Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal side have to wait a while longer to discover their opponents in the 2023/24 Champions League group stage, but the picture is beginning to take shape now that many domestic leagues have concluded.
Whilst this season's final between Manchester City and Internazionale takes place on Saturday night, the journey to join both clubs in the competition next term begins on June 27 in the preliminary round semi-finals before the first qualifying round comes into play from July 11.
Following three more qualification rounds the draw for the group stage will then take place in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday, August 31 and having not played in Europe's premier club competition since 2017, all connected with the Gunners will be counting down the days until the ceremony.
The last time Arsenal were in the Champions League their group contained Paris Saint-Germain, Ludogorets and Basel. As things stand, Mikel Arteta's side are in line to face the Ligue 1 champions again and there's also a chance to be reunited with Barcelona and Bayern Munich as all three teams are in Pot 1.
So who else could they come up against in the group? football.london takes a look.
Champions League pots
As ever, the teams who qualify for the Champions League group stage will be split into four pots. Pot 1 contains the 2022/23 Champions League and Europa League winners, with the league champions from England, Spain, Italy, France, Germany and Portugal also included in there.
If Man City complete the league and European double on Saturday night, then Internazionale, as a result, will stay in Pot 2 with Feyenoord as the champions of the Eredivisie being confirmed in Pot 1. However, they will drop to Pot 3 if the Serie A giants emerge victorious.
Pots 2, 3 and 4 are then determined by a club's UEFA coefficient. At present 26 teams have already qualified for next season's group stage, with the remaining six teams set to be confirmed by the end of August once the final play-off round is over.
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So which pot will Arsenal be in?
Arsenal will be in Pot 2 for the group stage draw even with a coefficient of 76.000. With the coefficients based on the performance of clubs in European cups over the last five years, the Gunners' rather low ranking is based on their rather poor showings in the Europa League.
In fact, the sole reason for their spot in Pot 2 rather than Pot 3 is that Chelsea, Liverpool, Juventus, AS Roma, Ajax, Villarreal, Tottenham Hotspur and Eintracht Frankfurt have all failed to qualify for the Champions League.
Next season's Champions League group stage with the confirmed teams:
Pot 1: Sevilla, Manchester City, Barcelona, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica
Pot 1 or 2: Internazionale
Pot 1 or 3: Feyenoord
Pot 2: Real Madrid, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, RB Leipzig, Porto, Arsenal
Pot 2 or 3: Shakhtar Donetsk
Pot 3: Red Bull Salzburg, AC Milan, Lazio, Red Star Belgrade
Pot 3 or 4: Real Sociedad, Celtic, Newcastle United
Pot 4: Union Berlin, Lens
Who can Arsenal get?
As per UEFA rules, Arsenal will not be able to come up against teams from the same association in the group stage, thus meaning they cannot be paired with Man City, Man United or Newcastle United.
Although Sevilla, Barcelona, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica and either Internazionale or Feyenoord will be the options from in Pot 1 which will be finalised one way or another on Saturday night.
Arsenal can then come up against one of Red Bull Salzburg, AC Milan, Lazio or Red Star Belgrade from Pot 3. Currently, Union Berlin and Lens are the only two clubs confirmed in Pot 4 and it won't be until August when the identity of the remaining six teams are be revealed.
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