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The biggest and most popular club tournament in the world is all set. After the qualifying rounds are over, we got the real deal, or the closest thing to it. The 2011-2012 UEFA Champions League group stage begins on September 13, with Barcelona defending their title and hoping to be the first team since Milan in 1990 to repeat the title. The two are in the same group by the way.
Group A
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Bayern Munich (Finished third in the Bundesliga, four time European Champions), Villareal (Finished fourth in the La Liga), Manchester City (Finished third in the Premier League, One Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970), Napoli (Finished third in the Serie A, One UEFA Cup in 1989).
Group B
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Inter Milan (Finised second in the Serie A, three time European Champions), CSKA Moscow (Finished second in Russia, One time UEFA Cup winners in 2005), Lille (French champions), Trabzonspor (Finished second in Turkey, replacing Fenerbahce).
Group C
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Manchester United (English Champions, three time European champions), Benfica (Finished second in Portugal, two time European champions), FC Basel (Swiss Champions), Otelul Galati (Romanian Champions).
Group D
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Real Madrid (Finished second in La Liga, nine time European Champions), Olympique Lyonnais (Finished third in Ligue 1), Ajax (Dutch Champions, four time European champions), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatian champions).
Group E
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Chelsea (Finished second in the Premier League, two time Cup Winners’ Cup winners), Valencia (Finished third in the La Liga, One Cup Winners’ Cup in 1980 and one UEFA Cup in 2004), Bayer Leverkusen (Finished second in the Bundesliga, Won the UEFA cup in 1988), KRC Genk (Belgian Champions).
Group F
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Arsenal (Finished fourth in the Premier League, won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994), Marseille (Finished second in Ligue 1, European Champions in 1993), Olympiacos (Greek Champions), Borussia Dortmund (German Champions, European Champions in 1997).
Group G
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FC Porto (Portuguese Champions, Two time European Champions), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukranian champions, UEFA Cup winners in 2009), Zenit St. Petersburg (Russian Champions, UEFA Cup winners in 2008), APOEL FC (Cypriot champions).
Group H
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FC Barcelona (Spanish Champions, three time European champions), AC Milan (Italian Champions, seven times European Champions), BATE Borisov (Belarusian Champions), Viktoria Plzen (Czech Champions).