Man United could find themselves facing Cristiano Ronaldo when the draw is made for the Champion League group stages on Thursday.

United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal are all guaranteed positions among the eight top seeds, meaning they will avoid current European champions Barcelona, but could face Real Madrid, who are one of the eight second-ranked clubs.

There is also another intriguing possibility of Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea coming face to face with Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan in a group - Inter will also be among the second seeds.

The draw will see 32 teams split into eight groups, each containing a top seed, a second seed, a third seed and a fourth seed.

Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Sevilla are other top seeds, and there are plenty of tough opponents in the other pots. Lyon, CSKA Moscow and Juventus are among the second seeds, while Atletico Madrid, Bordeaux and Stuttgart are in the third pot.

Rangers are also among the second seeds thanks to Fiorentina’s away-goals triumph over Sporting Lisbon tonight. If the result had been reversed, the Scottish champions would be third seeds.

The team to avoid among the eight clubs in the fourth pot are Wolfsburg, who were champions of Germany last season.

Such is the strength in depth of Europe’s elite club tournament that there is a possibility of any of the English clubs being drawn in a group with Real Madrid, Bordeaux and Wolfsburg.

Big-spending Real Madrid are the bookies’ favourites and will view this year’s tournament as almost a must-win. Apart from the arrival of Ronaldo, Kaka and Xavi Alonso, the final in May will be at their home ground the Bernabeu.

As for last season’s beaten finalists Manchester United, their striker Dimitar Berbatov insists most clubs will fear being drawn against the English champions.

He told the club’s official website: “When you say the name Manchester United it inspires respect in a lot of people. Nobody will fancy playing us.”

Berbatov said the taste of defeat in Rome has intensified the players’ desire to go one better this time.

“After what happened in last year’s final I think we’re even more determined in Europe this time around,” he added.

“For me, losing in Rome was doubly frustrating because I wasn’t at the club when the team won in Moscow. I’ve never won the Champions League so losing to Barcelona was very upsetting.

“This year our aim is to make it all the way to Madrid. The Bernabeu is one of the best stadiums in the world and I know we’re good enough to make it back there and, this time, win it.”

Seedings for Thursday’s draw:

Top seeds: Barcelona (Spa) UEFA co-efficient 121.9, Chelsea (Eng) 118.9, Liverpool (Eng) 118.9, Man Utd (Eng) 111.9, AC Milan (Ita) 110.6, Arsenal (Eng) 106.9, Sevilla (Spa) 100.9, Bayern Munich (Ger) 98.3.

Second seeds: Lyon (Fra) 91.0, Inter Milan (Ita) 87.6, Real Madrid (Spa) 78.9, CSKA Moscow (Rus) 71.5, Porto (Por) 68.3, AZ Alkmaar (Hol) 64.8, Juventus (Ita) 63.5, Rangers (Sco) 56.6.

Third seeds: Olympiakos (Gre) 52.6, Marseille (Fra) 48.0, Dinamo Kiev (Ukr) 46.4, Stuttgart (Ger) 45.3, Fiorentina (Ita) 42.6, Atletico Madrid (Spa) 41.9, Bordeaux (Fra) 40.0, Besiktas (Tur) 32.4.

Fourth seeds: Wolfsburg (Ger) 21.3, Standard Liege (Bel) 21.1, Maccabi Haifa (Isr) 17.1, FC Zurich (Swi) 14.1, Rubin Kazan (Rus) 9.5, Unirea Urziceni (Rom) 8.8, APOEL Nicosia (Cyp) 4.0, Debreceni (Hun) 1.633.

Stuart Broad can expect massive sums after his Ashes exploits but the man himself is interested in a different type of figures.

All-rounder Broad’s role in England’s 2-1 victory over Australia led to estimations of £2million in sponsorship deals alone will follow.

However, Broad, 23, is more concerned with career statistics, by virtue of runs and wickets, than the number of noughts on cheques.

Speaking at the England team hotel in London, in the aftermath of the 197-run series-sealing win at the Oval, Nottinghamshire’s Broad said: “You have got to make runs and take wickets and perform for England for other things to happen to you.

