Defending champion Chelsea will take on Juventus, while Real Madrid will face Manchester City in this season's Champions League group stage.

Thursday's draw pitched the holders against a Juventus side that stormed to the Serie A title and was unbeaten in all competitions last season apart from the Italian Cup final. Group E also includes Shakhtar Donetsk and Champions League debutant Nordsjaelland of Denmark.

Nine-time winner Madrid has been handed the toughest draw — with three league champions in Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax in Group D. The Spanish champion beat Ajax 3-0 both home and away in last season's competition.

Bayern Munich, last season's runner-up, is in Group F with Valencia — which it beat on penalties in the 2011 final — as well as Lille and BATE Borisov.

Four-time winner Barcelona faces Benfica, Spartak Moscow and Celtic.

Manchester United, which failed to clear the group stage last season, also has a relatively weak group with Braga, Galatasaray and Cluj.

Big-spending Paris Saint-Germain returns to the Champions League after an eight-year absence and will play Porto, Dynamo Kyiv and Dinamo Zagreb.

French champion Montpellier makes its debut in the competition against Arsenal, Schalke and Olympiakos. Arsenal beat Olympiakos 2-1 at the same stage last season before losing the final group game 3-1. It also met the Greek team in 2009-2010.

Seven-time winner AC Milan is in a group with Zenit St. Petersburg, Anderlecht and Malaga — another Champions League debutant.