The speculation about the potential opponents can begin. At the moment, 26 of the 32 teams from next season’s Champions League have already been announced.
A look at the preliminary pot division shows that there may be several ‘pools of death’. This is partly due to the surprising titles of Lille and Inter. But also because of Villarreal’s Europa League win, which immediately lands Zenit in pot 3.
Barring a miracle, Club Brugge again ends up in pot 4. Of all qualified teams, only AC Milan and Wolfsburg have a worse coefficient. Only when all 6 spots still to be filled are taken by clubs with a lower number of points than Club, blue-black can still end up in pot 3. An almost impossible scenario.
The group stage draw will take place on August 26.
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For Racing Genk, the hunt for a ticket for the championship ball in the third preliminary round starts. Because the club is not a seed in the non-championship track, a tough opponent is waiting anyway.
3 of the 5 potential opponents are already known: Shakhtar Donetsk (Uk), Benfica (Por) and AS Monaco (Fra). The other two are the winners of the matches in the second preliminary round between Celtic (Sco), Rapid Vienna (Oos), Galatasaray (Tur) and Midtjylland (Den).
The draw will take place on July 19.
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