The hugely anticipated Champions League draw takes place later today in Monaco.
The competition has been thrown wide open with Real Madrid, the current holders and having won the competition three times on the spin, now starting the defence of their trophy minus Cristiano Ronaldo and manager Zinedine Zidane, both of whom have departed the Bernabeu.
The competition also features for the first time the top four sides from England, Germany, Italy and Spain straight through to today's draw and therefore skipping the tricky playoff rounds.
Much has been made of Liverpool remaining in pot 3 following POAK's failure to knockout Benfica in last night's playoff, meaning the Portuguese outfit keep their spot in Pot 2. Jurgen Klopp's men reached last years final from Pot 3 and will not be too fussed about starting their once more.
Below are the confirmed pots from UEFA:
Pot 1: Real Madrid (ESP), Atletico Madrid (ESP), Barcelona (ESP), Bayern Munich (GER), Manchester City (ENG), Juventus (ITA), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS)
Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund (GER), Porto (POR), Manchester United (ENG), Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), Napoli (ITA), Tottenham Hotspur (ENG), Roma (ITA), Benfica (POR)
Pot 3: Liverpool (ENG), PSV Eindhoven (NED), Schalke 04 (GER), Lyon (FRA), Monaco (FRA), Ajax (NED), CSKA Moscow (RUS), Valencia (ESP)
Pot 4: Club Brugge (BEL), Galatasaray (TUR), Young Boys (SUI), Inter Milan (ITA), Hoffenheim (GER), AEK Athens (GRE), Red Star Belgrade (SRB), Viktoria Plzen (CZE)
As the holders Real Madrid join the seeded winners of their individual leagues including Premier League winners Manchester City and Cristiano Ronaldo's new side Juventus.
Pot 2 looks tricky with no so called easy option for the other sides. Manchester United will still be a threat despite their current difficulties while Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli could be a dark horse with their new manager knowing a thing or two about winning the competition.
Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspur will also be a tricky opponent.
Runners up Liverpool and La Liga outfit Valencia will be the sides to avoid in pot 3 while trips to France to face Lyon or Monaco will not relished either.
Pot 4 sees Galatasaray and Celtic conquerors AEK Athens among the hopefuls while Inter Milan make a long awaited and welcomed return to the competition.
The competition kicks off on September 18th.
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