Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and PSG will not be seeded in the group stage of the Champions League 2021-2022 | Football | sports

The draw for the group stage of the most prestigious club tournament in the world will take place this Thursday at 11:00 (from Ecuador, Colombia and Peru).

AFP

August 25, 2021 – 7:30 p.m.

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The Paris Saint-Germain of Lionel Messi and big like him Real Madrid, the FC Barcelona, the Liverpool o la Juventus will appear on Thursday in Pot 2 of the draw for the group stage of the Champions League (11:00 from Ecuador, Colombia and Peru) and for that reason they are the great threats to the seeds.

Who would want to face Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar’s fearsome PSG from the outset? Or with Real Madrid, the most successful club in the history of the competition, or Barça, another of the traditional heavyweights of the tournament?

Reserved for the champions of the main European leagues and the last continental competitions, Pot 1 therefore has clubs not used to such an honor, such as Lille (French champion), Villarreal (Europa League champion) and Sporting de Lisboa (champion of Portugal).

In that seeded cup there are also fearsome teams such as Manchester City (champion of England and runner-up in the last edition of the European tournament), Chelsea (current champion of the competition) and Bayern Munich (champion of Germany).

Atlético de Madrid, champion of the last Spanish League, also starts as seed, seeking to settle an old pending account, after touching the European title on three occasions (1974, 2014, 2016). Pot 1 is completed by Inter Milan, champion of Italy.

The AC Milan trap

PSG is the team everyone is looking at at the start of the season, after their spectacular transfer campaign.

Messi’s arrival in the French capital has been the signing of the year, but PSG has added other names with ‘glamor’ to their squad, especially the Spanish Sergio Ramos, the Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, but also Georginio Wijnaldum and Achraf Hakimi.

All this makes PSG one of the great favorites for the title, despite the fact that the ‘Mbappé soap opera’ continues, with Real Madrid’s interest in taking over the services of the French player.

Real Madrid himself, a thirteen-time winner of the European Cup / Champions League, is another of the great aspirants. Barça will try to show that it can overcome Messi’s departure and his difficult financial situation.

Liverpool, Manchester United, Juventus and Sevilla are other powerful teams in Pot 2. Pot 3 and 4 also have potential threats.

Notable among them are AC Milan, a historic seven-time European champion, or Porto, two-time tournament champion. Also Ajax, which in its history won four titles in this tournament.

It is also advisable to be wary of other clubs with less history but which have been confirmed as emerging teams in recent years, RB Leipzig and Atalanta.

Pot 1 (seeded)

Chelsea (ENG), Manchester City (ENG), Atletico Madrid (ESP), Villarreal (ESP), Bayern Munich (GER), Sporting Lisbon (POR), Inter Milan (ITA), Lille (FRA)

Pot 2

Real Madrid (ESP), FC Barcelona (ESP), Juventus (ITA), Paris SG (FRA), Manchester United (ENG), Liverpool (ENG), Sevilla (ESP), Borussia Dortmund (GER)

Pot 3

FC Porto (POR), Ajax Amsterdam (NED), RB Leipzig (GER), Atalanta (ITA), Zenit San Petersburg (RUS), Benfica (POR), RB Salzburg (AUT), Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)

Pot 4

Brujas (BEL), AC Milan (ITA), Wolfsburgo (GER), Malmö (SWE), Young Boys (SUI), Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA), Besiktas (TUR), Dinamo Kiev (UKR)

How are the drums made up?

The first is made up of the champion clubs of the six best-ranked countries in the UEFA coefficient (England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal), as well as the winners of past editions of the Champions League and the Europa League. Pots 2, 3 and 4 are defined according to the UEFA coefficient of each club. (D)

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