Wenger - It's vital to be seeded for draw

By Chris Harris

Arsène Wenger believes it's vital to be seeded in today's Champions League draw - even if dangerous sides lurk in every pot.

Arsenal's strong UEFA coefficient guarantees them a place in pot one when the group stage draw takes place in Monaco from 5pm. That means Wenger's team will avoid Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Porto.

"It is important to be seeded, what I hope is that we are in a group where we have a good chance to come out well," said the Arsenal manager. "That is what we will try to do.

"You have some teams in pot four like we had last year in Borussia Dortmund, who are potential pot one teams. What you want is a draw that gives you a good chance and doesn't see us travel too far."

At the draw rehearsal Arsenal had Zenit St. Petersburg, BATE Borisov and Galatasaray in their group. "On that front it is not too good [for journeys]!" Wenger smiled.