After an 8-4 aggregate victory over FC Astana in the playoff round, Celtic ensured their progression to the group stages of the Champions League but which teams could Brendan Rodgers and his charges face? We don’t know for certain as of yet totally, but we do know that they will be two teams from Pot One and two.
Here are the Pot One teams:
Real Madrid
Bayern Munich
Chelsea
Juventus
Benfica
AS Monaco
Spartak Moscow
Shaktar Donetsk
For obvious reasons, the best draws from a competitive standpoint would be either Spartak or Shaktar.
Those two sides are tough to beat, and the travel is definitely a challenge, but they are still much more manageable than the other teams. If the others had to be picked, then a date with Benfica wouldn’t be all that bad.
The worst draw, though, is Real Madrid, who are a shoo-in to win the group and advance. And another no-no would be a draw with Bayern Munich. Chelsea would make for interesting matches as Rodgers has a tie to the reigning English champions.
Here are the Pot Two teams:
Barcelona
Atletico Madrid
PSG
Borussia Dortmund
Sevilla
Manchester City
FC Porto
Manchester United
This pot seems tougher than the first, and in truth, it probably is but the UEFA rules are there to make it more fair for smaller sides. The best draw would be either Sevilla or Porto from this batch of teams. Porto aren’t the team of old, while Sevilla are still finding their feet under a new manager.
What’s most likely? Well, that’s obvious. Celtic and Barcelona are going to be drawn together again. They’re linked together, so we all might as well just get over it!
Another draw that might not be too bad in Man City, who the Hoops drew twice with last season. Atletico Madrid, despite being dominant, also would represent a match in which the Bhoys would be hammered, at least.
