Real Madrid CF and Juventus are pondering tricky trips east to Russia and Belarus after the draw for the UEFA Champions League group stage in Monaco set them up with ties against UEFA Cup holders FC Zenit St. Petersburg and rank outsiders FC BATE Borisov in Group H. The Spanish and Italian sides are well aware of each other's reputations but will be making something of a journey into the unknown against Zenit and BATE – with these teams making their first appearances in the group stage of a major competition.

Predrag Mijatović, Madrid sporting director
With this type of draw, in a big competition like this, you cannot predict anything. To win the Champions League you have to beat the best. Having a difficult group is better in order to start stronger and gain an edge on your rivals. Juventus are a big team and with them there is little you can say – they're always dangerous and they'll be hungry to compete in this competition having not done so last season. Zenit are a team of the moment. They won the UEFA Cup and are competing in the UEFA Super Cup – there's a lot of quality there. BATE Borisov must be respected because they are capable of causing an upset.

Claudio Ranieri, Juventus coach
I think it will be difficult for every team in the group. Facing Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu is always a great feeling and not only for players who are going there for the first time. Zenit are not having a great season in Russia but I'm surprised because they had a fantastic year when they won the league and the UEFA Cup. Recently they spent €30m on a young Portuguese player [Danny] who was the best player in the Russian league. It says everything about their ambition. BATE Borisov are also a good team. As I said, it will be difficult for every side.

Maksim Mitrofanov, Zenit chief executive
Zenit are up against great opponents in Real, Juventus and BATE. We are by no means scared, though I cannot say we are particularly delighted. The draw makes us determined to strive for victory because our main task is to get bigger as a football club, and these are the sort of teams we need to play well against to show our class to everyone else. We have to look to make it out of the group. I would not make any predictions but I am sure there will be surprises. Everyone bet against us against Villarreal [CF], Bayer [04 Leverkusen] and [FC] Bayern [München last season], but we won the UEFA Cup anyway, and we are not going to lose ground now.

Viktor Goncharenko, BATE coach
What a fantastic group! It is a pleasure and a great honour for us that such decorated clubs are coming to Belarus. Real and Juventus are the most successful teams in Spain and Italy, real world-class teams. They are packed with players of the highest standard – true stars of the game. UEFA Cup holders Zenit are also a very exciting side. We are very lucky that Belarussian fans will get to see such quality clubs playing in front of their own eyes. In football anything can happen. It will be difficult to win against such big teams, but I promise we will compete in every game. We are not going to give up without a fight.

FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta believes his side will rise to the challenge after the 2006 winners were pitted with Sporting Clube de Portugal, FC Basel 1893 and FC Shakhtar Donetsk in UEFA Champions League Group C. The Catalan club reached the semi-finals last season, losing to eventual winners Manchester United FC, and Laporta is optimistic a third European Champion Clubs' Cup could be attainable. Basel, in the group stage for the first time since 2002/03 and only the second overall, are hopeful of springing a surprise while Sporting and Shakhtar are older hands – in the last 32 for the third year running, yet still full of excitement.

Joan Laporta, Barcelona president
On paper it looks like a manageable group, but we have enough experience to know we need to be attentive and not over-confident. We have to respect all our rivals and work hard. Nothing is easy and we'll take this very seriously. We have a team that will attempt to win every competition they enter. To do that, we have to offer hard work, quality football and commitment. We have a very good squad because we've made lots of signings under our new coach, but we still have to prove it. We're very confident in our chances though. We have a new coach who knows the club extremely well and knows football like nobody else.

Paulo Bento, Sporting coach
This group is different from the one last year, where there were two favourites. Things are more even this season even though there is one clear favourite. However, we cannot think it's an easy task ahead. Last year we eliminated the Swiss champions [in the UEFA Cup Round of 32] and Shakhtar were not able to get through the group stage. We have to fight tenaciously if we want to get into the first knockout round, where Sporting have never been before. It's going to be six hard matches for us.

Christian Gross, Basel coach
We have worked hard to reach this stage. It's a tough draw, but you're never without a chance. At first glance, all three teams play better football than us, but if we have the right commitment we can grow while playing any opponent. Playing Barcelona is always appealing and prestigious and playing at the Camp Nou is a highlight for any player. We also want payback against Sporting for ousting us in last season's UEFA Cup and we know Shakhtar very well from friendlies.

Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Shakhtar defender
I can't say I'm disappointed with the draw despite the fact the famous Barcelona are one of our opponents. Their team are still one of the best in the world, even if their results were not great last year. Sporting and Basel are no better than we are, so we have a good chance to get through. Our president Rinat Ahmetov and head coach Mircea Lucescu have set that goal for us. All the teams have equal chances. It's really important for us not to repeat the mistakes of last season, when we made a great start to the group stage but were really poor at its end.

UEFA Champions League holders Manchester United FC were drawn with Villarreal CF, Celtic FC and Aalborg BK in Group E and manager Sir Alex Ferguson was satisfied with his lot. Celtic were up against United at this stage two years ago and defender Gary Caldwell told uefa.com he hoped it was a good omen. Villarreal's Robert Pirès said United were overwhelming favourites but AaB goalkeeper Karim Zaza was thrilled by the prospect of facing the champions.

Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager
We've had Villarreal and Celtic before, but Aalborg is a new one. The bonus for us is there's not much travelling to do. We're satisfied with the group and we hope to get the ten points to see us qualify. It's always nice to go to my home city and being drawn against Celtic adds a bit of spice to the group.

Robert Pirès, Villarreal midfielder
The rest of us will be fighting it out to finish second behind United and it would be very dangerous to assume we're favourites to do that. If we start thinking that way then we'll be out of the tournament. We must respect every team in our group – only by doing that will we have a chance of going through. First place already has an owner and we must scrap it out for what's left. Maybe people are thinking that Villarreal are favourites but we can't think that way. We have to be careful.

Gary Caldwell, Celtic defender
It's another challenge for us having qualified for the knockout stage for the last two seasons and, with the draw we've been given, I think we can qualify again. We played United two seasons ago and lost the first game at Old Trafford before winning famously at home and going through. We know them well and we look forward to those games. We know how difficult Villarreal will be having played Barcelona last season. Aalborg are a bit of an unknown quantity but any team that qualifies for the group stage has to be respected.

Karim Zaza, AaB goalkeeper
In drawing Manchester United, we have got one of the really great clubs, a team I have always dreamt of playing against. Villarreal are a technically superb team, while Celtic must be expected to try and get through with their physical skills. It is kind of a mixed draw, but they are all strong sides, of course.

UEFA Club Defender of the Year John Terry was pleased Chelsea FC missed out on a "few big teams" in "the biggest competition in the world" after his club were drawn with AS Roma, FC Girondins de Bordeaux and CFR 1907 Cluj in Group A of the UEFA Champions League. For his part, Roma coach Luciano Spalletti was also content, joking that a former Giallorossi player taking part in the draw had proved a blessing for his side.

John Terry, Chelsea captain
The Champions League is the biggest competition in the world and playing in it is very special to me. There's some interesting teams in the draw but we'll take that. There's a couple of tough groups – we've missed a few big teams – but there's the likes of Roma and Bordeaux in our group who we know are very good. The club have moved a step forward and brought Mr Scolari in who's been fantastic so far. The signings the manager has brought in have been great assets for the squad. We've got great strength in depth – late on in the Champions League, teams pick up injuries so hopefully we can deal with any injuries we pick up.

Luciano Spalletti, Roma coach
I think it is a great group and a very interesting one from a technical aspect. The draw was in good hands [former Roma player and coach Bruno Conti was involved] so we are satisfied. Chelsea have world-class players in their squad so they have something more compared with the other teams in the group, but we have to continue on the same path of the last couple of years when we have achieved good results in Europe.

Laurent Blanc, Bordeaux coach
We're happy to have avoided a the strongest teams from Pot 4. But I'd have enjoyed a trip to Manchester or Milan [where two of Blanc's former clubs, Manchester United FC and FC Internazionale Milano, play]. For the rest, I'm obviously not surprised to have two very good teams in the group.

Ioan Andone, Cluj coach
It is, of course, a very tough group. We play the Champions League finalists and the Italian league runners-up. We will have to work very hard and try to collect as many points as possible. I hope playing against three big European sides will generate plenty of motivation within the team and plenty of enthusiasm among our supporters.

