This could be the most interesting Champions League for a long time from the perspective of English and Scottish fans.
For the first time ever, five English teams will compete in the group stages of Europe’s elite club competition, where they will be joined by Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic. Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool will all be in the Champions League draw on Thursday at 5pm.
In the seeding for the draw, Premier League champions Chelsea are in pot one along with European heavyweights such as Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. United and City are in pot two, along with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Liverpool and Spurs are in pot three and Celtic are in pot four.
The seeding is based on Uefa’s coefficient rankings, and the 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four . No two teams from the same pot can be drawn in the same group, and two sides from the same country cannot be drawn together.
Here’s the different pots for Thursday’s draw:
Pot One
Bayern Munich, Benfica, Chelsea, Juventus, Monaco, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Spartak Moscow.
Pot Two
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Sevilla.
Pot Three
Anderlecht, FC Basel, Besiktas, Liverpool, Napoli, Olympiacos, Roma, Tottenham Hotspur.
Pot Four
Celtic, CSKA Moscow, Qarabag, Sporting Lisbon, APOEL Nicosia, Feyenoord, Maribor, RB Leipzig.
Needless to say, every team will be hoping to avoid holders Real Madrid, with Juventus and Bayern Munich the other sides from pot one clubs would rather not face.
Pot two has Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain. The English teams and Celtic will hope to steer clear of these sides, particularly PSG, who could have Kylian Mbappe lining up alongside Neymar by the time the competition starts.
Napoli are Roma are possibly the toughest draws from pot three, which also contains Liverpool and Spurs. In pot four, where Celtic will be for the draw, RB Leipzig looks like a tricky side to be landed with. The German team finished second in the Bundesliga last season.
Here’s a look at the best and worst draw each team could face.
Best draw for Chelsea:
Chelsea, Porto, Anderlecht, Qarabag
Worst draw for Chelsea:
Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Roma, RB Leipzig.
Best draw for Manchester United:
Spartak Moscow, Manchester United, Anderlecht, Qarabag
Worst draw for Manchester United:
Real Madrid, Manchester United, Roma, RB Leipzig.
Best draw for Manchester City:
Spartak Moscow, Manchester City, Anderlecht, Qarabag.
Worst draw for Manchester City:
Real Madrid, Manchester City, Napoli, RB Leipzig.
Best draw for Liverpool:
Spartak Moscow, Porto, Liverpool, Qarabag.
Worst draw for Liverpool:
Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, RB Leipzig.
Best draw for Spurs:
Spartak Moscow, Porto, Spurs, Qarabag.
Worst draw for Spurs:
Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Spurs, RB Leipzig.
Best draw for Celtic:
Spartak Moscow, Porto, Anderlecht, Celtic.
Worst draw for Celtic:
Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli, Celtic.
