BREAKING NEWS: Arsenal’s possible champions league group stage opponents confirmed, Gunners won’t face Real Madrid as three easy fixtures confirmed for Mikel Arteta’s teams...

Arsenal's Champions League pot ahead of the draw; potential group stage opponents for the Gunners upon their return to the competition after six years away.

Arsenal's last appearance in the Champions League ended in humiliation, their manager lamenting the team's "mental collapse" and masses of fans demanding his prompt sacking.

The 10-2 aggregate defeat Arsene Wenger's side suffered at the hands of Bayern Munich in 2017 is not a tough act for Mikel Arteta's modern vintage to follow. However, this young squad which lacks experience in continental competition could face a tough readjustment period in the club's first Champions League season for six years.

Here's who the Gunners could potentially come up against on their return to Europe's premier club competition.

The seeding process for the Champions League group stage starts with dividing the qualified clubs into four separate pots - with each group of four made up of one pot member.

Pot one consists of the reigning Champions League (Manchester City) and Europa League (Sevilla) champions alongside the winners of Europe's seven highest-ranked leagues. Despite spending longer at the Premier League summit than any other club, Arsenal missed out on the title.

The rest of the seeding is decided by each club's UEFA coefficient - a single number which reflects the team's previous performance in European competition. As regulars in the Europa League knockout stage during their absence from the top table, Arsenal snuck into pot two.

Teams cannot be drawn in the group stage against other clubs inside their pot, ensuring that Arsenal avoided the likes of record-champions Real Madrid and last season's runners-up Inter.

2023/24 Champions League pot 2

Team	League	UEFA coefficient
Real Madrid	La Liga	121.000
Man Utd	Premier League	104.000
Inter	Serie A	96.000
Borussia Dortmund	Bundesliga	86.000
Atletico Madrid	La Liga	85.000
RB Leipzig	Bundesliga	84.000
Porto	Primeira Liga	81.000
Arsenal	Premier League

Arsenal's 2023/24 potential Champions League group stage opponents

Team	League	Pot	UEFA coefficient
Sevilla	La Liga	1	91.000
Barcelona	La Liga	1	98.000
Napoli	Serie A	1	81.000
Bayern Munich	Bundesliga	1	136.000
PSG	Ligue 1	1	112.000
Benfica	Primeira Liga	1	82.000
Feyenoord	Eredivisie	1	51.000
Shakhtar Donetsk	Ukrainian Premier League	3	63.000
Red Bull Salzburg	Austrian Bundesliga	3	59.000
Milan	Serie A	3	50.000
Lazio	Serie A	3	42.000
Red Star Belgrade	Serbian SuperLiga	3	42.000
Real Sociedad	La Liga	3 or 4	33.000
Celtic	Scottish Premiership	3 or 4	31.000
6 qualifiers	N/A	3 or 4	N/A
Union Berlin	Bundesliga	4	17.000
Lens	Ligue 1