Premier League clubs set for Champions League draw

UEFA poised to make draw in Monaco for group stages of the 2012/13 competition

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard celebrates with the UEFA Champions League Trophy

The top four clubs in last season's Barclays Premier League will find out who they will face in the opening stages of this season's UEFA Champions League when the group stage draw is made in Monaco on Thursday at 5pm BST.

Defending champions Chelsea, who defeated Bayern Munich to win the title in May, have been placed in seeding pot one together with three-time champions Manchester Unitedand 2006 finalists Arsenal.

Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Porto and Milan are in the same pot, meaning the Barclays Premier League trio will avoid them in the group stages.

Reigning Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City have been placed with the likes of Valencia, Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk in pot two.

The final 10 teams for the group stage draw were confirmed this week after the play-off round second legs.

Barclays Premier League teams cannot be drawn together in the same group.

The group stage of this season's competition begins on 18th-19th September and finishes on 4th-5th December.

The final will take place at Wembley Stadium, London on 25th May 2013.

Pot One: Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Porto, AC Milan.

Pot Two: Valencia, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St Petersburg, Schalke, ManchesterCity, Braga, Dynamo Kiev.

Pot Three: Olympiacos, Ajax, Anderlecht, Juventus, Spartak Moscow, Paris St Germain, Lille, Galatasaray.

Pot Four: Celtic, Borussia Dortmund, BATE Borisov, Dinamo Zagreb, CFR Cluj, Malaga, Montpellier, FC Nordsjaelland.

Man United's Rooney facing month on the sidelines

England striker facing four weeks out after suffering deep gash in thigh against Fulham

Man Utd's Wayne Rooney is attended to by medical staff after suffering his injury

Wayne Rooney remained in hospital overnight as medical staff assessed the extent of the injury he sustained when Hugo Rodallega landed on him in stoppage time during Manchester United's win over Fulham.

The England striker was carried off on a stretcher at Old Trafford after the accidental clash with Rodallega in the home side's 3-2 success and is expected to be out of action for four weeks. Rooney was charging down a shot by the Fulham substitute, whose boot connected with his leg.

"It was a very bad one. It looks like he will be out for four weeks"
Sir Alex Ferguson

The 26-year-old sustained a severe gash on his right thigh, and United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: "It was a very bad one. He has gone to hospital. It looks like he will be out for four weeks."

If Ferguson's assessment proves correct Rooney would be out of United's next two League matches, against Southampton and Wigan and the start of United's UEFA Champions League campaign.

The former Everton striker would be sidelined for England's 2016 FIFA World Cup qualifying double-header with Moldova and Ukraine and also be a major doubt for the Red Devils' trip to Liverpool on September 23rd.

"You have to be wary of infection and that kind of thing so he has gone to the best place and hopefully he will be okay," added Ferguson. "Rodallega followed through and caught him – but it was an accident of course."

Tevez rescues point for City at Anfield

Match stats, photos and reports on Liverpool 2-2 Man City and Stoke 0-0 Arsenal

• 
  Martin Skrtel (left) heads Liverpool into the lead against Manchester City at Anfield

Manchester City twice has to come from behind to salvage a point after an enthralling 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield.

Despite a bright opening by the Barclays Premier League champions, Martin Skrtel opened the scoring with a thunderous first half-header.  Brendan Rodgers's side improved thereafter but were pegged back by Yaya Toure's 63rd-minute poached equaliser after Liverpool had failed to clear their lines.

Within three minutes the hosts had restored their lead thanks to a long-range Luis Suarez free-kick but another defensive error, this time by Skrtel, enabled Carlos Tevez to latch on to a loose back pass and score his 100^th goal in English football.

Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City  #LIVMCI

Arsenal were held to their second successive goalless draw after a hard-fought contest against Stoke City.

The north Londoners, who deployed Vito Mannone in goal with Wojcech Szczesny sidelined with a rib injury, battled hard at the Britannia Stadium and earned 11 corners and a number of free-kicks but were unable to find a breakthrough against a typically obdurate Stoke rearguard.

