lazio chief executive:
[Playing Chelsea] will give us a nice sense of déjà vu and we're looking forward to it. It will be a good opportunity to meet some former players of ours. In any case, a strong team could help to make it a two-horse race. We respect the Czech team and the Turkish side, who we played last season and I don't think Lazio will have any problems qualifying.

GROUP H - RC Celta de Vigo, AC Milan, AFC Ajax, Club Brugge KV

Horacio Gómez, Celta president:
Obviously, Ajax and Milan are the most dangerous teams in the group and we already know how hard it can be after struggling to beat [FC] Slavia Praha in the previous round - I don't think I can take any more games like that.

Umberto Gandini, Milan director:
I give the group a seven out of ten. The toughest team is Ajax, who know us very well as we played last season in the quarter-finals. We respect Brugge, the Belgian champions, and also Celta. You can't speak about easy or tough opponents. All the challenges are really difficult.