Chelsea have drawn Ajax, Valencia and Lille OSC in Group H of the Champions League upon return to the biggest stage in club football.
The Blues secured a place in pot one avoiding the likes of Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern Munich having waltzed past London rivals Arsenal in the Europa League Final.
Ajax’s dream of a place in the Champions League Final was crushed by Lucas Moura and Tottenham in the Semi’s.
Spanish competitors Valencia crashed out of the Champions League Group Stage before being knocked out of the Europa League in the Semi-Final by Arsenal.
Lille make a long-awaited return to the European stage having finished second in Ligue 1 last season. The French side have since lost star winger Nicolas Pepe but have had a busy summer of recruiting.
Ajax
The reigning Eredivisie champions enjoyed a prosperous campaign in the Champions League falling short of the Final to Spurs. The Dutch side were the dark horses of the competition and surprised many before beating the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus.
They were soon a team to be taken seriously. A rigid defence with De Ligt, a regimented midfield tenured by Frenkie De Jong and a flourishing attack of Hakim Ziyech, Dusan Tadic and Donny Van de Beek.
The summer soon came around which saw their core ripped away from them in return for prosperity.
De Ligt left for Juventus and De Jong for Barcelona.
Ajax recruited Quincy Promes, Edson Alvarez, and Razvan Marin all for just under £30million. However, they have still seemed to have had a harder ride than planned in their journey back to the Champions League.
In each of the two pairs of qualifying rounds, the Dutch side left each tie to be decided in the second leg scoring seven and conceding four.
Valencia
Los Ches finished third in Group H to Manchester United and Juventus landing a place in the Europa League Round of 32.
The Spanish side enjoyed a lengthy run in the Europa League beating the likes of Celtic, FC Krasnodar, and Villarreal before falling to defeat at the hands of former manager Unai Emery.
Valencia have a free-flowing attack armed with Rodrigo, Gonçalo Guedes, Kevin Gameiro and Santi Mina. The four scored 38 goals last season in all competitions.
Lille OSC
Eden Hazard’s former home, Lille, secured a place in Group H having finished second in Ligue 1 16 points behind champions PSG.
Lille were the third-highest scoring team in France last season scoring 68 in the league with Pepe contributing to 33 who has since left for the Emirates.
Christophe Galtier’s side may struggle to find the back of the net this season without their talisman and will be relying on the £75million worth of signings made this summer.
The French side have signed players such as Renato Sanches and Timothy Weah on permanent deals who, with game time, could flourish and elevate the side.
Their last appearance in the Champions League was back in the 2012/13 season but did not qualify out of the group stages.