Tony Pulis's side were good value for their second point of the campaign and but for better finishing by Jonathan Walters might even have earned a narrow home victory.

Barcelona Beat Real Madrid, 3-2: Messi Penalty, Pedro, Xavi Scores Top Ronaldo Goal, Valdez Gaffe

A cagey first-half saw the home side dominate the ball, but struggle to find a way through a resilient rearguard effort from Jose Mourinho's men.

But the match changed completely in the second-half, as Cristiano Ronaldo gave the visitors a shock lead in the 55th minute with a header from a corner.

Barca would hit back instantly through Pedro, before a Lionel Messi penalty and a beautifully worked goal from Xavi put them in the driving seat.

However, a moment of madness from Victor Valdes gifted Angel Di Maria a goal with five minutes to go, leaving matters finely poised for the second leg in six days at Santiago Bernabeu.
Tito Vilanova dropped Christian Tello to the bench for Alexis Sanchez, despite the former’s impressive performance in the 5-1 win over Real Sociedad last weekend, but new signing Alex Song did not make the match day squad in time.

Mourinho, meanwhile, drafted in Raul Albiol in the centre of defence for the injured Pepe, while Karim Benzema started as the lone striker ahead of Gonzalo Higuain.

Madrid started brightly, but were not able to sustain it for long as Barca began to assert their dominance in the middle of the park, with Andres Iniesta in particular looking lively.

Xabi Alonso picked up a yellow card 12 minutes in after a crunching tackle on Sergio Busquets, putting him on thin ice for what was shaping up to be a backs to the wall game for the visitors.

Messi should have found the target in the 19th minute after latching on to Dani Alves’ cutback just inside the box, but his effort flew the wrong side of the post.

The Argentine would miss an even better chance 10 minutes later, poking wide from a good position after dancing around two defenders in the area.

But despite being starved of the ball, Madrid proved a stubborn beast to overcome at the back, as every Barca attack was met by a throng of white shirts in defence.

The match seemed to be settling into a war of attrition, though Pedro almost livened things up on the half hour mark with a swerving shot that forced Casillas to save at full stretch.

The home fans were up in arms in the 38th minute though, after a theatrical tumble from Sanchez from a challenge by Fabio Coentrao in the box went unacknowledged by the referee.

It was a hopeful shout at best, and the game began to get scrappy as the first half ended. First, Arbeloa was shown yellow for flattening Busquets, before Javier Mascherano joined him in the book after chopping down Coentrao.

Busquets was not having an easy time in the middle of the park, and was felled again by Albiol shortly after the restart, for which the Madrid defender also saw yellow.

The Barcelona midfielder would then make a fatal error in the 55th minute, as he lost sight of Ronaldo defending a corner, allowing the Portuguese to not the visitors into a surprise lead.

Madrid’s joy lasted only seconds though, as straight from kickoff, Barca drew level.

Mascherano’s searching ball from his own half picked out Pedro on the left, who accelerated away from Coentrao to slot the hosts back on terms, despite calls from the visitors for offside.

The shackles were finally off, as Barca looked to press ahead. Alves was picked out by Messi on the overlap, only for Casillas to tip his low shot around the post.

Then, with 68 minutes gone, a clumsy tackle by Sergio Ramos brought down Iniesta in the area, giving referee Carlos Gomez no choice but to point to the spot. Messi stepped up to send Casillas the wrong way and put Barcelona back in front.

Xavi appeared to put matters beyond any doubt 10 minutes later after slotting home from a superb setup from Iniesta, who ghosted pass multiple challenges before putting the chance on a plate for his midfield colleague.

However, in the 85th minute, a howler from Valdes dragged Madrid back into the game and the tie.

The Barcelona keeper appeared to be under little pressure when collecting a backpass, but saw the ball stick under his feet, allowing Di Maria enough time to steal in and poke into the back of the net, giving the visitors a lifeline for the second-leg.

Big Match Ahead !!!

