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Champions League group-stage pots set ahead of Thursday's draw

The final three places in the Champions League group stage were sealed on Wednesday evening, completing the 32-team line up for Thursday's group-stage draw.

Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Salzburg booked a return, while Sheriff Tiraspol will become the first Moldovan team to play in the group stage of Europe's premier club competition after knocking out Dinamo Zagreb.

The four draw pots are now confirmed, with the champions of Europe's top six leagues, plus the two European titleholders, in Pot 1. Pots 2-4 are built based on UEFA's five-year coefficient score, which is an average of overall performance.

The draw ceremony begins from 5 p.m. BST, midday ET on Thursday, Aug. 26.

Pot 1
Chelsea
Villarreal
Atletico Madrid
Manchester City
Inter Milan
Bayern Munich
Lille
Sporting CP

Pot 2
Real Madrid
Barcelona
Juventus
Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain
Liverpool
Sevilla
Borussia Dortmund

Pot 3
FC Porto
Ajax
Shakhtar Donetsk
RB Leipzig
FC Salzburg
Benfica
Atalanta
Zenit St Petersburg

Pot 4

Besiktas
Dynamo Kiev
Club Brugge
Young Boys
AC Milan
Malmo
VfL Wolfsburg
Sheriff Tiraspol

The teams will be drawn into eight groups of four teams, with no teams from the same association able to be drawn against each other. The top two teams in each group will advance to the round of 16, with the third-placed teams going through to the Europa League knockout phase to play group runners-up.