2023-24 Champions League group stage seeds set
Title holders Manchester City and Europe League winners Sevilla placed in Pot 1
Manchester United, Arsenal and Real Madrid have all been left out of Pot 1 by UEFA, meaning the three clubs could be in for a tough Champions League group stage draw come August.
Following a 1-0 win in the final this past Saturday against Inter Milan, Manchester City were placed in Pot 1 as titleholders, alongside Europa League winners Sevilla.
The rest of Pot 1 is made up of the champions from Europe’s top six domestic leagues: Barcelona, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica and Feyenoord.
But Manchester United, Arsenal and Real Madrid were placed in Pot 2 on Tuesday ahead of the group stage draw that will take place on Aug. 31. As a result, we could see a group featuring Manchester City, Real Madrid, Celtic and Union Berlin.
Newcastle United, Celtic and Real Sociedad have yet to be seeded — they could end up in either Pot 3 or Pot 4 — depending on which teams progress through the Champions League playoff rounds this summer. Six teams still have to qualify for the group stage.
Union Berlin and Lens are the only two clubs already placed in Pot 4 since they are the lowest teams in the field, according to UEFA coefficient rankings used to seed clubs.
The top two teams from each of the UCL’s eight groups advance to the round of 16.
Here is a look at the four pots:
Pot 1: Manchester City, Sevilla, Barcelona, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica and Feyenoord.
Pot 2: Real Madrid, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, RB Leipzig, FC Porto and Arsenal
Pot 3: Shakhtar Donetsk, Red Bull Salzburg, AC Milan, Lazio and Red Star Belgrade.
Pot 3 or 4: Newcastle United, Celtic and Real Sociedad.
Pot 4: Union Berlin and Lens