An easy group can make you look better than you really are. It doesn't prepare you good enough for the knockout rounds. You walk against these weak opponents and then, when you meet the big boys, you get knocked out just like last season. I would've loved a group with two weaker teams like Maccabi and Kiev BUT with another team that is stronger than Porto. Let's say Real Madrid. If you get a group like this, you will surely qualify, since Maccabi and Kiev are clearly not better than Chelsea but you will also see how good you really are by playing against Real Madrid. If you can only get the second spot, then so be it, but at least you don't finish first and think that "wow, we're so good" and then PSG comes and eliminates you in the first knockout round. If we are going to want easy opponents and fear the big boys, we will never be one of the big boys, to be honest.