After yesterday's Champions League final, in which English side Manchester City thrashed Italian Inter 1-0, it has become clearer where Shakhtar Donetsk stand in the group stage draw for the next leg of the competition.
The principle of forming the first basket was a decisive factor here. The reigning Champions League winners, the reigning Europa League winners and the champions of the first six countries in the UEFA table (England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Portugal) - regardless of club coefficients - are placed in the first basket.
If Inter had won the Champions League, they would have been in the first basket as title holders. But it would also include Manchester City, who would be crowned champions of England. In this case, the second and third places would be drawn in such a way (here the principle of ranking by UEFA club coefficients applies) that Shakhtar would be in the last place in the second basket.
However, with Manchester City's win in the Champions League final one place in the first basket was vacant, and it was taken by the Dutch Feyenoord - the country number seven in the UEFA odds table - whose club odds (51,000) are lower than those of Shakhtar (63,000). As a result, the Pitmen have been relegated to the top of the third basket.
Partial line-up of the Champions League group stage draw
Basket 1 (final appearance)
"Manchester City (England) - 145.000
"Sevilla (Spain) - 91.000
"Barcelona (Spain) - 98.000
"Napoli (Naples, Italy) - 81.000
Bayern (Munich, Bavaria) - 136.000
PSG (Paris, France) - 112.000
Benfica (Lisbon, Portugal) - 82.000
Feyenoord (Rotterdam, Netherlands) - 51.000
Basket 2 (final look)
"Real Madrid" (Madrid, Spain) - 121.000
"Manchester United" (England) - 104.000
"Inter" (Milan, Italy) - 96.000
"Borussia" (Dortmund, Germany) - 86.000
Atletico (Madrid, Spain) - 85.000
RB Leipzig (Germany) - 84.000
Porto (Portugal) - 81.000
Arsenal (London, England) - 76.000
Basket 3 (partial view)
"Shakhtar" (Donetsk, Ukraine) - 63.000
"Salzburg" (Austria) - 59.000
"Milan" (Italy) - 50.000
"Lazio" (Rome, Italy) - 42.000
"Red Star" (Belgrade, Serbia) - 42.000
The full line-up for the third and fourth seeds will be determined after all the qualifying rounds for the Champions League have been played.
