Manchester City have been given a clearer indication of their potential Champions League group stage opponents for next season after Real Madrid beat Liverpool in the 2022 final.
City were guaranteed a seeding in Pot One as Premier League champions, with Liverpool hoping to join them as Champions League winners if they won the final on Saturday. However, Real Madrid won the final 1-0, meaning Liverpool will be in Pot Two, which is decided by UEFA rankings.
In Pot One are the Champions League winners, Europa League winners, and champions of England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Portugal. However, with Madrid completing a league and cup double, that gave a Pot One seeding to the winners of the next-highest league — handing Dutch champions Ajax the final place instead of Liverpool.
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City will therefore avoid, Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, FC Porto and Ajax as fellow Pot One teams. And the final has also confirmed Pot Two, with five potential opponents available for City to face, as they cannot play any of the three English sides in the Pot.
Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham are all prohibited from playing City, meaning the Blues will face one of Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla or RB Leipzig in the group stage next season.
Pots Three and four are yet to be fully confirmed, with six teams to be decided from the qualifying round, and the final pots determined by UEFA ranking.
So far, though, seven of eight sides are confirmed in Pot Three, with no restrictions from City's perspective. They will face one of Borussia Dortmund, Red Bull Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Napoli, Sporting, or Bayer Leverkusen — plus one other team.
Marseille have definitely qualified, but can still be put in Pot Three or Four, while Club Brugge and Celtic are the only two sides definitely confirmed for Pot Four.
Of the sides in the qualifying rounds, potential opponents could include Rangers, Benfica, Dynamo Kyiv, PSV Eindhoven, or Monaco.
The Group Stage draw will take place on Thursday August 25.
