Despite being the most frustratingly drawn out process in the history of any cup competition, the draw for the 2011 Champions League group stage threw up some mouth watering ties and compelling sub-plots.

After numerous awards being handed out in Monaco, it took just under an hour and a half for Arsenal to be drawn against Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Braga and Partizan Belgrade. Having been through the turmoil of watching the draw in previous years, I cunningly used our Sky+ recording facility to tape it and fast forward the chit chat. Due to my personal boredom and subsequent excitement for the draw I could only wait around 45 minutes to start watching the recording. After masses of fast forwarding I found myself back to live television on Sky Sport News (as it happened I got to see Wesley Sneijder receive the best midfielder award and give his acceptance speech, displaying level headedness and a grounded personality he is the model footballer). Still waiting for the draw to be completed, with just Shakhtar confirmed in our group, I willed Gary Lineker to give us a lot shorter distances to travel, but when Partizan Belgrade were drawn as the final team in our group I found solace in knowing that Spurs stand little chance of progressing to the knock-out stage.

In an interview on the day of the draw, Arsene Wenger hinted that the distance his team has to travel in the early stages of the Champions League is a highly important factor in a team’s success both domestically and in Europe, but it is ultimately down to luck. The distance Arsenal have to travel for these European away games is one of, if not the longest of all the western European clubs. Chelsea has to go to both Slovakia and Russia whilst Barcelona must go to Greece and Ukraine.

Shakhtar Donetsk, UEFA cup winners in 2009, Ukrainian champions and the second seed in the group, will definitely be Arsenal’s toughest opponents in Group H. It is also the longest trip at around 1,300 miles. Arsenal fans may remember losing 3-0 in Ukraine in 2000 which may deter a return voyage. The trip there also unsettled the horrific memories of Jens Lehmann once again going walkabout (twice in one game!) and conceding avoidable goals in the group stage against Dynamo Kiev a few years later.

I’ve always worried about the delicate modern day footballer and especially Arsenal’s travelling so far away from home. Competing in Eastern Europe is always tough and I was glad we weren’t drawn against a Turkish, Russian or Israeli team as well. The atmosphere that these so called minnows can create is frightening and as we know, this Arsenal team are always vulnerable to getting caught in the headlights on such occasions.

Braga deservedly takes their place in group H after beating Celtic and Sevilla in qualifying. Despite being situated a little closer to home their anonymity throws up a few other questions. They are a club who have risen out of obscurity in recent years. After winning the Inter-Toto Cup in 2008, this propelled them onto success where they broke into Portugal’s ‘big three’ and finished second in the Portuguese Liga last season. Their ground is nicknamed ‘The Quarry’, a stadium which only has two stands along the touchline, behind each of the goals there is no stand only a cliff face. In spite of their stadium’s unfamiliar surroundings their squad lacks European experience and only one fully fledged international so the words push and overs spring to mind (The fans of Braga are known as ‘The Arsenalistas’ due to similarities in the two clubs’ kits).

Partizan Belgrade has a rich history and big love affair with the Champions League. They were the first Eastern European club to compete in the European Cup and were later the first Eastern European club to make it to the final in 1966. Even though they overturned Anderlecht in the qualifier their current squad consisting of the odd international should not pose too much of a threat in the home leg at least. The one thousand mile trip for the away leg however, will be made even more daunting considering there is the comparatively miniscule trip to Chelsea’s west end the following weekend. What should be considered about the threat Partizan Belgrade have is that they have the second ranking youth academy (behind Ajax) in the world, so cue a couple of unknowns to try and scupper Arsenal’s seemingly divine right to make it out of this group.

I remember the early double winning Wenger side in 1998 that faced Lens, Panathinaikos and Dynamo Kiev in their group, not exactly world beaters. Given that Arsenal were reigning Premiership champions it was disappointing not to make it out of the group, however what is interesting is that Arsenal didn’t make it out of the group stages until 2000 where Arsenal were knocked out to Valencia in the quarter-finals. In regards to Tottenham’s debut in the tournament this year I am adamant that they will not make it out of their group because as Arsenal found out over ten years ago, competing in Europe is a completely different ball game.