El Clasico’s back tonight in the first leg of the Spanish Supercup – it’s Lionel Messi versus Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona versus Real Madrid and it should be a cracker.
Mourinho’s men began their league title defence with a home draw to Valencia, while Tito Vilanova’s reign in Barcelona began in classic Guardiola fashion – with a 5-1 destruction of Real Sociedad.
.Tonight’s match may have little riding on the result, but pride is everything in this battle of the world’s best players.
In anticipation of tonight’s match, GMF remembers some of the best El Clasico’s of the last 10 years.
5. Barcelona 3-3 Real Madrid – March 2007
19-year-old Lionel Messi torments Real Madrid, scoring Barcelona's first El Clasico hat-trick since Romario in 1994. The diminutative Argentinian becomes a household name.

UEFA Europa League: Liverpool edge Hearts, Newcastle held

Own goal earns Reds victory at hearts; Magpies draw with Greek side Atromitos

Fabio Borini wheels away after Liverpool's winning goal against Hearts at Tynecastle

Heart of Midlothian 0-1 Liverpool

Liverpool will take a one-goal lead into their UEFA Europa League play-off second leg at Anfield next week after edging a 1-0 victory against Heart of Midlothian.

With the Reds due to play Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League on Sundaymanager Brendan Rodgers rested a number of first-team players for the trip to Edinburgh and was grateful for a late own goal by Andy Webster that gave his side a slender aggregate lead.

Hearts will consider themselves unfortunate not to have scored at the right end after a committed display in which they frequently tested goalkeeper Pepe Reina, although Liverpool's Fabio Borini did strike a post following excellent approach play by 17-year-old forward Raheem Sterling.

The visitors upped the tempo in the second half and scored with 12 minutes remaining when Webster turned Martin Kelly's cross past Jamie MacDonald.

The winners of the play-off ties qualify for the group stages of the competition.

Atromitos 1-1 Newcastle United

Newcastle United came from behind to clinch an important away goal and earn a hard-fought draw in sweltering conditions in Athens.

The Magpies fell behind midway through the first half when Denis Epstein capitalised on some early home pressure, but on the stroke of half-time Ryan Taylor levelled the tie with a free-kick.

Like Liverpool, Newcastle opted to rest several key players with Saturday evening's League visit to Chelsea in mind, and the game was played at crawling pace due to the stifling 38C heat.

The hosts appeared better adapted to the conditions and missed two early chances before taking the lead on 24 minutes, when Nikola Bigic lofted a pass over right-back James Tavernier and German winger Epstein beat the advancing Steve Harper.

Atromitos's best other chance fell to Konstantinos Giannoulis, who connected with a half-volley that went over the crossbar late on. By then, though, Alan Pardew's side had the away goal they needed as set-piece specialist Taylor sent a curling effort past former Liverpool goalkeeper Charles Itandje.

It was also a landmark occasion for Newcastle's 17-year-old forward Adam Campbell, who became the club's youngest European player when he came off the bench with 13 minutes remaining. The play-off second legs will be played on Thursday, August 30th.

Chelsea 4-2 Reading: Chelsea recover from early shock

European champions come from behind to earn second win of season

• 
  Frank Lampard gave Chelsea an early lead from the spot
• 
  Pavel Pogrebnyak levelled the scores with a fabulous header
• 
  Guthrie gave Reading a shock lead with his free kick
• 
  Cech was unable to hold on to Guthrie's free kick on its way to the net
• 
  Gary Cahill equalised for Chelsea with a long-range shot
• 
  Fernando Torres converted Ashley Cole's cross to restore Chelsea's lead

Chelsea had to come from behind to record their second successive victory in the Barclays Premier League 2012/13. 

Much like newly promoted Southampton had given Manchester City a scare on Sunday by taking a 2-1 lead after falling behind, Reading, who came up as champions of the Championship,recovered from an early Frank Lampard penalty to go into the break ahead.

But goals from from Gary Cahill, Fernando Torres and Branislav Ivanovic meant that the Stamford Bridge faithful went home happy. 

Read a full report of the match in our superb Matchday service, offering you how the match unfolded, statistics about the match as well as the best photos of the action. You can also rate the teams' players.

