Manchester United will join three Spanish sides as top seeds for tomorrow's European Champions League second phase draw, UEFA announced today.
With Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia also top seeds, Manchester United know they will draw Deportivo La Coruna, renewing a rivalry that saw the sides meet four times in last year's Champions League.
Four teams from Italy and Spain have advanced to the second group stage, meaning one from each country will be placed in each group. Clubs from the same country cannot play each other in the second group stage, nor can sides seeded in the same pool.
English champions Arsenal, therefore, also have one opponent already determined: AS Roma. The Gunners are second seeds alongside the three other Italian clubs, Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan.
One of those three Italian sides will join United and Deportivo, while a top-seeded Spanish club will be drawn with Arsenal and Roma.
Newcastle United, the third English representative, will face one of the two Milan sides, as it already faced Juventus in the first group stage.
Deportivo and Roma join German clubs Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund as third seeds. Newcastle is seeded fourth along with Lokomotiv Moscow, Ajax and FC Basel.
The eight group winners from the first phase concluded last night have been placed in the top two pots, with teams then seeded according to the UEFA club coefficient rankings.
Friday's draw will divide the 16 teams into four groups of four, with the top two in each group advancing to the quarter-finals.
Pot 1:Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona, Valencia
Pot 2:Juventus, Arsenal, Inter Milan, AC Milan
Pot 3:Deportivo La Coruna, Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma, B Dortmund
Pot 4:Lokomotiv Moscow, Ajax, Newcastle United, FC Basel
PA