“They are certainly not a primary vision of mine; I want to play 100 Test matches for England, I want to be the highest one-day wicket-taker for England but more importantly I want to win World Cups for England and Ashes series in Australia.

“I want to make England the best team in the world and that prospect is the thing that really excites me the most and makes me want to get out of bed every day when I have bowled 30 overs the day before.”

Broad’s five for 37 on Friday afternoon set up the fifth npower Test win and boosted a series return which appeared fallow midway through.

He finished the campaign as England’s leading wicket-taker with 18, and allied to his two half-centuries, meant he was one of the team’s most prolific performers.

He is also on course to reach his career target of averaging above 30 with the bat and below it with the ball - his current returns are 30.68 and 35.78 respectively.

“I am not massively stats driven but stats don’t lie,” Broad said. “Anyone in international cricket with a bowling average of under 30 is doing fantastically well.

“You see the likes of Dale Steyn, and people like this, who are down at about 21.

“If I could have a bowling average of under 30 and a batting average over 30 I would be a very happy boy.

“But I have got a lot of hard work to do because if my batting average is to stay near 30 I have got to start scoring 100s.

“In the next couple months I am looking to develop my batting. It is a mindset because I believe I can do it.

“As soon as I get to 30 I start thinking ‘right where can I hit this ball’ rather than a batsmen who thinks ‘right I’ve got to 30 let’s go and get 70 and 80′. That is the mindset that I can change.

“At certain stages in this series I have played my shots and it has come off for me.

“But I have also had chances were I could have gone on and played a really telling score and that is my next vision.”

The events of the past 72 hours have cast Broad as a potential poster boy for a new generation of English sport, particularly given the passing of Andrew Flintoff from Test cricket.

Having slayed Australia in such a high-profile contest, his life has unquestionably changed from just a week ago.

“I’ve not been aware of what’s been happening,” he said. “It has been a tough couple of days and I have barely left my room - it has been room service, sleeping and playing cricket.

“I’ve not been aware of extra attention but that is something that is out of my control anyway.

“It is an exciting time. I have got some very good people around me. My old man has experienced winning an Ashes and been successful and my mum is a very grounded person and if I ever put a foot out of place she would tell me.”

He added: “I haven’t got the body to be posing in my underwear like David Beckham.

“I think whenever you play international sport it is quite high pressured and there is a lot going on.

“I have dealt with that well in the last couple of years and I don’t think that will change.

“I am focused on my training and having grown up in a sporting family, that is something I have always been used to.

“My dad has always said that cricket comes first. If you get your runs and wickets then everything else will take care of itself.”

Reality will hit home for Broad tomorrow as one of six of the successful Oval XI who fly to Belfast for Thursday’s one-day international against Ireland.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez condemned his players for making “too many mistakes” as they slumped to their second league defeat in nine days.

Beaten at Tottenham on the opening weekend, they recovered to over-power Stoke in midweek, only to slump to a disheartening 3-1 home defeat at the hands of a vibrant Aston Villa at Anfield.

It was Villa’s first win of the season, and ended Liverpool’s 31-match unbeaten league run dating back to December 2007.

And the reverse already puts in doubt Liverpool’s title aspirations. They only lost two league games last season, now they have equalled that tally in the opening days of the new campaign.

Villa were two-up at the break through a Lucas own goal and a header from Curtis Davies. Torres pulled one back in the second-half, but Steven Gerrard’s lunge at Nigel Reo-Coker conceded a spot-kick that Ashley Young confidently drove home.

Benitez said: “In the first 20 minutes we created plenty of chances and played well. Then we conceded the own goal and started to make more mistakes.

“We have lost and we know we have to improve. I felt we had a chance when Fernando Torres scored, but the penalty finished it. It was a clear penalty.

“We now know that we have to go to Bolton on Saturday and win. Everything could change if we do that, our confidence will improve.”

Benitez added: “We were not playing well, and we were up against a team who are excellent on the counter-attack.

“Their keeper (Brad Friedel) made some great saves, but when that happens we just have to make more chances.

“This squad is virtually the same as last season, so I believe it is good enough to mount a title challenge. But we must do more, we must win at Bolton.

