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The Champions League is back and, thanks to a few years in the wilderness, Liverpool find themselves stuck in Pot Three. With pot seedings based on what a club has done in Europe lately rather than on where they finished in domestic action, it's going to almost certain that Liverpool will end up in a so-called group of death.
It's a situation that has befallen Manchester City in recent years, and it will take a couple of seasons in Europe again before Liverpool have a chance of working their way out of it. A side like Arsenal, meanwhile, should have things rather easier despite having to qualify—and barely making it past Besiktas—as their recent European results mean they're in Pot One.
The drawing kicks off at 4:45PM BST/11:45AM EST today. Clubs cannot be drawn into groups with other sides from their federation. The draw can be watched on SkySports News in the UK and Fox Soccer Plus in the United States. It is also available for streaming on UEFA's website. The first group stage matches will take place on Tuesday, September 16th.
Pot 1:
Real Madrid (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), Bayern Munich (Germany), Chelsea (England), Benfica (Portugal), Atletico Madrid (Spain), Arsenal (England), Porto (Portugal)
Pot 2:
Schalke 04 (Germany), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Juventus (Italy), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Basel (Switzerland), Zenit St Petersburg (Russia), Manchester City (England)
Pot 3:
Liverpool (England), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Olympiacos (Greece), CSKA Moscow (Russia), Ajax (Netherlands), Sporting CP (Portugal), Galatasaray (Turkey), Athletic Bilbao (Spain)
Pot 4:
Anderlecht (Belgium), Roma (Italy), APOEL (Cyprus), BATE Borisov (Belarus), Ludogorets (Bulgaria), Maribor (Slovenia), Monaco (France), Malmö FF (Sweden)
