Why do Barça, Atlético and Sevilla want Real Madrid to win the Champions League?
If Madrid lift the trophy in Paris, the other three Spanish clubs will avoid Liverpool, who will be in Pot 2 in the 2022-23 draw.
Under other circumstances, fans of Real Madrid’s direct rivals in LaLiga would probably prefer Carlo Ancelotti’s team not to lift the Champions League trophy in Paris tonight but after studying the possible outcomes of the group stage draw for next season’s competition, some are having second thoughts.
As much as they might hate the idea, it might be better for Barcelona, Atlético and Sevilla if Madrid lifted their 14th European crown in Paris. There is a good reason for that - if Liverpool end up winning this year’s Champions League, they will go into Pot 1 in the group stage draw for the 2022/3 edition, and that would be bad news for all of the Spanish clubs - apart from Madrid. Madrid are LaLiga champions and whatever happens, are guaranteed to be in the top-seeded group when the teams are drawn in August. And being a LaLiga club, they cannot be drawn in a group with a club from the same federation - ie. Barça, Atleti or Sevilla during the group stage.
But if Madrid lose, Liverpool will drop down to Pot 2, along with the three Spanish clubs. Teams from the same group can’t play each other at the group stage, but there would be a chance of Liverpool and Real Madrid being drawn together. If Liverpool lose tonight’s final, their place in Pot 1 would go to Eredivisie champions, Ajax. The Dutch giants are a tough side but nowhere near as tough as Jürgen Klopp’s.
Apart from the big players among the top seeds - Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, the other teams in Pot 1, which include Porto, AC Milan and newly-crowned Europa League champions Eintracht Frankfurt, pose less of a threat to Spain’s Champions League participants.