The draw – which also includes Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City – takes place next Thursday in Monaco.

However, despite finishing as runners-up last season, Mauricio Pochettino’s side are not placed in pot one, leaving them at greater risk of a nightmare draw.

All the other English teams are in pot one.

Teams from the same country cannot play each other.

So from pot one, Spurs could face Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, PSG or Zenit St Petersburg. Coming up against Lionel Messi and Co would be the toughest task there.

But it doesn’t get much easier.

In pot three they could draw Inter Milan – boosted by the arrival of ex-Man Utd striker Romelu Lukaku – and RB Leipzig from pot four.

That is a brutal list of fixtures to get through just to make it through to the knockout rounds.

Although it is unconfirmed, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Shakhtar Donetsk, Ajax and Benfica are all set to join Spurs in pot two.

Everything but pot one is official because there is still another round of qualifying play-off games to go.

For Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City in pot one, their Group of Death would see them come up against Real Madrid, Inter Milan and RB Leipzig.

A best-case scenario would see the English teams in pot one drawn in a group that includes Shakhtar Donetsk from pot two, Club Brugge from pot three and Genk from the final pot of teams.

The draw for the group stages of the Champions League will take place at 2am (AEST) on Friday, August 30.

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