Lampard: Premier League 'the best in the world'

England midfielder reflects on his glittering 17-year Barclays Premier League career

• 
  Frank Lampard finally won a UEFA Champions League winner's medal last season

The start to Frank Lampard's 18^th season in the Barclays Premier League could hardly have been better as the Chelsea midfielder converted a penalty in his side's 2-0 victory at Wigan Athletic on Sunday.

The 34-year-old is the highest-scoring midfielder in the competition's history, the only player to have managed double figures in goals in nine consecutive seasons and last season he became one of only six players to have passed 500 Premier League appearances.

Lampard is set to make his 523rd League appearance this evening at home to Reading as Chelsea look to build on their winning start to the campaign and attempt to add to the three League titles Lampard has helped them win.

"All the way down the League teams are improving and have something to fight for"
Frank Lampard

The England international's 2011/12 season was bookended with trophies. He won the Barclays Asia Trophy with Chelsea in July 2011, before lifting The FA Cup in May and then adding the one major club honour missing from his collection: a UEFA Champions League winner's medal.

Speaking exclusively before the start of the 2012/13 season the 34-year-old looked back on the drama of last season's campaign and modestly reflected on his legendary status in Premier League history.

He reveals how Chelsea became united to become European champions and how he almost left these shores to play abroad.

First Published: Tuesday 14 August 2012

Premier League ins and outs:Premier League ins and outs

• 
  Vernun Anita is a Dutch title-winner who has signed a five-year deal at Newcastle
• 
  Louis Saha has been recruited to bring class and experience to Sunderland's attack
• 
  Michael Kightly has joined Stoke City after spending five years at Wolverhampton Wanderers
• 
  Joe Allen waves during the Bayer Leverkusen friendly after completing his move to Liverpool
• 
  Spain midfielder Santi Cazorla made his debut for Arsenal in the 4-0 win at Cologne
• 
  Ron Vlaar and Karim El Ahmadi have both joined Paul Lambert's Aston Villa
• 
  Defender Ivan Ramis will be aiming to add steel to the Wigan Athletic back-line
• 
  Midfielder Steven Pienaar is back at Goodison Park after sealing a £4.5m move to Everton
• 
  James Collins has returned to West Ham United after three seasons with Aston Villa
• 
  Queens Park Rangers seal the signing of Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-Sung

The summer transfer window is now open and Barclays Premier League clubs are buying and selling players ahead of the 2012/13 season, which starts on Saturday August 18th.

You can keep track of all the ins and outs at your club on this page, which will be updated throughout the summer.

The transfer window closes at 11pm on 31st August.

Arsenal (arsenal.com)

In
Santi Cazorla (Malaga CF) Full story
Olivier Giroud (Montpellier) Undisclosed Full story
Lukas Podolski (FC Cologne) Undisclosed Full story

Out
Manuel Almunia (released)
Denilson (Sao Paulo) Loan
Gavin Hoyte (released)
Ryo Miyaichi (Wigan Athletic) Loan
Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad) Undisclosed
Kyle Bartley (Swansea) Full story
Robin van Persie (Arsenal) Full story
Alex Song (Barcelona)

Aston Villa (avfc.co.uk)

InKarim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord) Undisclosed Full story
Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar) Free Full story
Matthew Lowton (Sheffield United) Undisclosed Full story
Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord) Undisclosed Full story

OutJames Collins (West Ham United) Undisclosed Full story
Carlos Cuellar (Sunderland) Free Full story
Emile Heskey (released)

Chelsea (chelseafc.com)

In
Eden Hazard (Lille) Undisclosed Full story
Thorgan Hazard (FC Lens) Undisclosed Full story
Marko Marin (Werder Bremen) Undisclosed
Oscar (Internacional) Undisclosed Full story

OutJose Bosingwa (released)
Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid) Loan
Ulises Davila (Sabadell) Loan
Kevin De Bruyne (Werder Bremen) Loan
Matej Delac (Guimaraes) Loan
Didier Drogba (released) Full story
Salomon Kalou (Lille) Free
Milan Lakovic (Guimaraes) Loan
Romelu Lukaku (West Brom) Loan

Everton (evertonfc.com)

