Champions League 2017-18 seeding: Who’s in pot 1?
The draw for the 2017-18 Champions League group stage takes place on Thursday, Aug. 24. Who are the pot one teams that everyone else will want to avoid?
The Champions League group stage begins next month, so the UEFA bigwigs need to decide which teams will play each other. The draw is seeded to ensure the top clubs are kept apart. The 32 teams who have qualified are split into eight groups of four.
UEFA have a coefficient for determining the strength of every team in Europe. However, when determining the top seeds, it’s not as straightforward as simply taking the top eight teams. Pot one will actually contain the current holders Real Madrid, and the champions of Europe’s other top eight leagues. Here’s who else will be lurking in the top pot.
Bayern Munich have won the German league for the past five years, but have only won the Champions League once in that period. Their sustained success means they deservedly take a berth in pot one.
Juventus are next in line, and can go one better than Bayern as they have won their domestic league for the last six seasons. They will hope to go one better than last year, when they lost the final to Real Madrid.
For the last four years, Benfica have won the league in Portugal; are you noticing a theme yet? UEFA rank them as the continent’s 10th best team, though their recent Champions League record suggests a relatively early exit will be on the cards.
Chelsea are the English champions. They won the title in 2016-17 in part thanks to not having European football. It will be interesting to see how their relatively small squad deals with the twin challenges this season.
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Shakhtar Donetsk, much like Benfica, are perhaps a surprising sight in the top pot of Champions League seeds. Spartak Moscow will also not strike as much fear into the other teams as some of pot one undoubtedly will.
The final top seed is Monaco, who surprised every one last season. They shocked PSG by winning Ligue 1, and the wider world by tearing up the Champions League. We shall have to wait and see if they can do the same this season.