Just for the record, this would be the 56th Champions League season and Manchester United alongside Sir Alex have big hopes after last year's early exit thanks to Wayne Rooney's injury.
Last year, one would say (especially Sir Alex) it was a tough group stage encounter with United finally finishing top of the group in 2009.
Now you must be wondering what the hell a "Pot" mean?
The group stage draw for this season takes place tomorrow at 16.00 GMT / 18.00 CET at the Grimaldi forum in Monaco, Spain.
The line-up is now complete each of the 32 teams have been divided into four seeding pots for the draw.
It is a proud moment for Mancheste United as they witness this draw for the record 16th time out of the maximum of 19 played so far in the history of UEFA.
The four Pots are listed below (Source: uefa.com)
Club | Qualified as | Last in group stage | Previous appearances | Last season* | Best performance** |
Pot 1 | |||||
FC Internazionale Milano | Holders/ Champions, Italy | 2009/10 | 9 | Winners | Winners (1964, 1965, 2010) |
FC Barcelona | Champions, Spain | 2009/10 | 14 | Semi-finals | Winners (1992, 2006, 2009) |
Manchester United FC | Runners-up, England | 2009/10 | 15 | Quarter-finals | Winners (1968, 1999, 2008) |
Chelsea FC | Champions, England | 2009/10 | 8 | Round of 16 | Runners-up (2008) |
Arsenal FC | Third place, England | 2009/10 | 12 | Quarter-finals | Runners-up (2006) |
FC Bayern München | Champions, Germany | 2009/10 | 13 | Runners-up | Winners (1974, 1975, 1976, 2001) |
AC Milan | Third place, Italy | 2009/10 | 13 | Round of 16 | Winners (1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007) |
Olympique Lyonnais | Runners-up, France | 2009/10 | 10 | Semi-finals | Semi-finals |
Pot 2 | |||||
SV Werder Bremen | Third place, Germany | 2008/09 | 6 | UEFA Europa League, Round of 16 | Quarter-finals |
Real Madrid CF | Runners-up, Spain | 2009/10 | 14 | Round of 16 | Winners (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002) |
AS Roma | Runners-up, Italy | 2008/09 | 6 | UEFA Europa League, Round of 32 | Runners-up (1984) |
FC Shakhtar Donetsk | Champions, Ukraine | 2008/09 | 5 | UEFA Europa League, Round of 32 | Group stage |
SL Benfica | Champions, Portugal | 2007/08 | 5 | UEFA Europa League, Quarter-finals | Winners (1961, 1962) |
Valencia CF | Third place, Spain | 2007/08 | 6 | UEFA Europa League, Quarter-finals | Runners-up (2000, 2001) |
Olympique de Marseille | Champions, France | 2009/10 | 6 | UEFA Europa League, Round of 16 | Winners (1993) |
Panathinaikos FC | Champions, Greece | 2008/09 | 8 | UEFA Europa League, Round of 16 | Runners-up (1971) |
Pot 3 | |||||
Tottenham Hotspur FC | Fourth place, England | Debut | 0 | Did not compete in UEFA competition | Semi-finals |
Rangers FC | Champions, Scotland | 2009/10 | 9 | Group stage | Semi-finals |
AFC Ajax | Runners-up, Netherlands | 2005/06 | 8 | UEFA Europa League, Round of 32 | Winners (1971, 1972, 1973, 1995) |
FC Schalke 04 | Runners-up, Germany | 2007/08 | 2 | Did not compete in UEFA competition | Quarter-finals |
FC Basel 1893 | Champions, Switzerland | 2008/09 | 2 | UEFA Europa League group stage | Second group stage |
SC Braga | Runners-up, Portugal | Debut | 0 | UEFA Europa League, third qualifying round | N/A |
FC København | Champions, Denmark | 2006/07 | 1 | UEFA Europa League, Round of 32 | Group stage |
FC Spartak Moskva | Runners-up, Russia | 2006/07 | 9 | Did not compete in UEFA competition | Semi-finals |
Pot 4 | |||||
Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC | Champions, Romania | Debut | 0 | UEFA Europa League, third qualifying round | N/A |
FC Twente | Champions, Netherlands | Debut | 0 | UEFA Europa League, Round of 32 | N/A |
FC Rubin Kazan | Champions, Russia | 2009/10 | 1 | UEFA Europa League, Round of 16 | Group stage |
AJ Auxerre | Third place, France | 2009/10 | 3 | Did not compete in UEFA competition | Quarter-finals |
CFR 1907 Cluj | Champions, Romania | 2008/09 | 1 | UEFA Europa League, group stage | Group stage |
FK Partizan | Champions, Serbia | 2003/04 | 1 | UEFA Europa League, group stage | Group stage |
MŠK Žilina | Champions, Slovakia | Debut | 0 | UEFA Europa League, play-off round | N/A |
Bursaspor | Champions, Turkey | Debut | 0 | Did not compete in UEFA competition | N/A |
Now you must be wondering what the hell a "Pot" mean?
Well basically, there would be one team from each pot in one group. All this means is that neither Man United or Barca or Chelsea can't be in the same group. There cannot be more than one team from a pot in the same group. For a group to form, there got to be a team from each Pot. Pots is a relatively new way to chop the teams into reasonable and fair groups. It will ensure that each group is the same, surely it wouldn't make sense if Man Utd play Inter Milan at group stage would it? Although I'm cent percent sure United will beat Inter anyway..
What TheReDevilSpot predicts for Manchester United
-----------> Manchester United ENG <--------------
------------> Valencia SPN <--------------
------------> Spurs ENG <--------------
------------> FC Twente NED <--------------
Have your say!
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