Arsenal have been placed in the second seeding pot for next season's revamped Champions League, with the conclusion of Europe's major leagues confirming the initial line-up. The Gunners, who narrowly missed out on the Premier League title to Manchester City, will feature in their second successive campaign in the competition.
The tournament will expand from 32 to 36 teams, replacing the traditional group stage with a single league phase. Each club will play two opponents from each of the four seeding pots, with coefficients now determining the allocation rather than domestic titles or European results. Germany have secured an additional spot through their coefficient rating, while Italy earned six places thanks to Atalanta's recent success.
Arsenal are confirmed in pot two alongside Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Benfica, AC Milan and Club Brugge, with Shakhtar Donetsk expected to join them through qualifying. Pot one features Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Inter, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Barcelona, the latter claiming the final berth after Roma failed to qualify.
If qualifying goes as expected, Aston Villa will be placed in pot four, joined by Monaco, Stuttgart and Bologna, while Celtic, Feyenoord, Sporting CP and PSV are slated for pot three. Teams will play eight matches in the league phase, with the top eight advancing to the last 16 and sides finishing ninth to 24th entering a play-off round.
Clubs from the same country cannot be drawn against each other, meaning Arsenal will avoid Manchester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa. However, a challenging draw could see Mikel Arteta's side face Bayern Munich and Barcelona from pot one, along with Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus from their own pot.
