Ostensibly so. But as I have said, the quality of opposition in both UEFA tournaments has been rising annually since 2011. You don't want the group stage complacency of Poool 2014 or Goons 2015.
Of course not, but there's not a lot that we can do about the draw, unfortunately. We'll get one of the top teams and then the bottom side is probably the biggest risk. Some of the recent draws have appeared to be wildly unbalanced.
A smorgasbord of "world class" players to fall victim to the Dele Alli nutmeg. Except Suarez (who will bite Alli if he gets done) .
The good news: it's exceptionally unlikely that we'll be facing any away trips to Azerbeijan. The bad news: Qarabag will no doubt become the first Azerbeijani team to qualify for the Champions League group stages...
Schalke also didn't make it, Sevilla might not if Pool beat them, Atletic Bilbao didn't either. Rostov go into Pot 1, moving us down. So 20th or 21st seeds. 3rd pot. Get in Rostov's would be good!
Pot 1 for 2016/17 Champions League group stage as it stands Barcelona PSG Bayern Munich Leicester City Juventus Benfica Rostov edit: CSKA actually won it in the end One of the Madrid clubs
Would love to draw Juventus or Barca, seeing Messi, Neymar, Iniesta or Pogba, Buffon and Dybala down the Lane will be incredible.
Pot 2 from those certainly qualified is currently The other Madrid club Borussia Dortmund Arsenal Napoli Bayer Leverkusen Basel Spurs Kiev If any of the following clubs qualify they will slot in above Spurs Seville, Man C, Porto So we need two of those to not make it.