The draw for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League will take place in Monaco at 3 p.m. following last night's final round of qualifying matches.
Manchester United were just one of 16 teams who successfully negotiated the qualifying rounds in order to take their place alongside the 16 teams already in the draw.
Facing a precarious second leg on Tuesday night, trailing Hungarian minnows Zalaegerszeg 1-0, United soon transformed a potentially embarrassing situation into a procession with a 5-0 victory.
Elsewhere, Celtic’s Champions League dream was left in tatters last night as the Scottish champions failed to protect a 3-1 lead from the first leg.
Martin O’Neill’s men lost 2-0 to Swiss team Basel and were eliminated on the away-goal rule. The financial repercussions for the Glasgow side not making it into the group stages are estimated at £15 million sterling.
There was better news for the northeast giants Newcastle, who eased into the group stages with a 4-0 win over Zeljeznicar Sarajevo, winning 5-0 on aggregate.
Premiership champions Arsenal and league runners-up Liverpool were among the 16 automatic qualifiers.
United will join the likes of Arsenal, defending champions Real Madrid and Bayern Munich as one of the top seeds. Last year’s beaten finalists Bayer Leverkusen top the second-seeded pool which also includes Liverpool. Newcastle qualify as one of the fourth seeded teams.
The draw format means one team from the second seed pool will be drawn against one of the top seeded teams. However, should Liverpool, for example, been drawn with either Arsenal or United they will be drawn again because teams from the same country are not allowed in the same group.
The first group stages will begin on September 17th/18th with Madrid installed as (9/2)* favourites ahead of United (7/1)* in second.
Source:* PaddyPower