Thanks to some rule-change trickery, Real Madrid will not be among the top eight seeds in the Champions League next year.
The top seeds, announced by UEFA, are Barcelona, Paris-Saint Germain, Chelsea, Juventus, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Bayern Munich, PSV Eindhoven and Benfica.
Under the old system, clubs had their "club coefficient" calculated based on the clubs' previous European results and association results. Basically, the system ensured that the traditional powers would nearly always be the top seeds.
Now, though, the winners of the top seven leagues (England, France, Spain, Russia, Germany, Italy and Portugal) get the top seeds, with the previous year's champion getting the eighth top seed. Barcelona and Juventus both won their leagues, though, so the eight seed was awarded to Dutch champions PSV instead of a non-league-winning side.
This means that, because Barcelona and Real Madrid both play in the same league, only one of them can be a top seed – unless the one that doesn't win La Liga wins the Champions League (which, given how good both those teams are, is totally a possibility).
Honestly, I have no idea whether this system makes any sense. Time will tell. One thing is for certain though: pity the top seed that draws Cristiano and company in their group next year.
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at klomhaus@The18.com, or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
