Chelsea's nightmare scenarios in Champions League group stage draw today
Football
By
Mirror
| Aug 29, 2019
The Blues will return to playing in Europe's elite competition hoping to follow up their success in the Europa League last season. [Courtesy]
Chelsea will be hoping to avoid any European heavyweights when they learn their fate in the group stage draw of the Champions League, which takes place on Thursday.
The Blues did not take part in the competition last year but instead won the Europa League, beating Arsenal 4-1 in the final.
That and a third-place finish in the Premier League ensured Champions League qualification for this season, and their win in Baku means they are in pot one for the draw, and as a result they will avoid the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus.
Here's a look at what could be the ideal and not so ideal potential outcomes from the draw in Monaco.
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The dream
There are some strong teams in pot two, with probably the weakest-looking side being Ajax.
This may sound strange given that the Dutch side made it to the semi-finals last season, but key men such as Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt have moved on since then, and Chelsea should fancy their chances.
In pot three Dinamo Zagreb stand out as the side with the least Champions League experience, with the Croatian side having not qualified for the group stage since the 2016-2017 season, where they finished bottom of their group.
Finally, in pot four Genk look the most beatable side, with a short trip to Belgium also surely an appealing option to Frank Lampard.
The nightmare
Not all the heavyweights were put into pot one, with arguably the biggest name of all in Real Madrid lying in wait in pot two for one unlucky top side. Chelsea will be praying it is not them.
In pot three Antonio Conte could come back to haunt his old side with Inter Milan, with Chelsea surely desperate to avoid a Romelu Lukaku-led attack, while an arduous 3000km trip from London to face the cauldron of noise provided by Galatasaray would certainly not be ideal for a side attempting to fight on all fronts this season.
Pot 1
Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Manchester City, PSG, Zenit.
Pot 2
Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Shakhtar Donetsk, Tottenham, Ajax, Benfica.
Pot 3
Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, Salzburg, Olympiakos, Club Brugge, Valencia, Inter Milan, Dinamo Zagreb.
Pot 4
Lokomotiv Moscow, Genk, Galatasaray, RB Leipzig, Slavia Prague, Red Star Belgrade, Atalanta, Lille.