Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City sweat over Champions League ‘group of death’ draw Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea will be desperate to avoid a potential ‘group of death’ in the Champions League group stage draw, set to be held in Monaco this afternoon. The Premier League trio will take their places as top seeds in Pot One, while Manchester City must settle for a spot in Pot Three after two successive group stage eliminations from Europe’s elite competition. The nightmare scenario for the Gunners, Chelsea and United would pit them against Paris Saint Germain or Juventus from Pot Two, last year’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund in Pot Three, and either Napoli or Real Sociedad in Pot Four. Clubs from the same country can’t be drawn together, meaning if one of the English sides drew Italian giants Juventus from Pot Two, they automatically avoid the prospect of Napoli in Pot Four. Celtic are also included in the fourth tier for the draw following their remarkable comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 on aggregate against Shakhter Karagandy. Similarly, the top-seeded Premier League trio could not draw Manchester City from Pot Three. However, that’s unlikely to spare Manuel Pellegrini’s men from another difficult group clash, as they face the possibility of drawing champions Bayern Munich, or either of the two Spanish giants Barcelona or Real Madrid from Pot One. Portuguese sides Porto and Benfica complete the top bracket of clubs. The draw will begin at 16:45 BST. Pot 1: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Arsenal, FC Porto, Benfica Pot 2: Atletico Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan, Schalke, Marseille, CSKA Moscow, Paris St-Germain, Juventus Pot 3: Zenit St Petersburg, Manchester City, Ajax Amsterdam, Borussia Dortmund, FC Basel, Olympiakos, Galatasaray, Bayer Leverkusen Pot 4: FC Copenhagen, Napoli, Anderlecht, Celtic, Steaua Bucharest, Viktoria Plzen, Real Sociedad, Austria Vienna
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 11:55:47 +0000
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