Newcastle United join Man Utd & Arsenal as they discover Champions League group stage draw fate

As expected, Newcastle will enter the draw in pot four as a result of the latest Champions League qualifying round results. There was a very slim chance The Magpies could scrape into pot three if all six teams who enter the group stage from the qualifying rounds had a lower coefficient than Eddie Howe’s side.

Newcastle’s coefficient of 21.914 is the third lowest of the 26 teams who have qualified for the Champions League as it stands.

And pot four has now been guaranteed that at least one club entering through the qualifying rounds will have a higher coefficient than United.

Molde’s 3-2 aggregate win over KI and Galatasaray’s 4-0 aggregate win over Olimpija Ljubljana means the two sides will meet and the play-off round later this month. With both Molde and Galatasaray having a higher coefficient than Newcastle and one of them guaranteed to qualify, The Magpies’ place in pot four is certain regardless of other qualifying results.

Being drawn as a pot four club means Newcastle would theoretically be put into a more difficult group as they will be the lowest ranked side in their group in terms of a UEFA coefficient.

Pots one and two have already been confirmed featuring Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal from the Premier League while pots three and four remain subject to change based on which teams are still to qualify. The Champions League group stage draw will be made on August 31.

Pot one

Manchester City

Sevilla

Barcelona

Napoli

Bayern Munich

Paris Saint-Germain

Benfica

Feyenoord

Pot two

Real Madrid

Manchester United

Inter Milan

Borussia Dortmund

Atletico Madrid

RB Leipzig

Porto

Arsenal

Pot three (confirmed)

Shakhtar Donetsk

Red Bull Salzburg

AC Milan

Lazio

Red Star Belgrade

Pot three or pot four

Real Sociedad

Celtic

Six teams TBC via qualifying

Pot four (confirmed)

Newcastle United

Union Berlin

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