Manchester United will learn this year’s Champions League group stage fate today.
Here’s a look at the teams we could face in the group stage and more information about the draw…
What time is the Champions League draw?
Today’s Champions League draw will take place at 5pm.
Of course there will be the usual formalities at the beginning, so it may get underway a bit later than that.
Where to watch the Champions League draw
The draw for the group stage will be shown live on BT Sport 2 from 5pm.
It will also be available to customers via their app on tablets and smartphones.
Champions League seeding pots
Pot One: Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Inter, Lille, Manchester City, Sporting, Villarreal
Pot Two: Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Sevilla, Manchester United
Pot Three: Ajax, Atalanta, Benfica, RB Leipzig, FC Porto, RB Salzburg
Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit
Pot Four: Besiktas, Club Brugge, Dynamo Kyiv, Malmo, AC Milan, Sheriff
Wolfsburg, Young Boys
Best case scenario
There are some relatively gentle potential opponents in Pot 1.
We couldn’t take anything for granted against Lille or Sporting, but they look the best case scenario here.
Villarreal obviously beat United in the Europa League final, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would likely prefer to face them than Atletico Madrid or Bayern Munich.
Pot 3 contains a host of potential banana skins and the sides who look like easier opponents on paper would provide tricky away trips.
Shakhtar Donetsk and Zenit are probably the weakest opponents in that pot, although the long trip wouldn’t be ideal.
Moldovan minnows Sheriff are in the group stage for the very first time and should be very beatable, with Malmo also presentable opponents.
That said, United’s group stage campaign came unstuck against Istanbul Basaksehir last season, which should serve as a reminder that no potential opponent can be taken lightly.
Best case scenario: Lille, Zenit and Sheriff
Worst case scenario
United’s European destiny could look very different. There are some big hitters in Pot 1, but it’s not as strong as usual and of course United can’t draw Chelsea or City.
German champions Bayern Munich are probably the most ominous potential opponent, although even they are in a season of transition under new manager Julian Nagelsmann.
So what of the aforementioned Pot 3 banana skins? RB Leipzig of course helped knock United out last season – but United couldn’t draw them and Bayern in the same group.
Free-scoring Atalanta won at Anfield last season, while Ajax and Benfica have European pedigree and are always best avoided.
In Pot 4, Milan are the standout opponent. United saw them off in the Europa League last season but they would be the worst team to face from that final grouping.
Worst case scenario: Bayern Munich, Ajax and Milan.
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