Inter’s fate in the Champions League next season could be closely tied to how they finish the Serie A season, with a failure to win the Scudetto increasing the risk they will draw a “group of death.”
This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, who report that the Nerazzurri would be seeded into the third pot for the Champions League ground stage with a second place finish.
Inter have long secured Champions League football with a certain top four finish, but the question of whether they finish top of the pile in Serie A is a highly relevant one as far as their Champions League position is confirmed.
Champions of top European leagues are automatically seeded in the first pot for the group stage draw, thus meaning automatically avoiding such heavy hitters and Bayern Munich, PSG, and one of Manchester City or Liverpool.
On the other hand, a failure to finish the season as champions would mean that the Nerazzurri’s seeding position would be based on their UEFA ranking, which would see them in the third pot after it was confirmed that RB Leipzig secured qualification for the competition yesterday.
In the third pot, the Nerazzurri would have to face one of the team’s from the first pot, as well as from the second in next season’s Champions League group stage, increasing the chance of a very tricky group to progress from.
