Pots Confirmed For UEFA Champions League Group Stage Draw
Newcastle United will be in Pot 4 in Thursday's UEFA Champions League group stage draw.
The pots were confirmed on Wednesday night following the conclusion of the play-off round.
Dutch side PSV Eindhoven and Danish champions FC Copenhagen will both be in Pot 3, after knocking out Rangers and Rakow Czestochowa respectively.
Meanwhile, last season's Belgian Pro League winners Antwerp will be in Pot 4 following their victory over AEK Athens in the play-off round.
Pot 1 will comprise of the reigning champions from Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal and the Netherlands, as well as UCL holders Manchester City and Europa League champions Sevilla.
The other three pots have been determined using UEFA's club coefficient rankings.
Newcastle have not played European football since 2012, hence why the Tyneside club's ranking is the fourth-lowest of all 32 teams in this season's group stage.
Meanwhile, Manchester United and Arsenal are both in Pot 2.
Teams from the same nation cannot meet each other in the group stage, so Newcastle will avoid Man City, Man United and Arsenal.
However, there is a scenario that could see Eddie Howe's side drawn in the same group as AC Milan, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Champions League Pots For Group Stage Draw
Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
---|---|---|---|
Man City | Real Madrid | Shakhtar Donetsk | Young Boys |
Sevilla | Man United | RB Salzburg | Real Sociedad |
Barcelona | Inter Milan | AC Milan | Galatasaray |
Napoli | Dortmund | Braga | Celtic |
Bayern Munich | Atletico Madrid | PSV | Newcastle |
PSG | RB Leipzig | Lazio | Union Berlin |
Benfica | Porto | Red Star Belgrade | Antwerp |
Feyenoord | Arsenal | Copenhagen | Lens |