Liverpool, Tottenham likely to enter group of death in Champions League

Poor performance in the European Cup puts Tottenham in group three, possibly in the same group as Barca and Bayern. Liverpool will be in the same group if they pass the preliminary round.

UEFA has confirmed the eight seeded teams for the Champions League group stage draw, which will take place in August. They are the champions of Europe's top domestic leagues: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, Monaco and Spartak Moscow. These eight teams will be placed in pot one.

Pot two consists of teams that have qualified directly for the group stage through their national leagues, and have had good recent European Cup performances. Teams that are certain to be in pot two include Barca, Atletico, PSG, Dortmund, Man City, Porto.

A tough scenario awaits Harry Kane and Tottenham when the team returns to the Champions League next season. Photo: Reuters.

If Man Utd beat Ajax in the Europa League final, they will also be placed in pot two. If not, Tottenham, who are in pot three, will be promoted to replace them. The remaining spot will go to Sevilla if the Spanish side qualify.

The third and fourth pots have yet to be determined. The allocation of teams into these two pots will depend on who wins the preliminary rounds and then on their ranking based on past European Cup performance.

Tottenham, in pot three, could end up in the group of death, which could include both Barca and Bayern, or Atletico and Juventus. This is a possibility because there are so many big-name teams in both pots one and two. To avoid this difficult scenario, Tottenham can only hope that Man Utd do not win the Europa League. If they do, Tottenham will be promoted to pot two. Napoli would also benefit, climbing to pot two if Sevilla lose in the preliminary round.

Liverpool are in a state of fear like Tottenham. If Liverpool pass the preliminary round, they will be placed in pot three, at which point the "Red Brigade" will also face the prospect of falling into the group of death, after many years of absence from the Champions League.

The Premier League has been inferior to La Liga and Bundesliga in the number of teams in the Champions League quarter-finals for many years. English teams have only reached the quarter-finals four times in the past five years, compared to Spain (15 times), Germany (nine) and France (six).

According to VNE