Champions League top seeds confirmed as Arsenal face potential nightmare
The projected seeding pots for next season’s Champions League draw have been confirmed with Arsenal facing a potential nightmare following the conclusion of most of Europe’s top leagues.
Arsenal are set to compete in their second successive Champions League campaign after narrowly missing out on the Premier League title behind defending champions Manchester City.
Uefa’s showpiece event will undergo a major revamp starting next season as the number of competing teams has been expanded from 32 to 36.
The traditional group stage has also been ditched in favour of a league stage, which will see every team play two clubs from the four seeding pots.
Coefficients will now determine seeding pots, a shift away from the previous system which saw holders, Europa League winners and domestic champions determine spots. Germany are guaranteed a fifth Champions League spot due to their superior coefficient rating, while Atalanta’s recent exploits secured Italy a massive six spots.
The Gunners’ six-year absence from the Champions League prior to this season means they are set to compete in the second seeding block alongside Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid and Atalanta.
The reality leaves Arsenal staring down a potentially gruelling Champions League campaign, with pot one seeds now confirmed in Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Inter, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Barcelona.
The latter latched onto a pot one berth due to Roma failing to qualify after their final game of the Serie A season.
Confirmed in pot two are Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge and AC Milan with Shakhtar Donetsk expected to join them through qualifying.
Seven further spots need to be claimed in the qualification stage. If all goes as expected, Aston Villa will be in pot four, joined by Monaco, Stuttgart and Bologna, while pot three could include Celtic, Feyenoord, Sporting CP and PSV.
Teams will play eight games in the group-stage phase instead of six. The top eight sides will qualify for the last 16 while those finishing ninth to 24th will battle it out in a play-off to join them. The losing eight sides would get eliminated, alongside teams placed 25th to 36th, to exit the competition.
Clubs cannot play teams from their own country, meaning Arsenal, City, Liverpool and Aston Villa cannot face each other.
In the worst-case scenario, the Gunners might have to face Bayern Munich and Barcelona from Pot 1 and Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus from Pot 2.
