UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE:THE LEADING English clubs would be aghast at any suggestion of adventure in the group phase of the Champions League.

With Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal among the top seeds, none of their managers was ever likely to be overly worried whatever the draw.

But Tottenham Hotspur, who last savoured the competition 48 years ago in its European Cup incarnation, might have felt the pulse quicken, and it accelerated when they were pitted against the holders, Internazionale.

They were so effective under Jose Mourinho, before he left for Real Madrid, that there seldom seemed to be a instant when one trophy or another was not being cradled. The sort of acceleration that sweeps Tottenham towards such an encounter is hair-raising, but also welcome since nobody can be jaded at the thought of Inter, now managed by Rafael Benitez, coming to White Hart Lane.

When Harry Redknapp does tear his gaze from Inter, he will not be especially pleased to see one of the other adversaries in the group. Werder Bremen eliminated Sampdoria in the qualifiers.

Manchester United will see Group C as a routine assignment.

There would be normally be wincing at the prospect of La Liga foes, but Valencia have transferred both David Villa and David Silva. Alex Ferguson might have to endure nothing more exacting than demands that he recall his time at Rangers once more. The people of Manchester could be anxious: few will forget rioting in the city at the time of the Scottish club’s Uefa Cup final in 2008.

Rangers have had severe financial worries since then but they have eased enough for transfer fees to be paid this summer and Walter Smith’s side has been resilient enough to take the last two league titles. That, all the same, will not concern Ferguson, nor should meetings with the Turkish club Bursaspor.

Chelsea’s group has a ring to it since they are pitted against former winners in Marseille. The French club seized the Champions League in 1993 but there had been no subsequent trophies of note until the team managed by Didier Deschamps completed a domestic double last season.

That in itself will give Carlo Ancelotti pause for thought, and Spartak Moscow can also present problems. Group G is completed by the Slovak club MSK Zilina.

Arsenal, too, will head east, but the trips to take on Shakhtar Donetsk and Partizan Belgrade will be regarded automatically as awkward engagements.

Currently, though, it is Braga who are really to be feared. The Portuguese club’s elimination of Celtic was not particularly surprising but in the next qualifier they did disrupt the natural order. Braga defeated Sevilla 1-0 at home and 4-3 in Spain.

For the moment, the glamour of the Champions League is felt only weakly by the British clubs. It exists forcefully elsewhere, in Group C’s combination of Milan, Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid and those other former winners, Martin Jol’s Ajax.

Auxerre will do well not to be awestruck.