Champions League: Celtic draw Manchester United, Villarreal and Aalborg in group stage

Published on Thursday 28 August 2008 18:48

CELTIC will take on Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United holders Manchester United in the Champions League group stages for the second time in three seasons following today's draw in Monaco.

The Scottish champions were placed in Group E, which also contains Spanish side Villarreal and Danish club Aalborg.

Celtic met United competitively for the first time in 2006-07, avenging a 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford with a 1-0 victory at Parkhead.

Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura starred in both matches, scoring a stunning winner in the second game.

Villarreal will also be familiar opponents for Celtic fans, the Spaniards beating the Hoops 3-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2004.

They also ended Rangers' dreams of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals in 2006 with an away-goals success in their last-16 clash.

Danish champions Aalborg, meanwhile, ultimately profited from Rangers' failure to reach this season's group phase.

They beat Lithuanian side FBK Kaunas, who shocked Walter Smith's men in the previous qualifying round.

Celtic are bidding to reach the knockout stage of the competition for the third straight season.

Striker Scott McDonald insisted they were confident of progressing, no matter the opposition.

"We went into the draw full of confidence anyway," he told Sky Sports News.

"Our home form's very good, it's just our away form that's been really poor in recent years in Europe.

"If we can try and get that right this year, that would go a long way to getting through to the next round."