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Champions League: Who could English teams draw?

:Headline: Champions League: Who could English teams draw?: ID:242114: from db_amp
Sports Mole takes a look at the best and worst case scenarios for the four English clubs in today's Champions League group draw.

Later today, the great and the good of European football will descend upon Monaco as the draw for the group stages of this season's Champions League takes place.

Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal had already secured their spot among the 32 teams, but it was not until last night that they were joined by Manchester United as Louis van Gaal's men wrapped up a 7-1 aggregate victory over Belgian outfit Club Brugge.

The two London clubs, as well as United, are used to being seeded in pot one, but under UEFA's recent revamp, only champions of their respective countries will be given that position from now on.

With that in mind, Sports Mole takes a closer look at who the four Premier League clubs could be drawn alongside.


Pot One: Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain, Zenit St Petersburg, PSV Eindhoven

Pot Two: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Porto, Arsenal, Man United, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Man City

Pot Three: Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla, Lyon, Dynamo Kyiv, Olympiacos, CSKA Moscow, Galatasaray, Roma

Pot Four: BATE Borisov, Borussia Monchengladbach, Wolfsburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Gent, Malmo, Astana


Chelsea

As Premier League champions, Jose Mourinho's men find themselves within the confines of pot one. While in theory that should be an advantageous position to be in, the prospect of facing Real Madrid is not one that the Blues will be relishing. Of course, Mourinho spent three years managing at the Bernabeu before his return to Stamford Bridge and the draw does have a habit of producing reunions. It would also pit the Chelsea boss against his old foe Rafael Benitez.

Talking of reconciliations, the second pot is also where Porto can be found. Drawing the Primeira Liga side would mean an emotional return for Mourinho to the Estadio do Dragao, having guided the club to an unexpected Champions League triumph 11 years ago.

In pots three and four Chelsea are likely to fancy their chances of beating most of those teams, but there are some lengthy trips that they would rather not make. Europa League winners Sevilla would probably be the ones to avoid, as would Astana, who are from Kazakhstan - over 3,500 miles away from London.

Best case scenario: Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiacos, Gent
Worst case scenario: Real Madrid, Roma, Wolfsburg


Arsenal, Man City and Man United

Pot two will be alien territory to Arsenal and United, both of whom are used to the comforts of pot one. Meanwhile, City are no strangers to being lower down the hierarchy, which in recent years has seen them face the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Jurgen Klopp's impressive Borussia Dortmund side in the group phase.

Obviously the English trio will want to give the likes of Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus and PSG a wide berth, but there are also potential opponents that are likely to be welcomed. Benfica and PSV - the champions of Portugal and Holland respectively - will not hold any fear, nor will Andre Villas-Boas's Zenit. However, the Russians would be the less favourable of those three given that it would include a trip to Russia.

As for the third and fourth pots, the same goes as for Chelsea. England's three representatives would not be overawed coming up against any of those teams, yet there is the potential for both intimidating away games (Galatasaray) and mammoth journeys (Astana, CSKA Moscow) that Arsene Wenger, Manuel Pellegrini and Van Gaal will all be eager to avoid.

Best case scenario: PSV, Olympiacos, Gent
Worst case scenario: Barcelona, Roma, Wolfsburg


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