In
Steven Naismith (Rangers) Free Full story
Steven Pienaar (Tottenham Hotspur) £4.5m Full story
Kevin Mirallas (Olympiacos) Undisclosed Full story

Out
Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls) Undisclosed
Marcus Hahnemann (released)
James McFadden (released)
Jack Rodwell (Manchester City) Undisclosed Full story
James Wallace (Tranmere) Undisclosed
Joseph Yobo (Fenerbahce) Undisclosed

Fulham (fulhamfc.com)

In
Mladen Petric (Hamburg) Free Full story
Sascha Riether (Cologne) Loan Full story
Hugo Rodallega (Wigan Athletic) Free Full story

Out
Dickson Etuhu (Blackburn Rovers) Undisclosed
Bjorn Helge Riise (released)
Andrew Johnson (Queens Park Rangers) Free Full story
Danny Murphy (Blackburn Rovers) Free Full story
Marcel Gecov (KAA Gent) Undisclosed

Liverpool (liverpoolfc.tv)

In
Joe Allen (Swansea City) Undisclosed Full story
Fabio Borini (Roma) Undisclosed Full story
Oussama Assaidi (Heerenveen) Undisclosed Full story

Out
Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina) Undisclosed
Fabio Aurelio (Gremio) Free
Craig Bellamy (Cardiff City) Free
Stephen Darby (released)
Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahce) Undisclosed Full story
Maxi Rodriguez (Newell's Old Boys) Undisclosed
Toni Silva (Barnsley) Undisclosed

Manchester City (mcfc.co.uk)

In
Jack Rodwell (Manchester City) Undisclosed Full story

Out
Wayne Bridge (Brighton & Hove Albion) Loan
Owen Hargreaves (released) Full story
Vladimir Weiss (Pescara) Undisclosed

Manchester United (manutd.com)

InShinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund) Undisclosed Full story
Nick Powell (Crewe) Undisclosed Full story
Robin van Persie (Arsenal) Full story

Out
Ben Amos (Hull City) Loan
Ritchie De Laet (Leicester City) Undisclosed
Fabio da Silva (Queens Park Rangers) Loan Full story
Tomasz Kuszczak (Brighton & Hove Albion) Free
Michael Owen (released) Full storyPark Ji-Sung (Queens Park Rangers) Undisclosed Full story
Paul Pogba (Juventus) Free Full story

Newcastle United (nufc.co.uk)

In
Romain Amalfitano (Reims) Free Full story
Gael Bigirimana (Coventry) Undisclosed Full story
Curtis Good (Melbourne Heart) Undisclosed Full story
Vernun Anita (Ajax) Undisclosed Full story

Out
Leon Best (Blackburn Rovers) £3m
Fraser Forster (Celtic) Undisclosed
Danny Guthrie (Reading) Free Full story
Peter Lovenkrands (released)
Alan Smith (released)

Norwich City (canaries.co.uk)

In
Jacob Butterfield (Barnsley) Undisclosed Full story
Robert Snodgrass (Leeds United) Undisclosed Full story
Michael Turner (Sunderland) Undisclosed Full story
Steven Whittaker (Rangers) Free Full story
Javier Garrido (Lazio) Loan Full story

Out
Zak Whitbread (released)
Aaron Wilbraham (released)

Queens Park Rangers (qpr.co.uk)

In
Samba Diakite (Nancy) Loan Full story
Fabio da Silva (Manchester United) Loan Full story
Robert Green (West Ham United) Free Full story
Junior Hoilett (Unattached) Free Full story
Andrew Johnson (Fulham) Free Full story
Ryan Nelsen (Tottenham Hotspur) Free Full story
Park Ji-Sung (Manchester United) Undisclosed Full story
Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea) Free Full Story

Out
Patrick Agyemang (released)
Daniel Gabbidon (released)
Fitz Hall (released)
Paddy Kenny (Leeds United) Undisclosed
Daniel Shittu (released)

Reading (readingfc.co.uk)