“We will have to sit down and analyse every player now, and make sure we do the right things in our next match. But our senior players must take more responsibility.”

Villa boss Martin O’Neill said: “That was a terrific effort from my team. At 2-0 we were in reasonable command of the game, although you are never in command at Anfield.

“But when they scored we got a penalty straightaway, a clean penalty, and we were back with our two goal lead.

“That gave us confidence, discipline and shape to our team and we deserved to win.

“Brad Friedel was outstanding. He rolled back the years. He was fantastic against his old club to perform like that at Anfield.

“He will be delighted with himself, and rightly so, and we are delighted with him.”

“It was a fantastic performance from the whole side and we fully deserved the victory.”

Kevin Pietersen has backed Stuart Broad to make England fans forget Andrew Flintoff.

Flintoff is playing his final Test for England as persistent knee injuries mean he is unable to continue to play the longer form of the game.

But with Flintoff faltering England have already found a “world class” replacement, according to Pietersen, in the shape of 23-year-old Broad.

Pietersen told the News of the World: “Freddie (Flintoff) has struggled with too many injuries this summer and maybe hasn’t made the impact he would have liked in this thrilling series.

“His retirement would leave a void in any side. But in England’s case, it is one that Stuart Broad, can certainly fill.

“Yes, I know it is a big call. And a big burden of expectation. The last thing Stuart would want or need is to be called the new Freddie. And he won’t be. He’s his own player.

“He has shown in this game - and others - that he can become a world-class all-rounder for England.

“His performance in this fifth Test has shown that he has accepted the responsibility of becoming England’s number one all-rounder now that Freddie is leaving the Test match scene.

“Stuart’s bowling and batting are improving all the time. He is only 23 years old don’t forget, and there is a lot of development yet to come from him.

“But what impresses me most about Stuart is that he has a good cricketing brain. He is clearly an intelligent cricketer, as he showed with his superb bowling on Friday afternoon.

“With Freddie bowing out, Stuart is the future.”

The ECB have refused to comment on a report that Andrew Flintoff will undergo knee surgery after the Ashes series.

Flintoff, 31, is scheduled to be flying to Belfast next Tuesday with the England one-day squad, having been selected earlier this week.

But a report in the Daily Telegraph claims he will have a major operation which will keep him sidelined for nine months.

An ECB spokesman said: “We are making no further comment on his medical condition. We are leaving him to concentrate on the task at hand, which is on the field.

“As we have said previously an operation remains an option at the end of the series.

“He will be reassessed at the end of this current match.”

Flintoff is due to see specialist Andy Williams regarding his right knee in the near future, after being cleared to play in the Ashes finale at the Oval.

Lancashire all-rounder Flintoff missed the fourth Test defeat at Headingley due to a flaring of the problem, but is expected to play a full part in England’s attempts to defeat the Australians for a second successive home campaign.

Shane Warne has again singled out Paul Collingwood for criticism ahead of the Ashes decider, accusing the batsman of “hiding”.

The former Australia spinner famously ridiculed Collingwood’s MBE for his part in England’s series triumph in 2005.

The Durham man is set to bat at number four in the match, which starts on Thursday, after Ravi Bopara was dropped and replaced in the squad by Jonathan Trott, a move Warne believes is long overdue.

“Collingwood has been looking after himself”

He wrote in The Times: “Up to now, Collingwood has been looking after himself rather than the interests of his team by staying at five, while Ravi Bopara and Ian Bell have been taking the flak above him.

“Now, at last, he’s going to take some responsibility. He should have been putting his hand up to bat at three or four, especially with Kevin Pietersen injured.

“After Andrew Strauss he is England’s most senior batsman and he’s been hiding at five. He owes England a match-winning hundred; perhaps then he’ll deserve the MBE he collected for scoring seven and 10 four years ago.”

He added: “The problem for Collingwood is that Australia have exposed his dodgy technique again. Apart from his innings in Cardiff and a freebie fifty at Lord’s, he’s been all at sea this series.

“Cricket is a tough game and it annoys me to see experienced players not taking responsibility. If Bopara had been at five, he might have had a chance.”