ENGLISH Clubs will meet their rivals from the Champions League group stage when the draw takes place in Istanbul on Thursday.
Chelsea will be eager to see who they will start their defense against, while Manchester United, City and Liverpool are ready to be in the mix once again.
–All four Premier League clubs are sure to be among the favorites.
But there will be difficult tests on the way.
Chelsea are in Pot 1 as reigning champions, alongside Premier-winner Manchester City.
While Man United and Liverpool will be drawn from Pot 2.
The Blues and Man City may feel like they have an advantage, but Boats 1 and 2 are filled to the brim with dangerous opposition.
Thomas Tuchel’s team, as well as Pep Guardiola’s, could even remove the German’s former Paris Saint-Germain from Pot 2.
Champions League Draw Boats 1-4
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Pot 1: Chelsea, Villarreal, Atlético de Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Lille, Sporting Lisbon.
Pot 2: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund.
Pot 3: Oporto, Ajax, RB Leipzig, Atalanta, Zenit San Petersburgo.
Pot 4: Club Brugge, Young Boys o Ferencvaros, AC Milan, Ludogorets o Malmo, Wolfsburg.
Pot 3 or 4: Shakhtar Donetsk or Monaco, RB Salzburg or Brondby, Benfica or PSV, Besiktas, Dynamo Kyiv, Dinamo Zagreb or Sheriff Tiraspol.
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And even if they avoid Lionel Messi and company, Pot 2 is also packed with players like Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sevilla and another of Tuchel’s former teams, Borussia Dortmund.
Meanwhile, Man United and Liverpool could face a daunting task in the form of Bayern Munich from Pot 1, expecting one from Villarreal, Lille, Sporting Lisbon, Inter Milan or even Atlético Madrid.
Prem clubs will want to avoid teams like Porto or Ajax from Pot 3, which is also tentatively scheduled to feature RB Leipzig, Atalanta and Zenit St Petersburg.
Pot 4 is yet to be completed with the qualifiers yet to be played, but none of the four English teams will want to face European giants AC Milan.
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Club Brugge and Wolfsburg are also in Pot 4, although they seem likely to be joined by Moldovan minnows FC Sherrif, who are 3-0 ahead of Dinamo Zagreb in their standings, and PSV, if they can reverse their 2- deficit. 1 against Benfica. .
If Shakhtar can consolidate their 1-0 lead over AS Monaco, they will enter Pot 3, while the French team could enter Pot 3 or 4 depending on other results.
Brondby will enter Pot 4 if they beat Salzburg, while the Austrians would enter Pot 3 if they maintain their 2-1 lead in the first leg.
Meanwhile, Malmo has a 2-0 lead over Ludogorets, with the winner going to Pot 4.
And Hungarians Ferencvaros will try to book a place in Pot 4 by turning a 3-2 deficit against Young Boys of Switzerland.
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Watch the jubilant Chelsea stars parade the Champions League trophy around Stamford Bridge in front of their rivals Tottenham
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