Champions League 2017/18 draw: Real Madrid drawn in Group of Death

The Champions League draw for the 2017/18 season was held in Monaco on Thursday night with 32 teams drawn into eight groups. As the teams were drawn, it became clear that there would be more than one 'Group of Death'.

Defending champions Real Madrid were drawn with Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspur while last season's runners-up Juventus were drawn with Barcelona. Elsewhere, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain were drawn in the same group.

The 4 Pots

All 32 teams were initially divided into four pots. The defending champions Real Madrid were put into Pot 1 alongside the league champions of the top ranked nations. The rest of the teams were place in Pots 2 to 4 based on their UEFA co-efficient.

Pot 1: Real Madrid (champions, Spain), Bayern Munich (Germany), Juventus (Italy) Benfica (Portugal), Chelsea (England), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), AS Monaco (France), Spartak Moscow (Russia)

Pot 2: Barcelona (Spain), Atletico Madrid (Spain), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Sevilla (Spain), Manchester City (England), Porto (Portugal), Manchester United (England)

Pot 3: Napoli (Italy), Tottenham Hotspur (England), Basel (Switzerland), Olympiacos (Greece), Anderlecht (Belgium), Liverpool (England), AS Roma (Italy), Besiktas (Turkey)

Pot 4: Celtic (Scotland), CSKA Moscow (Russia), Sporting CP (Portugal), APOEL (Cyprus), Feyenoord (Netherlands), Maribor (Slovenia), Qarabag (Azerbaijan), RB Leipzig (Germany)

Draw Rules

1) Two teams from the same association (league) cannot be drawn in the same group

2) Teams from Russia and Ukraine will also not be drawn in the same group after the UEFA Executive Committe came to a decision due to the political tensions between the two countries

3) Once all 32 teams are drawn, a computer will decide which position in the groups the clubs take as this decides the final schedule for the group stage matches.

4) The same clubs will also face off in the same groups in the UEFA Youth League.