Manchester City will face holders Bayern Munich in the group phase of the UEFA Champions League, while Arsenal have been drawn alongside last season's runners-up Borussia Dortmund, and Celtic have been handed a mouth-watering group.
Chelsea have been given a relatively kind-looking route to the last 16, while Manchester United will also be quietly optimistic of progressing to the knockout stages.
Celtic have been set the toughest task of the British clubs to qualify for the last 16 after the Scottish champions came out in Group H.
The opponents for Neil Lennon's side are Barcelona, who they faced in last season's group phase, Italian giants AC Milan and Dutch champions Ajax.
Champions League draw:
Group A: Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Sociedad
Group B: Real Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray, FC Copenhagen
Group C: Benfica, Paris St Germain, Olympiakos, Anderlecht
Group D: Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City, Viktoria Plzen
Group E: Chelsea, Schalke, Basel, Steaua Bucharest
Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli
Group G: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg, Austria Vienna
Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax, Celtic
The Bhoys, who clinched their place in the draw after a dramatic play-off comeback against Shakhter Karagandy, memorably beat Barcelona at Parkhead in last season's group stage last November with a dramatic late goal from Tony Watt.
Milan and Ajax add further glamour to the group, and the four clubs between them have won 16 European titles.
Lennon told Sky Sports News: "I think it is the best and the worst draw we could have got.
"In terms of glamour I don't think it comes any better than Barcelona, Ajax and AC Milan. In terms of football it is probably the most difficult group we could have got.
"But I think the hard work was really done last night [against Shakhter] and we can go and enjoy the tournament now."
City have been given a good chance of reaching the knockout rounds for the first time after landing two high-profile groups in the previous two years.
Though Manuel Pellegrini's side will have to tackle reigning champions Bayern, City will also face Russian outfit CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen from the Czech Republic.
Arsenal, who reached the group phase after a comfortable 5-0 aggregate success over Fenerbahce in the play-offs, have been handed a testing draw in Group F.
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In addition to facing Dortmund, Arsenal will also meet French side Marseille and Napoli, who are now coached by former Liverpool and Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez.
The Gunners, who have reached this stage of the competition for 16 successive seasons, also played Dortmund in their group two years ago.
On that occasion Dortmund finished bottom of the section but the Germans are now a much tougher proposition and impressed throughout their run to the final last year.
Three-times European champions United were drawn in Group A and David Moyes will likely be relatively satisfied with the opponents for his first group campaign as a manager.
United will tackle Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, who beat the Red Devils in the 2002 semi-finals, and Real Sociedad.
Chelsea, with Jose Mourinho now back as manager, have arguably been given the most straightforward group of the British clubs.
Aside from a meeting with 2011 semi-finalists Schalke, Chelsea will also encounter Swiss club Basel and Romanian side Steaua Bucharest.
The Blues knocked out both Basel and Steaua en route to winning last season's Europa League, and also met Schalke in the group phase in 2007/08.
Group B serves up the tantalising prospect of two games between Real Madrid and Juventus, with Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen also in that section.
Last season's Europa League runners-up Benfica were the top seeds in Group C and they will face Paris St Germain, Olympiakos and Anderlecht.
In Group G, 2004 European champions Porto will take on 2010 and 2012 Europa League winners Atletico Madrid, 2008 UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg and Austria Vienna.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi is looking forward to facing Celtic and Milan again after his side were thrashed by Bayern in the semi-finals last season.
Messi said: "Bayern were superb last season and better than Barcelona, but hopefully this season we can do better.
"You don't get any easy groups in the Champions League. We played Milan and Celtic last season. It's a beautiful group."
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