The field for the 2018-19 Champions League group stage is set, with the final qualifying playoffs being settled on Wednesday. Real Madrid now knows the 31 clubs it will try to best in a quest for a fourth straight title. Yet it's the team Real topped in last season's final, Liverpool, that is the wild card team in Thursday's group stage draw. By virtue of Jurgen Klopp's side falling into the third pot, thanks to Benfica's ouster of PAOK in the playoffs and UEFA's ranking system, the possibilities for a deadly quartet have increased.
Pot 3 as a whole is where lots of the intrigue resides entering the draw in Monaco.