With all the power of CSKA opponents, the Thursday draw does not look hopeless. Hamburg and Porto are experiencing a period of global change, and now playing with these teams should be easier than a few months ago.
Arsenal England 
How to get into the Champions League: Last year's finalist of the Champions League was on the verge of "flying" past the current. Arsenal spent its worst championship in England under the leadership of Arsene Wenger, only in the final round having stolen the last leg of the championship from Tottenham. The qualifying round of the current tournament, however, was passed with recognizable Arsenal charm and brilliance: Zagreb Dynamo lost all chances already in the match on their field (0: 3).
What to fear: All the same: smart, elegant, ultra-fast football, perhaps the fastest in Europe. The Arsenal has grown a new generation of European stars (Fabregas, Tours, Ebouet, van Persie, Gleb), and some of the "old" (Henri, Jungberg, Lehmann) are still here.
How to win: Arsenal traditionally (last season is an exception) plays weaker in Eurocups than in home tournaments: it currently has less Euro titles than Hamburg with Porto and as much as CSKA. Henri traditionally, for several years now, has not had a partner of an adequate level. Moreover, with the one-time departure of Bergkamp, Campbell and Piraeus, Arsenal became the most inexperienced top club in Europe.
Matches with CSKA: October 17 (in Moscow), November 1 (in London).
The optimal composition (4-4-2): Lehmann - Cole, Tours, Senderos, Ebue - Fabregas, Gleb, Gilberto Silva, Jungberg - Henri, van Persie.
Website: www.arsernal.com
"Hamburg, Germany 
How did you get into the Champions League: The last Bundesliga championship was for Hamburg (or as this team is called in Germany - HSV, Haesfau) the best for many years. The northerners showed perhaps the most convincing football since the time of Kevin Keegan, for some time they even chased Bayern, but in the end, having skipped ahead and Werder Bremen, they took third place. In the qualifying round of the Champions League 06/07, “Hamburg” did not look so confident, but still succeeded - due to the goal of Nigel de Jong “Osasune” in a foreign field (0: 0, 1: 1).
Things to be afraid of: Last season, Hamburg had perhaps the best defense in Europe after Chelsea (a total of 23 goals conceded in 34 championship matches), and the ex-Ajax ligament de Jong - van der Vaart determined the trouble-free operation of the middle line .
How to win: Actually, not so difficult. On the eve of the season, Hamburg released the veteran sniper Barbarets, but most importantly, he sold the stars of his defense: Daniel van Buyten to Bayern, Khalid Bulahruz to Chelsea. In the long run, these decisions were probably justified. The money was used to purchase the most promising central defender of Europe, Vincenne Company (Anderlecht and Belgium), Dutch defender Joris Mataisen (AZ), as well as talented young forwards Jose-Paulo Guerrero (Bayern and Peru) and Bubacar Sanogo ( Kaiserslautern and the Ivory Coast team). But in the short term, Hamburg lost its balance and the almost machine-friendly coordination of the game. In none of the 4 official matches of this season did Thomas Doll's team win.
Matches with CSKA: September 26 (in Moscow), December 6 (in Hamburg).
Optimum composition: (4-4-2) Cristine - Demel, Company, Reinhardt, Mataisen - de Jong, Jarolim, van der Vaart, Mahdavikia - Guerrero, Sanogo.
Website: www.hsv.de
Porto Portugal 
How did you get into the Champions League: Porto won the Portuguese Championship 05/06 in a brilliant style, breaking away from Sporting by 7 points, from Benfica - by 12, scoring the most and conceiving a record 16 goals in 34 matches. Plus victory in the Portuguese Cup. The first (and as it turned out a little later - the last) season in the “Port” of the Dutch coach Ko Adrians resurrected the era of Jose Mourinho.
What to be afraid of: First of all, the interactions between midfielder Lucio González and striker Lisandro Lopez, who, in their first season after moving from Argentina, became established as stars of the Portuguese championship. Jet right winger Ricardo Quarezmu, who rediscovered himself in Porto after a lost season in Barcelona. The highly reliable defense of Porto, led by the promising Brazilian defender Pepe. All have been recruited to Porto recently - after the wholesale sale of the heroes of the Champions League 03/04 (Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Derley).
How to win: The aromas of festive drinks didn’t disappear after the victories of the past season, when Porto left Ko Adriansa due to disagreements with the club management (he was hastily replaced by 60-year-old Jesualdo Ferreira from Boavista). Captain Pedro Emmanuel lay down under the surgeon’s knife (he won’t play this year), and Diego and Benny McCarthy departed for Werder Bremen and Blackburn, respectively. What constitutes the Porto spill of 2006 is thus completely unclear.
Matches with CSKA: September 13 (in Porto), November 21 (in Moscow).
The optimal composition (4-3-3): Vitor Bahia - Pepe, Ricardo Costa, Bosingwa, Czech - Lucho Gonzalez, Paulo Assunsao, Ibson - Quarezma, Lisandro Lopez, Adriano Lousada.
Website: www.fcporto.pt