Seedings shake-up in Champions League draw
CHANGES to the seeding rules for the Champions League draw, which takes place on Thursday, could provide a big opportunity for at least one team out of the hat.
The 24 clubs going into the group stage are divided into four seeded pots, and until last year the rankings were based entirely on Uefa coefficients.
But from this year pot one will be made up of the holders plus the champions of the seven biggest associations - Spain, England, Germany, Italy, Portugal, France and Russia. As Barcelona are holders and Spanish champions, the final place is passed on to Holland.
That means Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, whose coefficient would have put them in pot three rather than among the top-seeded teams, will be the side every team in pot two, among them Arsenal and Manchester City, will want to draw.
Juventus, Paris St-Germain and Zenit St Petersburg are also in pot one but their coefficients are lower than those of the top clubs in pot two.
Betfred are offering 3-1 about an English club winning the trophy, while it's 6-5 that a Spanish team succeed.
The draw is due to start at 4.45pm on Thursday and is being shown live on BT Sport Europe.
Coral and Hills pushed Arsenal out to 12-1 to lift the Capital One Cup after they were drawn away to north London rivals Tottenham in the third round.
Holders Chelsea, 11-2 favourites, go to League One Walsall while Manchester City were drawn away to Sunderland.
Champions League Pot 1 Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Benfica, Paris, Zenit St Petersburg, PSV Eindhoven
Pot 2 Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Porto, Arsenal, Valencia, Man City
Pot 2 or 3 Shakhtar Donetsk, Seville
Pot 3 Lyon, Dynamo Kiev, Olympiacos, Galatasaray, Roma
Pot 4 Borussia Monchengladbach, Wolfsburg, Dynamo Zagreb,
Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Gent, Malmo
Winners of Wednesday's Champions League playoffs to be added. Teams cannot be drawn in the same group as another team from the same country