The 2012-13 UEFA Champions League is set to take shape on Thursday in Monaco.
Just over three months after Chelsea stunned the continent by beating favoured Bayern Munich on home soil, Europe's top competition is getting set to kick-off once more.
With 32 teams now qualified for soccer's most elite club tournament, the seeded teams will be placed into eight pots of four, for the draw. The remaining teams have been separated into four pots of eight based on the clubs' performances throughout UEFA competitions in 2012.
The draw is weighted, however, ensuring that a Euro-like "Group of Death" scenario is unlikely in the group stage.
Clubs from the same country can not be drawn together for the group stage and – furthermore – teams from the same association are placed on opposing sides of the draw.
The seeding process usually ensures balance, but that does not guarantee that a lower-seeded team can't upset the favourites, nor does it ensure that the most popular clubs are at the top of the draw.
The top seeds include: Chelsea (given top-billing as defending Champs), fellow English sides Manchester United and Arsenal, Spanish rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona as well as Bayern Munich, A.C. Milan and F.C. Porto.
The biggest name in the second seeding pot belongs to reigning English Premier League Champs Manchester City, who are joined by the likes of Valencia, Ukrainian clubs Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv, Germany's Schalke, Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg and Portuguese sides Benfica and Braga.
Reigning Italian champs Juventus will be drawn as a third seed and could offer a tougher ride for the top-seed drawn alongside them. There's also star-power amongst the third seeded teams, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Paris St-Germain.
The fourth and lowest-seeded pot is not without potential land-mines as well: including the Bundesliga's best team from 2012-13, Borussia Dortmund and Scottish favourites Celtic FC.
While winning the European crown offered redemption to Chelsea - winning its first Champions League title – and moreover to high-spending owner Roman Abramovich, the campaign was one of disappointment to a lot of the continent's top teams.
Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona will look to get favourable draws for the group stage after both saw their championship dreams dashed on home soil in the semi-finals last season. The two rivals will likely stay apart until the very end, but many Spanish fans were stunned to see the dream of a 'Clasico' for the top prize vanish before their eyes.
Three of the four English sides enter this year's competition facing huge questions.
Cross-town rivals Manchester City and Manchester United left their title fight to the final second of the EPL season, but both had the luxury of having time on their side after flaming out in the group stage in last year's Champions competition.
City lost a crucial match to eventual knockout-qualifiers Napoli on the second-to-last Match Day of the group stage. The Citizens pulled out a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich the following week, but that result was rendered moot by Napoli's 2-0 win over the winless Villarreal.
For United, the heartbreak was much swifter. Heading to Switzerland needing just a draw with Basel to advance, the Red Devils were still in position to potentially win the group heading into their final match. Instead, the Swiss side emerged with a 2-1 victory and United headed home before the knockout stage for the first time since 2006.
Arsenal, meanwhile, enters the competition under a black cloud. The team has parted ways with top players Robin van Persie (transferred to Manchester United) and Alex Song (Barcelona) in the last two weeks and had a contract extension rejected this week by Theo Walcott.
Bayern Munich looks to avenge the disappointment of losing the final on penalties at home, while Juventus return to the competition after two years away looking for its first run to the knockout stage since 2008-09.
With league play having kicked off over the past two weeks in most countries, European football fans have already gotten a taste of how their clubs stack up against domestic competition.
After Thursday many fans will start mapping their club's route across the continent.
