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MONACO -- Surprise English champion Leicester is in the pot of top seeds for the Champions League group-stage draw on Thursday despite being ranked 31st of the 32 teams by UEFA. Cheap Nike Shoes UK .Leicester joins defending champion Real Madrid and other winners of the seven highest-ranked national leagues in the pot of No. 1 seeds, which includes CSKA Moscow.Only Russias Rostov -- also making its debut in Europes top club competition after beating Ajax in the playoffs on Wednesday -- is ranked lower than Leicester, which is now No. 99 in UEFAs standings.Leicester will also avoid powers like Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus in the draw and cannot be put in a group with any English teams.In the pot of No. 2 seeds, Atletico Madrid, twice beaten in the final by its city rival in the past three seasons, and Borussia Dortmund seem the toughest possible opponents for Leicester.The third-seeded teams include PSV Eindhoven, which was top-seeded last season when the Dutch league was ranked above Russia, plus Tottenham and Borussia Moenchengladbach.Monaco, a quarterfinalist two seasons ago, stands out in the fourth-seeded pot which also includes former European Cup winner Celtic and Legia Warsaw, returning for the first time since reaching the quarterfinals in 1996.Beyond Pot 1, the seedings are decided by a teams ranking based mostly on its results in just the previous five seasons of the Champions League and Europa League.Spain has four teams in the draw, including Europa League winner Sevilla. Germany and England have four each and Italy has just two.Before the draw in Monaco, a series of meetings between top club delegates and UEFA should agree to change the entry slots from 2018 that would give underperforming Italy four guaranteed places. The big-three leagues are also set to get four places and avoid the playoff round in future.A total of 22 teams gained direct entry to Thursdays draw and 10 more places were allocated through the qualifying rounds which ended with the two-leg playoffs that were completed Wednesday.Rostov, ranked No. 146 by UEFA at the start of the competition, and CSKA will be kept apart from Dynamo Kiev, which is in the pot of No. 3 seeds.UEFA ruled in 2014 that Russian and Ukrainian national and club teams must be separated in draws during ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russian separatists.Each team in Thursdays draw will get a basic fee of 12.7 million euros ($14.3 million) from UEFA, with more to be earned from results bonuses and advancing through the knockout rounds. The 32 teams will share an overall prize fund of around 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion).The top two teams in each of the eight groups advance to the knockout rounds starting in February.The final is on June 3 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.---SeedingsPot 1: Real Madrid (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), Leicester (England), Bayern Munich (Germany), Juventus (Italy), Benfica (Portugal), Paris Saint-Germain (France), CSKA Moscow (Russia).Pot 2: Atletico Madrid (Spain), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Arsenal (England), Manchester City (England), Sevilla (Spain), Porto (Portugal), Napoli (Italy), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany).Pot 3: Basel (Switzerland), Tottenham (England), Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine), Lyon (France), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Bruges (Belgium), Borussia Moenchengladbach (Germany).Pot 4: Celtic (Scotland), Monaco (France), Besiktas (Turkey), Legia Warsaw (Poland), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria), FC Copenhagen (Denmark), Rostov (Russia). Wholesale Nike SB UK Outlet .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Cheap Nike SB UK Fast Shipping . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. http://www.nikesbsaleuk.com/ . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Joe Schmidt has ruled himself out of joining Warren Gatlands British and Irish Lions coaching set-up for next summers New Zealand tour.?Lions head coach Gatland this week admitted there could be potential for Ireland boss Schmidt to join his backroom staff for the 2017 All Blacks battle. But Schmidt has instead opted to focus on Ireland, intent on leading his nations summer tour to the USA and Japan.Gatland is widely tipped to take Andy Farrell to New Zealand as defence coach, and Schmidt said he would be delighted for Irelands assistant to join his second-successive Lions tour.A big part of the motivation for me not being involved in the Lions was going to the USA and Japan and working with this next cadre of players, said Schmidt, ahead of Irelands autumn Test against Canada in Dublin on Saturday.The best of our players will go on the Lions and the more the better. That would be fantastic and hopefully a few more will put their hands up for Warren Gatland on Saturday. But the ones that dont go, they will become a really interesting group for us.And for me, I want to make sure I get to know those guys. And getting away on tour is one of the best ways to do it.Ireland boss Schmidt was initially considered out of contention for Lions duty when his long-term future remained up in the air. Schmidt only last month signed a new contract with Ireland, committing until after the 2019 World Cup.The 51-year-old Kiwi had seriously weighed a return to New Zealand for a Super Rugby coaching berth, with family considerations leading to a protracted deliberation period.Schmidts decision to stay in Ireland had reopened the opportunity to join the Lions coaching staff, but the former Clermont and Leinster coach has quickly - but politely - shut that down once again.The situation has only changed availability-wise bbecause I have extended, said Schmidt of his new contract altering the complexion. Nike SB UK From China. I didnt decide to take up the option of a break clause at the end of June. The contract was there anyway.It was just that there was a break clause that I didnt opt for. It meant that therefore I was available. I thought even in South Africa (Irelands three-Test tour in June), those three weeks we had getting to know everyone, you start to assess whatever further development players may have.What the ceiling may be for them, and where the progress may extend out to. You are always trying to make those decisions. Its hard to make those decisions if you are not there.While Schmidt has moved himself out of the Lions frame, the Ireland boss handed his assistant coach Farrell enthusiastic blessing to tour New Zealand if his services are requested.Gatland has already been clear he wants continuity from the coaching group that claimed a Test series win in Australia in 2013, with Farrell the leading contender to reprise his defence duties some four years on from that triumph over the Wallabies.Schmidts subtraction from the Lions equation could also edge Glasgows Scotland-bound coach Gregor Townsend closer to an attacking remit in Gatlands backroom line-up.I would be delighted if Andy went, said Schmidt, of Farrell. Firstly, because he is a tremendous coach and he does a fantastic job. And it would also mean that Andy would keep a bit of an eye on our guys.It is certainly one collective but he will be able to give us a bit of feedback on how our guys are going there. So we would have both bases covered there. That would be quite nice but those will be decisions that are not mine to make. ' ' '