An iron group with Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Bruges, or Real Madrid, Manchester City and Borussia Moenchenghladbach.
Or, instead, a much more affordable one with Zenit, Shakhtar and Ferencvaros.
This is the risk that the three Italian Champions League teams, Inter, Lazio and Atalanta, run, or what they hope for, which in the draw for tomorrow's groups (6 pm in Nyon) will all be placed in the third pot.
In the year of the pandemic, with a completely staggered calendar, the traditional Uefa appointment that opens the international season is full of uncertainty, given the rise in the contagion curve.
A modest party, but no less fascinating, given the level of the teams.
The speech for Juventus is different from the three Italians in pot three, because Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates will be seeded (as well as Roma and Napoli in the Europa League draw on Friday), and therefore in theory in some way facilitated.
But if fate were evil, the bianconeri could touch a group with Manchester United or Barcelona, Leipzig and Marseille.
Affordable rivals for Pirlo's team, but which should be faced 100% concentrated.
Meanwhile, with the access, obtained last night, of Dinamo Kiev, Olympiacos Piraeus and Ferencvaros, the framework of the participants in the 2020-2 Champions League, which will begin in deserted stadiums due to the pandemic ("until further notice", specified the 'Uefa), it is increasingly clear.
There are in fact 29 members out of 32, with the last three qualified who will come out tonight from the matches Midtjylland-Slavia Prague (first leg 0-0), Salzburg-Maccabi Tel Aviv (2-1) and Paok Thessaloniki-Krasnodar (1-2 ).
In terms of reflections on the draw, the match that is played in Denmark does not change anything in substance, given that both Midtjylland and Slavia would still enter the fourth band.
The situation is different for the other two games: Krasnodar and Salzburg in the event of passing the round would access in the third band, Paok and Maccabi Tel Aviv in the fourth.
Spectators interested in Lokomotiv Moscow and Marseille, who could move up to the third band thus avoiding crossings with Inter, Lazio and Atalanta.
It is useless to remember, again with regard to the draw, that two teams from the same country cannot be paired in the same group.
The game will start on October 20, while the 'deadline' by which to finish the games of this phase is January 28, 2021.
These are the pots of the draw for the teams already sure of accessing the Champions League groups, based on their ranking:
- Pot 1: Bayern Munich, Sevilla, Real Madrid, Juventus, Paris SG, Liverpool, Porto, Zenit.
Pot 2: Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United, Shakhtar, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, Ajax.
- Pot 3: Dynamo Kiev, Leipzig, Inter, Olympiacos, Lazio, Atalanta
- Pot 3 or 4: Lokomotiv Moscow, Marseille.
- Fourth band: Bruges, Borussia Moenchengladbach, Basaksehir, Rennes, Ferencvaros.