The Champions League is the jewel in UEFA’s crown, boasting some of the best club teams in world football, and the 2018-19 edition is just around the corner.
Qualification for this year’s tournament kicked off back in June and the number of teams involved will soon be whittled down to an even 32 for the group stage, which is set to get under way in September.
A draw will be held to determine the make-up of the groups and UEFA favours the approach of dividing the participants into different pots based on the European confederation’s ranking system.
Before the draw, Goal takes a look at what teams are in the different seeding pots, when it will happen and more The draw for the Champions League group stage is set to take place on August 30 and the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco will be the venue for the event. As you’d expect, representatives from the 32 teams involved are usually present at draw ceremonies, with UEFA inviting special guests to preside over the procedure itself.
Champions League 2018-19 group stage seeding
After UEFA’s sweeping changes to the Champions League access list automatic group-stage berths are now reserved for 26 teams, with the remaining six teams coming through the qualification process.
The 32 teams who qualify for the group stage are divided into four seeding pots, with the Champions League holders, the Europa League winners and the champions of the top six nations occupying Pot One, ranked according to coefficient. The remaining three pots are populated with the other qualified teams, based on how high their coefficient is.
Who are the top UCL seeds for 2018-19?
As well as Real Madrid (Champions League winners) and Atletico Madrid (Europa League winners), the top seeds are as follows:
Bayern Munich (Germany)
Barcelona (Spain)
Juventus (Italy)
Paris Saint-Germain (France)
Manchester City (England)
Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)
You can see how all four pots are shaping up in the table below.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid (162.000) (CL) | Borussia Dortmund (89.000) | Schalke (62.000) | Club Brugge (29.500) |
| Atletico Madrid (140.000) (EL) | Porto (86.000) | Lyon (59.500) | Galatasaray (29.500) |
| Bayern Munich (135.000) | Manchester United (82.000) | Monaco (57.000) | Inter (16.000) |
| Barcelona (132.000) | Shakhtar Donetsk (81.000) | CSKA Moscow (45.000) | Hoffenheim (14.285) |
| Juventus (126.000) | Napoli (78.000) | TBC | TBC |
| PSG (109.000) | Tottenham (67.000) | TBC | TBC |
| Manchester City (100.000) | Roma (64.000) | TBC | TBC |
| Lokomotiv Moscow (22.500) | TBC | TBC | TBC |
Who can still qualify for the Champions League 2018-19 group stage?
Six more clubs will join the 26 who are already assured of their place in the group stage and a picture is beginning to emerge as to who they might be after the first leg games of the play-offs.
There are two different routes being travelled by the teams in the qualification phase: the Champions Path and the League Path. Four teams will emerge from the former, with two coming from the latter.
A number of former European champions are still in the mix and all of the teams in contention can be seen below, with the second legs set for August 28 and 29.
Play-off Champions Path:
Red Star Belgrade (10.750) or Red Bull Salzburg (55.500)
BATE Borisov (20.500) or PSV (36.000)
Young Boys (20.500) or Dinamo Zagreb (17.500)
AEK Athens (10.000) or MOL Vidi (4.250)