AEK & PAOK’s possible seedings in the UEFA Champions League group stage draw

With both AEK and PAOK one step away from the UEFA Champions League group stages, AGONAsport.com takes a look into the possible seedings of the two teams for the upcoming group stage draw. 

Watch LIVE from AGONAsport: Benfica - PAOK, UEFA Champions League Playoffs on Tuesday, August 21st. Details here.

Greece will have two representatives in the UEFA Champions League qualifying playoffs after AEK dispatched Celtic 3:2 on aggregate while PAOK did the same with Spartak Moscow with the same aggregate scoreline. AEK will now play Hungarian champions, Vidi, in the qualifying playoffs while PAOK will pair up with Portuguese giants, Benfica, for a ticket to the group stages of the competition.

Looking ahead to the UEFA Champions League group stage draw, which is scheduled for Thursday, August 30th, twenty-six teams have already booked their place in the group stages, avoiding the qualifying rounds altogether. This comes with the new Champions League format implemented by UEFA for the next three seasons which leaves just SIX group stage spots available via the lengthy qualifying process. Considering Greece have two representatives in the final qualifying phase, it is possible that Greece could take two out of the available six (33%) group stage positions via the qualifying process, which would be a great accomplishment for the nation’s football.

AEK have had a 12-year absence from the UEFA Champions League group stages while PAOK will look to qualify for the main event for the first time in club history. The last time Greece had two representatives in the group stages of the competition was back during the 2006/2007 season when AEK and Olympiacos partook in the group stages.

Similar to recent seasons, the qualifying process is separated into the Champions Route and the Non-Champions (League Route). AEK, as Greece’s champions, are competing in the Champions Route while PAOK, as Greece’s runner-ups, are competing in the League Route. Below are the six pairs in the qualifying playoffs with the six winners earning a ticket to the group stages of the competitions.

Champions Route

Crvena Zvezda – Salzbourg
BATE Borisov – PSV Eindhoven
Young Boys – Dinamo Zagreb
Vidi – AEK

League Route

Benfica – PAOK
Ajax – Dynamo Kiev

If both Greek teams qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stages, both AEK and PAOK will find themselves in the fourth (lowest) pot in the draw. AEK have a low ranking due to their absence from Europe in 2015, 2016, and quick elimination in 2017, with just 10.000 points to their name while PAOK sit much higher with 29.500 points. The Dikefalos tou Vora could contest a place in the third pot of the group stage draw with their 29.500 points, however this will not be possible.

Looking at the current pots (see below), PAOK would need all three teams above them in the rankings to be eliminated in the qualifying playoffs, Benfica (a given if PAOK they are to qualify for the group stages), Salzbourg (play Crvena Zvezda), and PSV Eindhoven (play BATE Borisov). However, along with PAOK, Belgian side, Club Brugge, and Turkish side, Galatasaray, sit with 29.500 points and would be promoted to the next pot ahead of PAOK due to Belgium and Turkey’s high position in the UEFA Coefficient Rankings when compared to Greece. Thus, if Benfica, Salzbourg, and PSV Eindhoven are all eliminated in the qualifying playoffs, it would not be enough for PAOK to move up to pot three for the group stage draw. 

Pot one will consist of the UEFA Champions League winners (Real Madrid), the UEFA Europa League winners (Atletico Madrid), and the champions from the top six nations in UEFA’s Association Rankings, Bayern Munich (GER), Barcelona (ESP), Juventus (ITA), PSG (FRA), Manchester City (ENG), and Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS). 

Pots 2-4 will then be made up based on teams’ UEFA Club Coefficient Rankings. Below are the pots for the Champions League group stage draw if the teams with a higher coefficient ranking advance from the playoffs.

Pot 1

Real Madrid (162.000)
Atletico Madrid (140.000)
Bayern Munich (135.000)
Barcelona (132.000)
Juventus (126.000)
PSG (109.000)
Manchester City (100.000)
Lokomotiv Moscow (22.000)

Pot 2

Dortmund (89.000)
Porto (86.000)
Manchester United (82.000)
Shakhtar Donetsk (81.000)
Benfica (80.000)*
Napoli (78.000)
Tottenham (67.000)
Roma (64.000)

Pot 3

Liverpool (62.000)
Dynamo Kiev (62.000)*
Schalke (62.000)
Lyon (59.500)
Monaco (57.000)
Salzbourg (55.500)*
CSKA Moscow (45.000)
PSV Eindhoven (36.000)*

Pot 4

Valencia (36.000)
Viktoria Plzen (33.000)
Club Brugge (29.500)
Galatasaray (29.500)
*PAOK would enter here at 29.500 points*
Young Boys (20.500)*
Inter Milan (16.000)
Hoffenheim (14.285)
AEK (10.000)*

Thus, the eligible opponents for both AEK and PAOK will include teams from pots 1-3. The pots will be reshaped if teams with a lower coefficient ranking manage to defeat higher coefficient ranked teams in the qualifying playoffs. As an example, if PAOK eliminate Benfica, Liverpool will move up to pot two from pot three while Valencia will move up from pot four to pot three. 

Some well known names are listed in pot four and thus, will not be eligible opponents for AEK and PAOK in the group stages. They include Galatasaray, Hoffenheim, Italian giants Inter Milan, and for now, Valencia from Spain.
 

By Sarantos Kaperonis

Image Source: sdna.gr

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