Chelsea ensured they will compete in next season's UEFA Champions League after securing a top four finish on the final day of the Premier League season yesterday afternoon.
Despite suffering a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park, with goals from Bertrand Traore and Anwar El Ghazi firing the home side into a two-goal lead before Ben Chilwell reduced the arrears, the Blues clung on a top four berth after Leicester City lost 4-2 at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Foxes lead twice against Ryan Mason's side but were undone by a late double from Gareth Bale, meaning the Blues finished inside the top four by just a point.
That means that the Blues will have less pressure mounting on their shoulders when they face Manchester City in the final this weekend in Porto, as had they dropped out of the top four they would have to beat City to qualify for next season's tournament.
Thomas Tuchel's side entry into next season's Champions League means that they are one or 25 clubs to have qualified for the group stages, but who else has joined them?
Here, football.london has taken a close look at the sides who have already made it into the competition and who the Blues could potentially face in their group.
Who has qualified from the top leagues?
Chelsea have been joined in the group stages of the Champions League by Premier League rivals Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool. City scooped the title this season, United took second and Liverpool leapfrogged the Blues on the final day to snatch third.
In Spain, Atletico Madrid won the La Liga title on Saturday, meaning they will be joined in the group stages by cross-city rivals Real Madrid, who Chelsea dumped out of the competition at the semi-final stage this term, Barcelona and Sevilla.
Lille ended Paris Saint-Germain's dominance in France this season by winning the Ligue 1 title. PSG, however, did finish second, ensuring both sides will be in the group stages.
In Italy, Juventus required a final day victory to join Inter Milan, AC Milan and Atalanta in making up Italy's four representatives.
Four clubs in Germany have also booked their place in the group stages, with Bayern Munich, who have scooped the Bundesliga title this season, being joined by RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg.
In Portugal, heavyweights Benfica and Sporting Lisbon have taken the two group stage spots, with Dynamo Kiev acting as Ukraine's representative while Zenit St Petersburg have progressed as Russian champions.
Elsewhere, Bruges have taken Belgium's spot, Ajax in Holland and Turkey's spot has been claimed by Besiktas.
Besiktas, who have not featured in the Champions League in the last two seasons, have benefited from Chelsea and City going head-to-head in this weekend's final, with a group spot in 2021/22 being awarded to the winner.
But with Chelsea and Pep Guardiola's side having qualified for the competition via their Premier League table positions, the champions of the next ranked country and awarded the slot, with Besiktas being the lucky beneficiaries
With the Europa League winners also awarded Champions League group stage qualification, Villarreal could become the 26th team to qualify if they beat Manchester United in the final on Wednesday evening.
However, if United, who, like Chelsea and City have qualified via their league table position, come out on top, it means the slot will be taken by the team who finished third in France, which is Monaco.
Confirmed teams in the group stages so far:
Manchester City
Manchester United
Liverpool
Chelsea
Atletico Madrid
Real Madrid
Barcelona
Sevilla
Lille
Paris Saint-Germain
Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund
RB Leipzig
Wolfsburg
Inter Milan
AC Milan
Atalanta
Juventus
Benfica
Sporting Lisbon
Dynamo Kiev
Zenit St Petersburg
Ajax
Bruges
Besiktas
The qualifying rounds
In total, six teams will progress to the group stages from the qualifying rounds to make up the 32.
Clubs will enter this process at a particular stage depending on where their country ranks in UEFA's coefficients, the calculation that uses recent history in European competition to determine the order of individual leagues and clubs.
The qualifying phase is split into two sections - one for title winners, which is known as the Champions Path, and another for non-title winners, known in the trade as the League Path.
For example, Scottish champions Rangers will enter at the third of four qualifying rounds in the Champions Path.
The group stage pots
The draw for the group stage will see the 32 qualified teams split into four pots of eight, as is tradition with the Champions League's format.
Pot 1 includes the Champions League winners, either Chelsea or City, the Europa League winners and the champions of the top six ranked national leagues. The remaining three pots are determined by the UEFA coefficient of each team.
Regardless of the final 32 teams, Chelsea, as it stands, will be in Pot 2, unless they win the final on Saturday evening and move to Pot 1. Should they lose the final, Chelsea will be joined in Pot 2 by Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool Manchester United and Sevilla. It would mean that Chelsea cannot face any of these sides in the group stage.
But if they won the Champions League final and moved to Pot 1, they could face any of those sides, except for Liverpool or Manchester United.
At the time of writing, Pot 1 is currently filled by Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Lille and Sporting Lisbon. They will be joined by the winners of the Champions League final, should it be Chelsea, and the winners of the UEFA Europa League final.
If City win the Champions League, as they are already in Pot 1, their extra place will be taken by the champions of the seventh-ranked country, which is Russian giants Zenit St Petersburg.
The make-up of the remainder of the pots is difficult to ascertain at this early stage, but Ajax, RB Leipzig and Atalanta will definitely be in Pot 3 and German outfit Wolfsburg in Pot 4.
But once the qualifying rounds begin in late-June, the interest in who a clearer picture of who Chelsea could face will become a lot clearer.
