Liverpool the team to beat in Group E

Newcomers Debreceni VSC are the only domestic champions in Group E, but Liverpool FC, Olympique Lyonnais and ACF Fiorentina are familiar presences at this stage, and the latter pair are familiar rivals.

Maiden campaign
Hungarian titleholders Debrecen will have it all to do against a seasoned field of European campaigners, with Liverpool looking to justify their position as top seeds in the UEFA champions League section. Lyon and Fiorentina, meanwhile, may be experiencing a bit of déjà vu, having been paired in last season's group stage where they drew 2-2 at the Stade de Gerland – their first meeting in UEFA competition – before the deposed French champions won 2-1 in Florence.

Rafael Benítez, Liverpool manager
You know in the Champions League there will always be difficult games and tough teams to play against. Lyon might not have won the league last season but before that they won it many years in a row, so we know they have lots of good players. Fiorentina are a historic club in a nice city. I know from experience they have fantastic supporters because I spent some time there when Claudio Ranieri was the coach. We have experience of Hungarian football because of our relationship with MTK Budapest, so if Debreceni have won their league then it's because they're a good side. The important thing as always is that the travelling isn't too bad; we don't have too far to go for any of the games. We're just looking forward to starting the competition now.

Jean-Michel Aulas, Lyon president
It's a draw for new experiences; Liverpool and Debrecen are both unknown quantitites. Of course, we know Fiorentina from last season. They will be looking for revenge. Liverpool are a bigger side than us but if we aim to hit the heights we must challenge them. At Anfield we'll try to live up to expectations. Our fans will do that, no doubt. We'll have to be careful of Debrecen. We can go through. I'm confident in Claude Puel's team.

Andrea Della Valle, Fiorentina president
It's a very difficult group. However, I'm happy to face Lyon again as we wanted a second chance after last season's elimination. I think Liverpool are better than the other teams in the group but I believe we have a chance against Lyon. I'm sure the experience we gained last season will be very useful even if we have to be more consistent as we have not always played up to our standards this season.

László Bodnár, Debreceni defender
None of our opponents need any introduction, but the draw was not so bad for us. I played against Liverpool with Dynamo Kyiv and we lost 1-0 and 2-1. They are the favourites to win this group but I hope we can pick up some points during this campaign.