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‘No disadvantage to being in pot two’

Arsene Wenger does not believe there will necessarily be any disadvantage to being in the second pot of the Champions League draw.

Uefa has changed the structure for this season’s group stage, with the champions of each country named as the first seeds.

It means Arsenal have moved down to the second pot, but Wenger is not overly concerned about what it could mean for their prospects.

"Ideally you want a group where you have a chance to come out in the top position, no matter how far you go"

Arsene Wenger

“I don’t think it will change anything,” he told Arsenal Player. “It will just put some weaker teams in pot one.

“When you look at the structure of the groups, you don’t necessarily have a disadvantage by being in pot two because it looks as strong because of the recent history of the teams that are there.

“Ideally you want a group where you have a chance to come out in the top position, no matter how far you go. It helps sometimes mentally not to go too far.

“Before sometimes, 10 or 12 years ago, your focus was more on every Champions League game and you knew that in the Premier League you could get away with resting one or two players.

“We are now in a situation where you don’t make a difference between Champions League and Premier League, you just try to win the next game.”