The 2016/17 UEFA Champions League kicks off this Tuesday, when the first eight teams go head to head in a bid to reach the group stages, which start on 13 September. German runners-up Borussia Dortmund have already qualified. The Black and Yellows will be in pot two when the draw takes place on 25 August.

For the first time in 16 years, BVB are back among the top eight of UEFA's club ranking list. And yet, when the draw for the group stages takes place, the 1997 Champions League winners will be in pot two. This is due to a modified seeding list, which can in part be attributed to a suggestion from Hans-Joachim Watzke, who in 2011 bemoaned the fact that the German champions were included in pot four due to their weak coefficient at the time.

But UEFA have made changes since then: pot one contains the title-winners from the seven strongest federations and the title-holders. With Leicester City (15,256 points), CSKA Moscow (48,716) and Juventus (107,087) – the champions of England, Russia and Italy respectively – there are three teams in pot one of the draw that have a weaker coefficient than Borussia Dortmund, who have 110,035 points.

The trio are joined by Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain as the elite clubs in pot one. With the exception of Bayern, BVB could be drawn against any of them in the group. Provided that the favourites make it through the four qualifying rounds, potential opponents from pots 3 and 4 include Basel, Shakhtar Donestsk*, Tottenham Hotspur, Olympiakos Piraeus*, Dynamo Kiev, Olympique Lyonnais, Villareal*, Ajax*, PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon, Viktoria Pilsen*, Club Brugge, Salzburg*, Celtic*, APOEL Nicosia* and Besiktas.

All teams marked with a * still need to qualify for the group stages of the competition.
Boris Rupert