Barca, Juve, Real And Bayern Named Top Seeds
Thursday 1st November 2001
Barcelona, Juventus, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich will be kept apart when the draw for the second phase of the Champions' League is made on Friday.
The remaining group winners - Liverpool, Deportivo La Coruna, Nantes and Panathinaikos - make up the next level of seeds, while Arsenal, Manchester United, Galatasaray and Porto are in Pot 3.
Roma, Bayer Leverkusen, Sparta Prague and Boavista complete the seedings.
Liverpool are certain to face Galatasaray or Porto, as Uefa regulations mean they cannot be drawn against another English club or a side they played in the opening phase.
Likewise, Barcelona know they will avoid Deportivo and Bayern Munich must face Roma or Boavista.
Madrid and Juventus were assured of top billing after winning their respective first-stage groups, but Bayern and Barcelona only made sure of joining them with victories in the final round of matches.
The top four are selected on the strength of their club coefficient at the start of this season. As title-holders, Bayern are first seeds with a coefficient of 110.316, followed by Madrid (114.605), Barcelona (108.605) and Juventus (98.119).
Pot 2 is headed by Group B winners Liverpool (73.644), followed by Deportivo (63.605), Nantes (45.176) and Panathinaikos (37.183).
With a coefficient of 110.644, 1999 champions Manchester United are the highest ranked of the group runners-up and they lead the way in Pot 3, followed by Arsenal (76.644), Galatasaray (71.987) and Porto (68.137).
Pot 4 is headed by Italian champions Roma (68.119), followed by Bayer Leverkusen (56.316), Sparta Prague (37.395) and Boavista FC (28.137).
The draw takes place on Friday at the Noga Hilton hotel in Geneva.
