The pots for today’s Champions League draw have been confirmed following the completion of the final round of qualifying matches.
Pot 1 contains the seeded teams, featuring holders Real Madrid and the champions of the top seven leagues: Barcelona, Leicester City, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Benfica, PSG and CSKA Moscow.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who defeated Steaua Bucharest 6-0 on aggregate are in the second pot alongside Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Sevilla, Porto, Napoli and Bayer Leverkusen.
Tottenham Hotspur look the strongest of the teams in pot 3, but they could face a difficult group as they are as up against one of the six-non English teams from pot 2 as well as a seeded team.
Russian Premier League runners-up Rostov, who produced arguably the upset of the qualifying stages by thrashing four-times winners Ajax 5-2 on aggregate, are the only debutants in this season’s competition and also the lowest ranked side to reach the last 32.
The defeat of Ajax as well as the elimination of Salzburg, who lost in extra time to Dinamo Zagreb, provided a boost for German outfit Borussia Monchengladbach, who are promoted from pot 4 into pot 3.
The draw for the group stage of the Champions League takes place at 5 p.m. BST, midday ET on Thursday, Aug. 25. No team can play a club from their own association, while Dynamo Kiev cannot be drawn in the same group as CSKA Moscow or Rostov for political reasons.
The draw ceremony includes the vote for and presentation of the 2015-16 UEFA Best Player in Europe Awards for men and women.
Seeded Pot 1: Real Madrid (holders), Barcelona, Leicester City, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Benfica, PSG, CSKA Moscow
Pot 2: Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Manchester City, Sevilla, Porto, Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen
Pot 3: FC Basel, Tottenham Hotspur, Dynamo Kiev, Lyon, PSV Eindhoven, Sporting CP, Club Brugge, Borussia Monchengladbach
Pot 4: Celtic, Monaco, Besiktas, Legia Warsaw, Dinamo Zagreb, Ludogorets Razgrad, FC Copenhagen, Rostov
