Champions League group stage draw: Pot 4

UEFA.com profiles the eight teams in Pot 4 ahead of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Istanbul on 25 August.

Marseille, the first winners of the competition in the Champions League era in 1993, and 1967 European champions Celtic are among the sides hoping to shine from Pot 4.

Rangers (SCO)

UEFA coefficient ranking (end of 2021/22): 33
How they qualified: Scottish runners-up, Champions League play-off winners
Last season: Europa League runners-up
Best European Cup performance: Semi-finals (1959/60)

2021/22: Losing their domestic crown to rivals Celtic will have hurt but that was arguably peripheral to their astonishing run to a first European final for 14 years. Home and away defeats by Malmö in the Champions League third qualifying round under Steven Gerrard gave little indication of what would follow as, spurred on by the Ibrox faithful, Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men grew in stature in the UEFA Europa League. They only just made it out of the group stage but a knockout play-off victory against Dortmund turned the tide. Braga and Leipzig both had first-leg leads overturned in Glasgow and only penalties separated them from Eintracht Frankfurt in the Seville showpiece.

Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)

UEFA coefficient ranking: 34
How they qualified: Croatian champions, Champions League play-off winners
Last season: Champions League Play-offs, Europa League knockout round play-offs
Best European Cup performance: Group stage (1998/99, 1999/2000, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2019/20)

2021/22: The capital club scooped a fifth consecutive league title last term with Ante Čačić steadying the nerves when he took the reins late in the season to see off Hajduk Split's challenge. Shocked by Sheriff in the Champions League play-offs, Dinamo again impressed in the Europa League by beating Genk, Rapid Wien and West Ham before pushing Sevilla all the way in the knockout play-offs.

Marseille (FRA)

UEFA coefficient ranking: 38
How they qualified: French runners-up
Last season: Europa League group stage, Europa Conference League semi-finals
Best European Cup performance: Winners (1992/93)

2021/22: Jorge Sampaoli went into his first full season in the Marseille dugout with high hopes of improving on the team's fifth-placed finish the previous year – and a seven-game unbeaten run out of the blocks was an encouraging start. Yet his side drew four of their six assignments in Europa League Group E, winning just once before transferring to the Europa Conference League. They fared considerably better in that competition and a team spearheaded by Dimitri Payet advanced all the way to the semi-finals, where Feyenoord proved a step too far. A runners-up finish in Ligue 1 ensured a return to the Champions League for 2022/23.

Copenhagen (DEN) 

UEFA coefficient ranking: 41
How they qualified: Danish champions, Champions League play-off winners
Last season: Europa Conference League last 16
Best European Cup performance: Round of 16 (2010/11)

2021/22: Copenhagen won a 14th Danish league title last season, ending a two-year wait to reclaim the trophy. Driven on by dynamic midfielder Viktor Claesson, they enjoyed a successful run the inaugural Europa Conference League too, finishing at the Group F summit to stride into to the knockout rounds. An absorbing 4-4 draw at PSV in the last 16 first leg offered hope of further progress but a heavy home defeat in the return fixture ended the Danish side's continental adventure.

Club Brugge (BEL)

UEFA coefficient ranking: 44
How they qualified: Belgian champions
Last season: Group stage
Best European Cup performance: Runners-up (1977/78)

2021/22: Club Brugge successfully defended their league title last season, taking the prize for a third consecutive year and 18th time overall. Arguably drawn in the toughest of Champions League groups against Manchester City, Paris and Leipzig, the Belgian side began brightly by taking a point off Paris before winning in Germany. Any hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds were quashed by defeats in their remaining four games however, and they finished at the foot of Group A.

Celtic (SCO)

UEFA coefficient ranking: 51
How they qualified: Scottish champions
Last season: Europa League group stage, Europa Conference League knockout play-offs
Best European Cup performance: Winners (1966/67)

2021/22: After finishing 20 points behind Old Firm rivals Rangers in 2020/21, reclaiming bragging rights in Glasgow will have been particularly sweet for Celtic last season as they clinched a 52nd league title. Matters did not run quite as smoothly in Europe though. After finishing third in Europa League Group G behind Leverkusen and Real Betis, the Hoops transferred to the Europa Conference League, but were eliminated by Bodø/Glimt in the knockout play-offs.

Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)

UEFA coefficient ranking: 55
How they qualified: Czech champions, Champions League play-off winners
Last season: Europa Conference League play-offs
Best European Cup performance: Group stage (2011/12, 2013/14, 2018/19)

2021/22: Three years without winning the domestic title represented a long wait by Plzeň's recent standards but they came on strong to dethrone Slavia Praha. That followed another disappointment in qualifying in Europe as CSKA-Sofia overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit to win their Europa Conference League play-off in extra time. A fourth shot at the Champions League group stage should banish those memories.

Maccabi Haifa (ISR)

UEFA coefficient ranking: 66
How they qualified: Israeli champions, Champions League play-off winners
Last season: First qualifying round, Europa Conference League group stage
Best European Cup performance: Group stage (2002/03, 2009/10)

2021/22: Back-to-back league titles – after ten years without one – were secured last term and Maccabi Haifa only missed out on a domestic double on penalties. They were caught cold by Kairat in this competition last season but battled back to make the Europa Conference League group stage. Though they finished bottom, a tough group containing Feyenoord, Union Berlin and Slavia Praha should give them a reasonable idea of what awaits in their first Champions League group stage appearance for 13 years.