On Thursday, the 32 clubs that are set to take part in the Champions League group stage will find out the identities of their opponents.
The draw will take place at 18:00 CET, putting together eight groups composed of four teams each. Once all qualified clubs were revealed, the four pots were announced.
With the pot 1 being reserved for the champions (CL and Europa League winners plus the champions of the Top six domestic leagues), Juventus found themselves for the first time in a while drawn into pot 2.
Nonetheless, this isn’t exactly terrible news for the Old Lady, as it means that we’ll be avoiding fellow pot 2 clubs – the likes of PSG, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Liverpool. Here are the full pots.
Pot One: Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Atlético Madrid, Villarreal, Inter Milan, Sporting Lisbon, Lille
Pot Two: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund
Pot Three: Porto, Ajax, RB Leipzig, Atalanta, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Benfica, RB Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk
Pot Four: AC Milan, Club Brugge, Wolfsburg, Young Boys, Malmö, Beşiktaş, Dynamo Kiev, Sheriff Tiraspol
When it comes to Pot 1, struggling Ligue 1 champions Lille would be considered a favorable draw for Juventus, whilst Villarreal and Sporting would be decent as well. The rules prevent two clubs from the same country to play one another before the quarter finals, so Inter is off the table.
Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Atlético Madrid would be tricky draws to say the least.
As for pot 3, the pool isn’t easy either, especially in the presence of Ajax and Porto who both knocked out Juventus from the competition in the previous seasons. Benfica, RB Leipzig and its sister club RB Salzburg would be tough draws as well.
Naturally, pot 4 is consisted from the less competitive sides, and with Milan out of the equation for the Bianconeri, the toughest picks might be Club Brugge, Wolfsburg or perhaps Besiktas.