Champions League Group Stage Draw Pots Confirmed

The Premier League will once again have a full allocation of teams in this season's Champions League group stage draw on Thursday after Arsenal joined Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City after beating Besiktas in the play-off.

Alexis Sanchez's only goal was enough to see the Gunners through to a 17<sup>th consecutive season in Europe's premier club competition.

Arsenal join Chelsea in pot one alongside a series of continental heavyweights, while domestic champions City will be drawn from pot two. Liverpool, returning to the competition after a five-year absence, are in pot three.

Both Arsenal and Chelsea will avoid facing reigning champions and 10-time winners Real Madrid, and fellow La Liga sides Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in the group stage but could be paired with Paris Saint Germain, 2013 runners-up Borussia Dortmund or Serie A champions Juventus.

However, the London pair will be eyeing the likes of FC Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk, Olympiakos and CSKA Moscow who lie in pots two and three, as well as tournament debutants Malmo and Ludogorets Razgrad in pot four.

Liverpool meanwhile are likely to be handed a far tougher task, with their absence from the Champions League and failure to win the Europa League having damaged their Uefa coefficient.

Brendan Rodgers' side could be forced to face holders Real, PSG and AS Roma in the group stage, a draw which would represent a daunting prospect for the Northern Irishman's side.

Manuel Pellegrini's City, whose recent big spending put them under pressure to perform in Europe after failing three seasons in a row to go beyond the last 16, will face one of the big sides from pot one but should be handed a presentable draw.

The draw takes place on Thursday, 28 August in Nyon at 4:30pm BST. IBTimes UK will have live text commentary of the draw.

Champions League group stage draw pots

Pot One: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, FC Porto

Pot Two: Schalke, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Basel, Zenit St Petersburg, Manchester City

Pot Three: Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiakos, CSKA Moscow, Ajax, Liverpool, Sporting Lisbon, Galatasaray, Athleic Bilbao

Pot Four: Anderlecht, AS Roma, Ludogorets Razgrad, APOEL, BATE Borisov, Maribor, AS Monaco, Malmo