Liverpool could be drawn into nightmare Champions League group

With another round of qualifiers down, who will qualify for the upcoming Champions League season is beginning to firm up.

There is obviously still some way to go to find out which clubs will take the last six group stage positions still up for grabs. However, it is the seeded pots from which all teams are drawn that are beginning to take shape.

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And it looks like it could be bad news for Liverpool in particular, as they could be grouped in Pot Three.

With Basel’s 5-1 aggregate defeat to Greek side PAOK, Liverpool’s hope of being promoted into Pot Two now rest on Benfica failing to qualify for the group stages.

The pots are determined by each team’s Uefa co-efficient, which is based on performances by each club in Europe, except for Pot One. That pot is reserved for the Champions League and Europa League title holders, along with the champions of the top six leagues as ranked by Uefa – Spain, Germany, France, England, Italy and Russia.

The Liverpool Echo helpfully provided us with the provisional pots for the Champions League draw, assuming that the higher ranked team wins their remaining qualifying ties.

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They look like this:

Pot One: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Lokomotiv Moscow

Pot Two: Borussia Dortmund, FC Porto, Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Benfica, Napoli, Tottenham Hotspur, Roma

Pot Three: Liverpool, Dinamo Kiev, Schalke, Lyon, Monaco, Salzburg, CSKA Moscow, PSV Eindhoven

Pot Four: Valencia, Viktoria Plzen, Celtic, Club Brugge, Galatasaray, FK Astana, Inter Milan, Hoffenheim

That means Liverpool could face a very tricky test of Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan.

Of course on the flip side, they could get lucky and play Lokomotiv Moscow, Porto and Viktoria Plzen.

For England’s other participants – Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – their paths could be a little easier.

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With City in Pot One, a draw of Porto, CSKA Moscow, and Viktoria Plzen looks enticing but their nightmare scenario could see them play Dortmund, Schalke and Inter.

With Spurs and United both in Pot Two, they would both be hoping for kinds draws with Lokomotiv Moscow, Salzburg and Astana, while both will be hoping to avoid the likes of Real Madrid, Schalke and Inter.