Arsenal will be among the eight top seeds when the draw for the
Group Stage of the Champions League takes place in Monaco at 5pm
(UK time) today.
UEFA have confirmed the club coefficients which are used to
calculate each side's seeding in Europe's elite club competition,
and Arsenal's record in the competition puts them among the
elite.
The Gunners cannot face AC Milan, Barcelona, Liverpool,
Internazionale, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United - the
other sides in Pot One.
A number of big names lie in wait in Pot Two including French
champions Lyon and highly-rated Spanish outfit Valencia. Sevilla
and AEK Athens are also in Pot Two - the second leg of their
qualifying tie was postponed due to the tragic death of Sevilla's
Antonio Puerta on Tuesday.
Arsenal have a one in four chance of facing a Scottish side in the
Group Stage. Celtic and Rangers are in Pot Three and Pot Four
respectively but cannot be drawn together as clubs from the same
country are kept apart until the knockout rounds.
How the draw works
The 32 teams will be placed in four pots. Pot One will comprise the
eight top-ranked clubs, Pot Two the next eight and so on for Pots
Three and Four. The sides are divided into eight groups of four.
The top two teams in each group will progress to the knock-out
stage.
Teams from Pot One will be provisionally placed in the first
position within their groups, teams from Pot Two will provisionally
take the second spot in their sections, and so on.
You can find out which teams Arsenal will face in the Group Stage
by checking back on Arsenal.com later today.
Participating teams:
Pot One
AC Milan (Italy), Barcelona (Spain), Liverpool (England),
Internazionale (Italy), Arsenal (England), Real Madrid (Spain),
Chelsea (England) Manchester United (England)
Pot Two
Valencia (Spain), Lyon (France), FC Porto (Portugal), Sevilla
(Spain)/AEK Athens (Greece), PSV Eindhoven (Holland), AS Roma
(Italy), Benfica (Portugal), Werder Bremen (Germany)
Pot Three
Celtic (Scotland), Schalke (Germany), VfB Stuttgart (Germany),
Steaua Bucharest (Romania), CSKA Moscow (Russia), Sporting Lisbon
(Portugal), Lazio (Italy), Marseille (France)
Pot Four
Rangers (Scotland), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Besiktas (Turkey),
Olympiacos (Greece), Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine), Fenerbahçe (Turkey),
Slavia Praha (Czech Republic), Rosenborg (Norway)
