Who can Barça match up with?
With the Champions League playoff round finished, the pots are set for the group stage draw on Thursday. Here is how to pots will set up: teams from the same pot and country cannot be drawn against each other in the group stages. Barcelona have many potential opponents, some who they’ve faced before in the Champions League, and others would be new tests. Let's take a look at the pots, and who Barça could face in the group stage.
POT ONE
Barcelona (La Liga winners)
Real Madrid (European winners)
Leicester City (Premier League winners)
Bayern Munich (Bundesliga winners)
Juventus (Serie A winners)
Benfica (Primeira Liga winners)
Paris-Saint Germain (Ligue 1 winners)
CSKA Moscow (Russian Premier League winners)
POT TWO
Atlético Madrid* (Spain)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Arsenal (England)
Manchester City (England)
Sevilla* (Spain)
FC Porto (Portugal)
Napoli (Italy)
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
*Barça cannot face Spanish teams per UEFA rules
Best Case Scenario: Porto
Facing an English team is never fun, Napoli away is very, very, very tough, and we just faced Leverkusen last season. Porto advanced thanks to a weark Roma side that had about 17 red cards in two games, so facing the Portuguese wouldn't be the worst things in the world.
Worst Case Scenario: Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund
Pep Guardiola. Ilkay Gundogan. Leroy Sané. Sergio Agüero. John Stones. Thomas Tuchel. Marco Reus. Aubameyang. Mario Götze. The Yellow Wall. Yeah, let's avoid that for now. Maybe in the knockouts.
POT THREE
Basel (Switzerland)
Tottenham Hotspur (England)
Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine)
Lyon (France)
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
Sporting CP (Portugal)
Club Brugge (Belgium)
Borussia Mönchengladbach (Germany)
Best Case Scenario: Club Brugge
Brugge are a strong team with a nice young core, but they aren't the strongest side in Pot Three, and now that Belgian teams love to attack, they are good opponents for Barça's playing style.
Worst Case Scenario: Borussia Mönchengladbach, Tottenham Hotspur
Gladbach are one of the toughest sides in Germany, and they're even harder at home. Spurs are young, exciting and really well coached. So let's not play them.
POT FOUR:
Celtic (Scotland)
Monaco (France)
Beşiktaş (Turkey)
Legia Warsaw (Poland)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Ludogorets Razgad (Hungary)
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Rostov (Russia)
Best Case Scenario: Legia Warsaw, Ludogorets
Big teams in their countries, but not good enough for Europe. And we already know one of them is facing Real Madrid, so they are easy.
Worst Case Scenario: Besiktas
Not a fantastic team, but they play at one of the most hostile stadiums on Earth. Which isn't fun.
Which teams would you like to see in Barça's group, Blaugranes?
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