The projected pots for next season’s Champions League draw have been confirmed following the conclusion of most of Europe’s major leagues.
The continent’s premier competition has undergone a major revamp ahead of next season, with the group stage replaced by a league stage in which all 36 teams will compete against each other.
Teams will play eight matches in the qualifying round instead of six, and the top eight teams qualified for the round of 16 and those ninth through 24th will fight in a tiebreaker to join them.
As usual, there will be four pots for the draw, which will take place later this summer, with nine teams placed in pots decided by the UEFA coefficient ranking which takes into account the teams’ performance in European competitions over the last five years.
Although some pots have yet to be decided, pot one has already been confirmed, with Arsenal left out due to their six-year absence from the Champions League before this season.
The projected pots for next season’s Champions League draw have been revealed following the end of most major European League campaigns.
Pot one has been confirmed, with the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City.
Arsenal, however, have missed out on a top spot due to their recent performances in European competitions.
The Gunners, who have a coefficient of 72,000, are 22nd in the UEFA club coefficient rankings, 16th among teams that have qualified for next season’s Champions League. Therefore, they will be placed in pot two.
The confirmed pot one will consist of Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Inter, Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig and Barcelona, who survived in pot one due to Roma not qualifying after their last match of the Serie A season.
Groups are now decided solely based on coefficient rankings rather than pot one made up of the champions, Europa League winners and national champions.
Confirmed in pot two are Bayer Leverkusen, Atlético de Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge and AC Milan, with Shakhtar Donetsk expected to join them in the qualifying phase.
There are seven more spots left to claim in the qualifying round but, if all goes as expected, Aston Villa, the last Premier League team in the competition with a score of 20,860, is expected to be in pot four.
Meanwhile, Celtic, with 32,000, could sneak into the third pot. They are projected to be the lowest ranked team in the pot based on the teams that are supposed to qualify for the league stage.
They will join the likes of Feyenoord, Sporting CP and PSV, while the likes of Monaco, Stuttgart and Bologna will join Villa.
The Gunners will be placed in pot two, although that will not affect the difficulty of their draw.
Liverpool will also be classified in pot one ahead of the new format of the competition next year.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa will be in pot four for their return to Champions League action.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| city of manchester | Bayer Leverkusen | Feyenoord | Galatasaray |
| Bayern Munich | Atletico Madrid | sports CP | AS Monaco |
| real Madrid | Atalanta | PSV | Sparta Prague |
| PSG | Juventus | Lille | Aston Villa |
| Liverpool | Benfica | PAOK | Bologna |
| Bury | Arsenal | Fenerbahce | Girona |
| Borussia Dortmund | Club Bruges | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Stuttgart |
| Leipzig | Shakhtar Donetsk | Youths | Sturm Graz |
| Barcelona | AC Milan | Celtic | Brestois Stadium |
In the previous format of the Champions League, being in a lower pot would have meant more difficult matches for a team, with groups of four made up of one team from each pot.
Now, however, each team will play against two teams from each pot, including their own, meaning the task won’t be any harder in whichever pot they find themselves in.
However, Arsenal being in pot two instead of one could have a negative impact on other teams, as two teams from pot two will have to play the Gunners, as well as two teams from pot one.