InChris Gunter (Nottingham Forest) Undisclosed Full story
Danny Guthrie (Newcastle) Free Full story
Adrian Mariappa (Watford) Undisclosed Full story
Garath McCleary (Nottingham Forest) Free
Pavel Pogrebnyak (Stuttgart) Free Full story
Nicky Shorey (West Bromwich Albion) Undisclosed Full story
Stuart Taylor (Manchester City) Free

Out
Michail Antonio (Sheffield Wednesday) Undisclosed

Southampton (saintsfc.co.uk)

In
Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace) Undisclosed Full story
Steven Davis (Rangers) Free Full story
Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) Undisclosed Full story
Paulo Gazzaniga (Gillingham) Undisclosed Full story

Out
Dan Harding (Nottingham Forest) Undisclosed

Stoke City (stokecityfc.co.uk)

In
Michael Kightly (Wolverhampton Wanderers) Undisclosed Full story
Jamie Ness (Rangers) Free Full story

Out
Ryan Brunt (Leyton Orient) Loan
Florent Cuvelier (Walsall) Loan
Andrew Davies (released)
Salif Diao (released)
Ricardo Fuller (released)
Louis Moult (released)
Thomas Soares (released)

Sunderland (safc.com)

In
Carlos Cuellar (Aston Villa) Free Full story
Louis Saha (Tottenham) Free Full story

Out
Jordan Cook (released) Full story
Craig Gordon (released) Full story
Asamoah Gyan (Al-Ain) Undisclosed
George McCartney (West Ham United) Free Full story
Michael Turner (Norwich City) Undisclosed Full story

Swansea City (swanseacity.net)

In
Jose Manuel Flores (Genoa) £2m Full story
Jonathan De Guzman (Villarreal) Loan Full storyMichu (Rayo Vallecano) £2m Full story
Itay Shechter (Kaiserslautern) Loan
Jamie Proctor (Preston) Undisclosed Full story
Kyle Bartley (Arsenal) Full story

Out
Joe Allen (Liverpool)

Tottenham Hotspur (tottenhamhotspur.com)

In
Gylfi Sigurdsson (Hoffenheim) Undisclosed Full story
Jan Vertonghen (Ajax) Undisclosed Full story

Out
Ben Alnwick (Barnsley) Free
Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow) Undisclosed
Niko Kranjcar (Dynamo Kiev) Undisclosed Full story
Ryan Nelsen (Queens Park Rangers) Free Full story
Steven Pienaar (Everton) £4.5m Full story
Louis Saha (released)

West Bromwich Albion (wba.co.uk)

In
Ben Foster (Birmingham City) Undisclosed Full story
Yassine El Ghanassy (AA Gent) Loan Full story
Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen) Free Full story
Claudio Yacob (Racing Club de Avellaneda) Free Full story
Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea) Loan

Out
Keith Andrews (released)
Simon Cox (Nottingham Forest) Undisclosed
Marton Fulop (released)
Paul Scharner (released)
Nicky Shorey (released)
Somen Tchoyi (released)

West Ham United (whufc.com)

In
James Collins (Aston Villa) Undisclosed Full story
Mohamed Diame (Wigan Athletic) Free Full story
Alou Diarra (Olympique Marseille) Undisclosed Full story
Stephen Henderson (Portsmouth) Undisclosed
Jussi Jaaskelainen (Bolton Wanderers) Free Full story
George McCartney (Sunderland) Free Full story
Modibo Maiga (FC Sochaux-Montbeliard) Undisclosed Full story
Raphael Spiegel (Grasshopper Club Zurich) Undisclosed Full story

Out
Pablo Barrera (Cruz Azul) Undisclosed
Robert Green (Queens Park Rangers) Free Full story
Ravel Morrison (Birmingham City) Loan
Frank Nouble (released)
Freddie Sears (Colchester) Free

Wigan Athletic (wiganlatics.co.uk)

In
Fraser Fyvie (Aberdeen) Undisclosed Full story
Arouna Kone (Levante) Undisclosed Full story
Ryo Miyaichi (Arsenal) Loan
Ivan Ramis (Real Mallorca) Undisclosed

Out
Mohamed Diame (West Ham United) Free Full story
Steve Gohouri (released)
Chris Kirkland (released)
Hugo Rodallega (released)