Both Goran Pandev and Daniel Georgievski, with their respective teams, received tough draws that will see both Macedonian internationals facing English and German powerhouses.

Goran Pandev and Napoli wound up in Group F together with Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Marseille.  Napoli had the misfortune of being seeded in pot 4, and received formidable opposition from strong leagues in England, Germany and France.  Arsenal reached the group stages after easily defeating Fenerbahçe in the play-off round, while Napoli, Borussia Dortmund and Marseille all finished in 2nd place in their respective domestic championships last season.  From those teams, Napoli has has the most roster turnover as they made numerous new signings after Rafa Benitez was appointed manager.  Arsenal and Napoli did play a friendly earlier this summer which ended 2:2, Pandev scoring one of the goals for the Italian team.

Meanwhile, Daniel Georgievski and Steaua were paired with Chelsea, Schalke 04 and Basel in Group E of the Champions League group stages.  Steaua and Chelsea actually met in last year’s Round of 16 matchup in the Europa League which Chelsea won 3:2 on aggregate.  Basel is the defending champions in an ever improving Swiss league, while Schalke 04 defeated Greek side PAOK in the play-off to reach the Champions League.  Schalke has many Macedonian supporters after their fans displayed a Macedonian flag when Schalke faced PAOK in Germany.  However, even before that, the fans of Schalke have had a good relationship with the fans of Vardar.  Those two clubs also played a friendly in Skopje in late May of this year.