CHELSEA, Liverpool and Tottenham have been confirmed as SECOND seeds for this summer’s Champions League group stage draw.
The trio have all been regulars in Europe’s elite competition over the years.
Liverpool and Chelsea will be in Pot 2 for next season’s Champions League draw Credit: AFP
There is still a place up for grabs in Pot 3, while a further six teams will reach Pot 4 after the upcoming qualifiers But it has not saved them from dropping into Pot 2 for the draw which takes place on Thursday, August 25.
It means Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs could face the likes of new continental kings Real Madrid, as well as Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
Other potential opponents include Italian champions AC Milan, as well as fellow league winners Porto and Ajax – who became the final Pot 1 seed with Real Madrid doing the league and Champions League double.
Europa League victors Eintracht Frankfurt are in Pot 1 too, with Manchester City claiming the last spot.
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Kounde ‘ to be first Boehly signing’, Lukaku lawyer ‘in Milan for Inter talks And with three fellow English sides in the second seedings below, it limits the teams Pep Guardiola’s men can come up against to just five.
It’s certainly a tough bunch, with Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Juventus and RB Leipzig in the mix.
Pot 3 also boasts seven top sides, with the eighth spot yet to be confirmed.
Borussia Dortmund, Napoli and Inter Milan are the pick of the bunch.
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But there are also tough tests in Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting Lisbon, Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Salzburg.
Benfica will get the final spot should they qualify through the play-offs.
If the Portuguese side fail to reach the Champions League, the likes of Rangers, Marseille and Dinamo Zagreb could claim it – provided they too are successful in the playoffs.
It means that just two teams are confirmed for Pot 4 so far – Celtic and Club Brugge.
Teams ranging from Monaco and Dynamo Kyiv to Fenerbahce and PSV Eindhoven are yet to confirm their participation.
But with Pot 1 and Pot 2 fully confirmed, and Pot 3 missing just one side, the elite clubs can already start planning for what is sure to be another thrilling Champions League campaign.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
