Liverpool in Champions League draw pot three after Benfica beat PAOK
Posted Thursday, August 30, 2018 by Skysports.com
Reds could draw Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan
Liverpool could be drawn into a difficult Champions League group after being left in pot three following Benfica's qualification for the group stages.
If Basel and Benfica had failed to qualify for the group stage draw, which takes place on Thursday in Monaco at 5pm, last year's runners-up would have been in pot two.
While Basel were unable to progress, Benfica beat PAOK Salonika 4-1 in Greece on Wednesday night - after a 1-1 draw in the first leg - to reach the group stages, consigning Liverpool to pot three.
Liverpool are the top-ranked team in pot three based on their UEFA coefficient of 62.000, narrowly missing out on pot two as they trail Roma who have a coefficient of 64.000.
Jurgen Klopp's side were bound to be drawn against some of Europe's elite with the league champions and winners of Champions League and Europa League all in pot one.
However, had they been placed in pot two they could have avoided facing Borussia Dortmund, Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Benfica, Napoli or Roma.
Champions League pots
Pot One
Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid
Barcelona
Bayern Munich
Manchester City
Juventus
Paris Saint-Germain
Lokomotiv Moscow
Pot Two
Borussia Dortmund (89.000)
Porto (86.000)
Manchester United (82.000)
Shakthar Donetsk (81.000)
Benfica (80.000)
Napoli (78.000)
Tottenham (67.000)
Roma (64.000)
Pot Three
Liverpool (62.000)
Schalke (62.000)
Lyon (59.500)
Monaco (57.000)
Ajax (53.500)
CSKA Moscow (45.000)
Valencia (36.000)
PSV Eindhoven (36.000)
Pot Four
Viktoria Plzen (33.000)
Club Brugge (29.500)
Galatasaray (29.500)
Young Boys (20.500)
Inter Milan (16.000)
Hoffenheim (14.285)
Red Star Belgrade (10.750)
AEK Athens (10.000)
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