Barcelona’s seven possible Pot 1 opponents in the Champions League

With the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League final played out on Saturday night, the seeds for the group stage draw for the next season’s competition are set.

Pot 1 is reserved for the champions of the top-six leagues of Europe along with the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.

The seeding from Pot 2 to Pot 4 is based on the UEFA coefficient, which measures the results and performances of teams in European competitions over a five-year duration.

Barcelona, who finished second in La Liga this season and qualified for the Champions League, will be going into the draw as one of the eight teams in Pot 2.

The Catalan giants will be joined by UCL finalists Liverpool, Juventus, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and RB Leipzig.

As for Pot 1, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and FC Porto had booked their places as champions of their respective leagues. In addition, Eintracht Frankfurt had joined them courtesy of their Europa League triumph.

But with Real Madrid now winning the Champions League as well, a spot was left open, which has now gone to Dutch champions AFC Ajax.

So, Barcelona’s opponents from Pot 1 could be any one of Man City, Bayern Munich, Porto, Eintracht Frankfurt, Milan, PSG or Ajax. The Catalans will not be drawn against Real Madrid as clubs from the same league are not paired in the group stages.

As for Pot 3, seven of the eight slots have been confirmed, with Borussia Dortmund, Red Bull Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Napoli, Sporting CP and Bayer Leverkusen. The final spot would go to Benfica, provided they qualify for the group stages.

The rest of the teams who make it through from the qualifying phases will be included in Pot 4.