Club Atlético de Madrid being pooled in Group D represented an unpleasant surprise for Liverpool FC, PSV Eindhoven and Olympique de Marseille following the UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco. The Spanish side were one of the more dangerous teams in Pot 4, and to make matters more interesting, their one-time star striker Fernando Torres left Madrid for Anfield last season.

Rick Parry, Liverpool chief executive
It's not easy but the three teams are fairly close by and there's no challenging trips. There are no easy games – you just take it as it comes. We are just delighted to be in it.

Dirk Marcellis, PSV defender
This is a hard one. It's a pity that we also drew Atlético in our group. When you get a smaller side from Pot 4 then you have a good draw. No, it is very tough. Liverpool are the favourites, absolutely, but behind them I think the three other teams are all evenly matched. Anything can happen here. Liverpool have a great stadium and Atlético are really a top club. I would rather play in Spain than, for instance, in Belarus. But it will definitely be tough.

Erik Gerets, Marseille coach
In principle, Liverpool are the favourites in Group D. But I think Atlético are just as strong. Eindhoven are going to win their title easily so we should not underestimate this team. They are in the competition every year and have the benefit of a lot of European experience. We can't say that we are happy with the draw, but if we qualify we will be ecstatic. It is not impossible to qualify but it will be hard. But that's the same in every group.

Javier Aguirre, Atlético coach
This is not an easy group at all, but we'll be doing everything we can to advance. [The game against Liverpool] is going to be Liverpool versus Atlético and not Fernando Torres against Sergio Agüero – it's eleven against eleven. 'El Niño' [Torres] will be back here where he played and of course we all know him. As well as Torres they have many good players, just as we have here. I can't wait for the moment the Champions League starts, so we can play some good football and hopefully qualify from our group. Hopefully, when the world sees us, they will say Atlético are a team who should always be in the Champions League.

Long journeys to Turkey and Ukraine face Arsenal FC following the UEFA Champions League draw in Monaco, as the English side were pooled alongside FC Porto, Fenerbahçe SK and FC Dynamo Kyiv in Group G. The game between Arsenal and Dynamo will be a special one for Oleh Luzhny, who spent four seasons with the London club after leaving Dynamo in 1999, and is now back at the Valeri Lobanovskiy Stadium as assistant to coach Yuri Semin.

Danny Fiszman, Arsenal director
It is not the worst draw we could have had. Arsène Wenger's main issue will be the travel. Porto is not too bad but Kiev and Fenerbahçe [Istanbul] are long trips. That is the real issue for us. I don't think we have got it easy or we have a hard draw either. It is in the middle, with the problem of the distance of course. We look forward to meeting [former Arsenal defender] Oleh [Luzhny] again. I remember being there in Kiev when we bought him. He always did well for us and gave 100 per cent. Fenerbahçe are not going to be easy. They have great local support. The team will have to contend with the atmosphere as well as the opposition. Porto were [European] champions in 2004 so they cannot be underestimated.

Jesualdo Ferreira, Porto coach
Istanbul and Kiev are never easy places to play football. Fenerbahçe have reached the Champions League quarter-finals. As for Dynamo, besides the weather conditions in Kiev, we know Ukrainian teams have skill, physical strength and speed. Arsenal are always one of the strongest sides in this competition, although they have made some changes to their squad. But they will always be strong. Nevertheless, regardless of the draw, our goal is the same as always. We want to get beyond the group stage and, with the work we are doing, it is certain we will keep improving over the next few weeks.

Emre Belözoğlu, Fenerbahçe midfielder
We are used to playing in the Champions League. Fenerbahçe are a tough team for our opponents. All of our three opponents in Group G are pretty strong, especially at home. Nevertheless, I think we'll be able to qualify. We'll have a real advantage at home. If we win all of our home games, that makes nine points and this could be enough to take us through. I am hoping for a good start. If we concentrate, we can do that. Our aim will be to at least repeat last season's achievements.

Yuri Semin, Dynamo coach
We have a very even and very strong group. Our results against Spartak Moskva have made me feel confident. We played some great football. We will have to battle for second place in this group – there is no other choice.