Champions League pots confirmed as Man City,…

Champions League pots confirmed as Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs await draw

Manchester City will be the Premier League's representative in pot 1 in Thursday's Champions League draw.

Last year's semi-finalists still crave a first success in Europe's elite club competition, with their best effort a final defeat in 2021. Pep Guardiola's side will be among the favourites once more with the final in Istanbul - the scene of Liverpool's iconic victory 17 years ago.

The Reds, along with Chelsea and Tottenham, all find themselves in pot 2. Liverpool last won the competition in 2019 whilst the Blues and Thomas Tuchel were crowned champions of Europe two years later. A late run last term saw Tottenham return to the Champions League.

Holders Real Madrid, French champions PSG and Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich are all in pot 1 alongside AC Milan, Porto and Ajax. Europa League champions Frankfurt will also be in pot 1. The three English sides will be joined in pot 2 by three LaLiga outfits with Barcelona, who have undergone a heavy recruitment drive, among them. Atletico Madrid and Sevilla are the other sides in the pot as well as RB Leizpig and Juventus.

Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan are among the most challenging sides in pot 3, with the Premier League side's keen to avoid the two former champions. Napoli, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon are also possible opponents as are Red Bull Salzburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Rangers are the sixth British participant after they secured a qualifying victory over PSV Eindhoven. They will be in pot 4 alongside Glasgow rivals Celtic and 1993 winners Marseille. Club Brugge, finalists in 1978, are also among those who could face Premier League competition.

Real Madrid are the tournament holders (Getty Images)

Croatian outfit Dinamo Zagreb and Danish champions FC Copenhagen are also in pot 4. Maccabi Haifa made a return to the Champions League after 13 years away thanks to a last minute goal in their qualifier. Czech outfit Viktoria Plzen complete the 32 teams in this year's competition.